Pre-orders for Tesla’s recently unveiled Cybertruck don’t appear to be slowing down in the slightest. Just last night, Elon Musk hopped on Twitter and relayed that the cumulative number of Cybertruck pre-orders had jumped to 250,000, just a few days after passing the 200,000 threshold last Sunday. Clearly, Tesla’s somewhat unique take on a pickup truck has engendered a lot of interest from prospective buyers, even as many critics continue to lambast and mock the vehicle’s futuristic design.
Though the volume of Cybertruck pre-orders is trailing slightly behind what we saw with the Model 3, it’s far too early to state with any degree of confidence that the Cybertruck will enjoy anywhere close to the amount of success the Model 3 has seen. The reason for this is that securing a Cybertruck pre-order simply requires a fully refundable $100 deposit. The Model 3, in contrast, required prospective buyers to put down $1,000.
On another note, it’s somewhat interesting that Cybertruck’s aesthetic appears to be the only real sticking point amongst critics. Price-wise and performance-wise, the Cybertruck appears to be a worthy entrant in a field long dominated by iconic vehicles like the Ford F-150. Indeed, one of Tesla’s unofficial marketing slogans surrounding the Cybertruck is that it’s better than an F-150 and faster than a Porsche 911. The higher-end Cybertruck model, for instance, is capable of towing in excess of 14,000 pounds and can go from 0-60 MPH in less than 2.9 seconds.
Cybertruck production is set to begin sometime in 2021, though Tesla is certainly no stranger to production delays. One can only hope that the company has learned from some of the numerous mistakes it previously made during Model X and Model 3 production. With the Model 3 in particular, you may recall that Tesla relied too heavily on robots, a decision that drastically slowed down production and ultimately prompted Musk to apologize.
“Yes, excessive automation at Tesla was a mistake,” Musk said via Twitter last year. “To be precise, my mistake. Humans are underrated.”
Tesla has been on a roll lately with respect to new product reveals. In the last two years alone, we’ve seen the company introduce the Tesla Semi, a new Roadster, the Model Y, and most recently, the Cybertruck. In light of that, Musk recently said that the Cybertruck will be the last product the company unveils “for a while.”
Cybertruck is our last product unveil for a while, but there will be some (mostly) unexpected technology announcements next year
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 24, 2019
