Elon Musk Reveals a Key Element of the Cybertruck
Tesla will start production of the pickup truck later this year. Very few details of this vehicle are yet known.
The most anticipated vehicle of the last decades arouses the enthusiasm of automobile fans. Short videos showing prototypes being driven on the streets of California have provoked many comments from users on social media.
Some experts are already predicting it will be a blockbuster in terms of sales. Its production should start later this year. But for the moment, very little is known about it, even though the Cybertruck — the very first pickup truck from Tesla — has been at the center of conversations among car fans for the last three years.
The Battery Size
The Cybertruck has been described as something out of the films “Mad Max” and “Blade Runner.” Musk himself said that the vehicle had been “influenced partly by ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’,” in a reference to the amphibious Lotus Esprit S1, featured in the 1977 James Bond film.
Clearly, the goal is to push the envelope, cementing the corporate image of the company as being at the forefront of innovation. Tesla, the leading electric vehicle maker, is not like the others: this is the message sent by Musk via the Cybertruck.
The Cybertruck is said to have a low center of gravity, which provides good traction control and torque, enabling acceleration from 0-60 mph in just 2.9 seconds and up to 500 miles of range.
In addition, Tesla (TSLA) – Get Free Report said that the pickup truck has up to 3,500 pounds (1,587 kg) of payload capacity and adjustable air suspension and 100 cubic feet of exterior, lockable storage, including a tonneau cover “that is strong enough to stand on.”
The Cybertruck has also a towing capability of over 14,000 pounds (6,350 kg), the carmaker has said.
“From rugged to refined, Cybertruck is completely adaptable for your needs,” the carmaker says on its website. “Prepare for every experience with a versatile utilitarian design — including on-board power and compressed air.”
Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, has just unveiled a key element of the Cybertruck, the battery size. The Cybertruck will have a battery pack size of 100 kWh, according to Musk’s Master Plan 3 for Tesla, details of which were unveiled on April 5. It is the same battery size as the brand’s two top-of-the-line models — the Model S sedan and the Model X SUV.
Ford and Rivian
This size is surprising, because the Cybertruck appears to be a wider and heavier vehicle than the Model S and the Model X. The question is therefore whether a 100 kWh battery pack is meant for a variant of the Cybertruck, or even for the base version. Rivals currently on the market have larger sizes.
Rivian’s (RIVN) – Get Free Report R1T has a battery pack of 135 kWh and the Ford (F) – Get Free Report F-150 Lightning’s Extended Range Pack sits at 131 kWh. These large batteries allow them to travel 314 miles and 320 miles on a single charge, respectively.
The range is important for EV buyers, who often make it a fundamental element in the choice of vehicle, as there are still very few charging stations. Consumers who travel long distances also make it an element that determines their choice of vehicle.
Tesla still hasn’t unveiled the version of the Cybertruck that will be mass-produced, but the order book appears to be full since the Austin, Texas-based carmaker is no longer taking orders outside North America. The commercial success of the vehicle seems to be guaranteed, at least in the first months.
Pricing for the Cybertruck has yet to be announced by Musk and Tesla. But auto industry experts estimate a base price of about $40,000.
“We’ve pulled people away from their kind of normal comfort zone and brought them something that’s just radically different and will be on the street radically different and, you know, if you’re not used to attention might be a little tough in the beginning,” Franz von Holzhausen, Tesla’s chief vehicle designer, said in January.