Elon Musk handed out the keys to the first 12 Cybertruck owners during a live event to celebrate Tesla finally delivering the futuristic truck after a four-year delay.
The CEO appeared in good spirits as he watched the steel-coated electric vehicles roll onto a stage before inviting everyone to take a seat in their new truck.
Shortly after the live stream ended, Tesla updated its website with new pricing, showing that the price of the Cybertuck had almost doubled from $39,999 to $60,990.
However, Musk made no mention of the increase during the 25-minute event at Tesla’s Gigafactory in Austin, Texas.
Elon Musk invited 10 people to the stage to pick up their futuristic trucks so they could sit in them for the first time
The steel-coated vehicle features a 6-foot-long, 4-foot-wide bed that can carry up to 2,5000 pounds, a towing capacity of 11,000 pounds and a ground clearance of 17 inches
The ceremony began with Musk driving the truck across a stage in the dark and jumping into bed to speak.
“It’s the most unique thing on the street,” he said. “Finally the future will look like the future.”
Each of the 12 owners smiled as Musk opened the door to their new Cybertrucks and invited them to sit in the passenger seat – a Tesla employee drove off the stage.
“I hope you like your car,” Musk said as he introduced his new vehicle to an early Cybertruck buyer.
The steel-coated vehicle features a 6-foot-long, 4-foot-wide bed that can carry up to 2,5000 pounds, a towing capacity of 11,000 pounds and a ground clearance of 17 inches.
Each of the ten owners smiled as Musk opened the door to their new Cybertrucks and invited them to sit in the passenger seat – a Tesla employee drove off the stage.
Musk said the Cybertruck’s body is made of a stainless steel alloy developed by Tesla.
He said the body panels had to be square because a traditional press couldn’t emboss them.
Stainless steel, Musk said, has no corrosion and does not require painting, but can still be mass-produced.
It’s not just the starting price that’s gone up – the all-wheel drive is now $79,990 and the Cyberbeast is $99,990.
According to Tesla’s website, the rear-wheel drive Cybertruck will be “available” in 2025, but the all-wheel drive and Cyberbeast are scheduled to launch in 2024.
There was speculation that Tesla would increase the price due to customizations and upgrades since the prototype was unveiled.
More than two million people are on the waiting list, which requires a $100 deposit to secure a truck.
The 10 cybertrucks rolled out of a tunnel onto the stage one after the other
Shortly after the live stream ended, Tesla updated its website with new pricing, showing that the price of the Cybertuck had almost doubled from $39,999 to $60,990. It’s not just the starting price that’s gone up – the all-wheel drive is now $79,990 and the Cyberbeast is $99,990
The event began with Musk cracking jokes with the crowd, which was a completely different vibe from the day before when he told Disney CEO Bob Iger to go fuck himself.
This remark was made when Musk was asked about Iger’s decision to stop advertising X.
But the sentiment didn’t last Thursday, as Musk stood tall in the back of a Cybertruck and touted the vehicle’s longevity.
He even had Tesla design chief Franz von Holshausen recreate the 2019 test in which shatterproof glass was seen with a metal ball.
This time, however, a baseball was used, which bounced off the “armored glass”.
It’s unclear when the more than two million other Cybertrucks will be delivered, but Musk said production should reach about 250,000 per year by 2025.
Viewers were also shown videos of the truck beating a Porsche 911 in the quarter mile while the Cybertruck was towing another Porsche on a trailer.
Another video showed him towing a Ford Super Duty pickup.
Tesla faced “tremendous challenges in achieving mass production” with the Cybertruck due to its new technology and design, Musk said in a recent statement.
The event began with Musk joking with the crowd
Musk had Tesla design chief Franz von Holshausen recreate the 2019 test, which involved shatterproof glass with a metal ball. This time, however, a baseball was used, which bounced off the “armored glass”.
“We dug our own grave with Cybertruck,” Musk said last month, warning that it would take a year to 18 months to make the vehicle a significant cash flow contributor.
Experts said Cybertruck’s new body material and unconventional, futuristic design make production more complex and expensive and threaten to alienate traditional pickup buyers focused on utility.
A few years ago, Musk floated the idea that Tesla could “build a normal-looking truck” if people didn’t like the futuristic Cybertruck design.
Eric Noble, president of automotive consulting firm The CARLAB, said, “The bigger problem for the Cybertruck is that the Cybertruck wasn’t really designed with pickup truck users in mind.”
“It will have a much narrower appearance than a Ram or an F-Series,” he said of the popular pickups from Dodge and Ford.
Telsa’s Cybertruck caused a sensation when it was unveiled to the world in November 2019.
The celebrated event quickly turned into a nightmare for Musk after the glass on his new electric “cybertruck” shattered after he boasted that it was “shatterproof.”
And just in July of this year, the world saw a picture of the first Cybertruck rolling off the production line at the Austin factory
During the announcement of the truck, which looks like an armored vehicle with square sides, Tesla design chief Franz von Holshausen tried to prove that the glass was “shatterproof” by throwing a heavy metal ball at close range.
Musk was heard muttering “Oh my f***ing God” as the glass shattered.
Since this prototype, optimizations have been made to the Cybertruck to ensure it is more durable and resistant to impacts from rocks and debris that can fly up when traveling at high speeds over rough terrain.
According to Musk, the Cybertruck’s exoskeleton is now made of a new type of stainless steel that is strong enough to withstand the impact of a 9mm handgun.
The CEO previously blamed battery supply issues for the delay and said that each Cybertruck would have cost “literally a million dollars apiece or more” if Tesla had begun production of the futuristic vehicle in 2021.
And just in July of this year, the world saw a picture of the first Cybertruck rolling off the production line at the Austin factory.