Elon Musk Unveils 'Cybertruck'

Electric pickup will enter production in 2021
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Nov 22, 2019 12:41 AM CST

Tesla CEO Elon Musk is taking on the workhorse heavy pickup truck market with his latest electric vehicle. The "cybertruck," an electric pickup truck, will be in production in 2021, Musk said at the Los Angeles Auto Show Thursday. The pickup, which Musk said will cost $39,900 and up, will have an estimated battery range of between 250 miles and more than 500 miles. Musk unveiled in the truck in a punk-show styled reveal event, showing off the truck’s stainless steel body and super-strong "armor glass" windows. A sledgehammer did not make a dent in the car’s doors. But the event went slightly awry while testing the window’s strength. The metal ball hurled at the car dented—though didn’t shatter—the windows. "Well, maybe that was a little too hard," Musk joked.

The cybertruck starts at $39,900 for a single motor model, with a base price of $69,900 for a tri motor all-wheel drive model. Production will take place in late 2021, Tesla said, though production for the tri motor model will start in late 2022. Tesla’s pickup is more likely to appeal to weekend warriors who want an electric vehicle that can handle some outdoor adventure, the AP reports. And it could end up cutting into Tesla’s electric vehicle sedan sales instead of winning over traditional pickup truck drivers. "The needs-based truck buyer, the haulers, the towers at the worksites of the world, that’s going to be a much tougher sell," says Akshay Anand, executive analyst at Kelley Blue Book.

(More Tesla stories.)

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