Well, it appears that not as many people as previously thought. Could it be the price? Perhaps. But the issue runs much deeper than that.
A bullet-resistant pickup truck with rock-proof glass, a top-notch sound system, an impressive A/C system, bidirectional charging, and the dystopian look of a workhorse that escaped a digital realm envisioned by a kid who is very fond of angles, edges, and simple shapes – that’s the Cybertruck. Who wouldn’t want that, right?

The Tesla Cybertruck is a battery electric medium duty full-size pickup truck built by Tesla, Inc. since 2023.Introduced as a concept vehicle in November 2019, it has a body design reminiscent of low-polygon modelling, consisting of flat stainless steel sheet panels. Tesla planned to produce the vehicle in 2021, but it was first delivered to customers in late November 2023. As of December 2023, the Cybertruck is available only in North America.^[8][9][10] Three models are offered: the tri-motor all-wheel drive (AWD) “Cyberbeast”, a dual-motor AWD model, and a rear-wheel drive (RWD) model, with EPA range estimates of 250–340 miles (400–550 km), varying by model.

Tesla’s Cybertruck Will Rapidly Depreciate From Now On

Last year, rumors said that Tesla was sitting on close to two million (refundable $100 or $250) pre-orders for the brand’s first all-electric pickup truck. Thanks to a major recall for the Gigawiper motor, we learned that the world’s most valuable automaker has produced close to 11,700 units since November 2023. That translates into a monthly manufacturing capacity of around 1,670 units.

The good news is that people responsible for this battery-powered wannabe workhorse keep improving it. Customers who got lemons or models with too many defects managed to obtain replacements or had their rides fixed in a timely manner. The service centers are receiving the parts they’re asking for, and that’s encouraging to know.

But let’s rewind for a little bit. Five years ago, when Tesla was slowly coming out of a very bad financial situation because of the Model 3 production ramp-up, the company’s CEO said that a new vehicle would join the marque’s line-up – a pickup truck. And what a looker it was! It came with everything it needed for a grand reveal, including a stunt where the CEO and the Chief Designer broke two of its windows with steel balls.

Questionable moves, palpable results

That type of weird promo that attracts bad (but free) publicity continued even with the official launch of the production-ready Cybertruck. The CEO claimed that the pickup truck was faster than a 911 while towing an identical 911, which, simply put, wasn’t true.

Then, there was the price debacle. The EV was supposed to have a starting cost of $40,000 for the rear-wheel-drive version with 250 miles of range, $50,000 for the dual-motor Cybertruck with 300 miles of range, and $70,000 for the tri-motor unit with over 500 miles of range. Sometime in 2021, Tesla removed the prices from its website and only left the “Reserve Now” button plus a few details.

Last year, the CEO confirmed that the pickup truck would have the following MSRPs:

$61,000 for the single-motor;
$80,000 for the dual-motor;
$100,000 for the tri-motor (aka the “Cyberbeast).

To make matters worse and squeeze as much money as possible from enthusiastic early customers, the brand created the Foundation Series special edition for $20,000 on top of the MSRP. Also, it only produced the dual- and tri-motor units.