SAN FRANCISCO: Tesla Inc. has unveiled a new electric pickup truck with a futuristic angular body in gunmetal grey resembling an armored vehicle, as the California company took aim at the heart of the profits of Detroit’s big automakers.
With a starting price of $39,900, the Cybertruck is less expensive than initially thought but a polarizing design could limit sales in a segment symbolic of a rugged, practical American lifestyle.
At a launch event in Los Angeles, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said other versions would be priced at $49,900 and $69,900, with the most expensive offering a range of over 500 miles (800 kilometers). Production should start in 2021.
“We need sustainable energy now. If we don’t have a pickup truck, we can’t solve it. The top three selling vehicles in America are pickup trucks,” Musk said.
The truck’s hulking geometric body is made of stainless steel, set atop massive tires with windows made from armored glass.
“It will be a niche product at best and poses no threat in the pickup market as we know it today,” wrote Matt DeLorenzo, senior executive editor at automotive research company Kelley Blue Book.
Musk claimed the truck’s “ultra-hard” exterior “won’t scratch and dent.” But the armored glass window cracked like a spider web when hit with a metal ball during a demonstration. Musk appeared surprised, although he noted the glass had not completely broken.
Reactions on social media platform Twitter were decidedly mixed.
“I just watched tesla (sic) release the #cybertruck and honestly? My life feels complete,” wrote @aidan_tenud, while @nateallensnyde wrote “Its (sic) nice to see Elon Musk make a cardboard box car he drew in kindergarten.”
Musk had earlier tweeted that the design was partly influenced by the Lotus Esprit sportscar that doubled as a submarine in the 1970s James Bond film “The Spy Who Loved Me.”
The truck marks the first foray by Tesla, whose Model 3 sedan is the world’s top-selling battery electric car, into pickup trucks, a market dominated by Ford’s 450 horsepower F-150 Raptor truck, along with models by General Motors (GM) and Fiat Chrysler.
Tesla’s focus on the high-performance end of the market is only natural given the success of the F-150, which launched in 2009, and whose sales have since risen annually, according to Ford spokesman Mike Levine.
While Ford does not disclose Raptor sales, Levine said annual demand is well above 19,000 vehicles and the US’s second largest automaker has never had to offer incentives on the model, which costs well in excess of $60,000. Ford also offers the more expensive F-150 Limited, its most powerful and luxurious pickup.
Ford and GM are also gearing up to challenge Tesla more directly with new offerings like the Ford Mustang Mach E electric SUV as well as electric pickups.
Electric pickups and SUVs could help Ford and GM generate the significant electric vehicle (EV) sales they will need to meet tougher emission standards and EV mandates in California and other states.
The Trump administration is moving to roll back those standards, but electric trucks are a hedge if California prevails.
Demand for full-size electric pickup trucks in the near term may not be huge, however.
Industry tracking firm IHS Markit estimates the electric truck segment — both full and mid-sized models — will account for about 75,000 sales in 2026, compared with an expected 3 million light trucks overall. The Tesla truck is not part of that estimate.
Ford aims to sell an electric F-series in late 2021, sources familiar with the plans said. It also will offer the Mach E next year as part of its plan to invest $11.5 billion by 2022 to electrify its vehicles.
In April, Ford invested $500 million in startup Rivian, which plans to build its own electric pickup beginning in fall 2020.
GM plans to build a family of premium electric pickup trucks and SUVs, with the first pickup due to go on sale in the fall of 2021. It plans to invest $8 billion by 2023 to develop electric and self-driving vehicles.
