For
Tesla, the US-based electric car company, the cash registers seem to be ringing
all the time. Sometime on November 22, 2019 the company unveiled its latest
product, a weird looking vehicle that goes by the name Cybertruck. By November
27, according to a tweet by the company’s CEO Elon Musk, bookings had crossed
250,000 units for the vehicle. The booking amount stood at $ 25 million or Rs 180 crore. This is bizarre by any automotive standards.
On
twitter, Musk has described the cybertruck as a “Better truck than an F-150,
faster than a Porsche 911…” Musk has almost 30 million followers on
Twitter.
After
the unveiling, Musk tweeted that “Cybertruck is our last product unveil for a
while, but there will be some (mostly) unexpected technology announcements next
year”. And as for its very plain look with no major aerodynamic styling, he
tweeted, “Reason Cybertruck is so planar is that you can’t stamp ultra-hard 30X
steel, because it breaks the stamping press”. For the massive bookings, he
commented through his tweets that it was achieved “With no advertising & no
paid endorsement”.
In
just two days of the unveiling in the US, Tesla received 146,000 bookings for
the Tesla Cybertruck. The booking amount was around $ 14.6 million. That
translates to around Rs 104.50 crore or Rupees 1.04 billion.
Musk
tweeted on November 24 that within two days his company had garnered 146000
orders with 42 per cent choosing dual, 41 per cent choosing tri and 17 per cent
choosing single motor.
But
a few days later, he again tweeted that bookings or orders had gone up to
200,000 and that meant total deposits too had gone up to $ 20 million (Rs 143
crore). By November 27, the figure had gone up to 250,000 bookings. The numbers
are bound to increase with every passing day and the cash registers are
unlikely to stop ringing at Tesla.
The
booking amount is a mere $100 which is a refundable deposit. It has to be seen
how many of these deposits will convert to actual orders for the truck, which
is currently priced between $39,900 and $69,900. According to Tesla, the
production of the tri-motor variant of the Cybertruck is expected to begin in
late 2022.
The
Tesla Cybertruck was unveiled by Musk at the Tesla Design Center in Hawthorne, California.
In fact, during the unveiling while demonstrating as to how tough the armoured
glass is, it cracked when it was hit by an iron ball. Musk was quick to tweet on that too, “Franz
throws steel ball at Cybertruck window right before launch. Guess we have some
improvements to make before production haha…”
Tesla
will be offering three variants of the Cybertruck. The cheapest version is a
single motor with a rear-wheel drive model. The cost of this variant will be $39,900
(Rs 28.58 lakh approx.). It will have a towing capacity of 7,500 pounds
(3402kgs) and more than 250 miles (402km) of range. The middle version will be
a dual-motor all-wheel drive and will have a towing capacity of more than
10,000 pounds (4536 kgs approx.) and be able to travel more than 300 miles
(483km) on a single charge. The dual motor AWD model is priced at $49,900 (Rs
35.74 lakh approx.)
The
third variant, which is the most expensive at $ 69,900 (Rs 50.06 lakh) will
have three electric motors and all-wheel drive. It will have a towing capacity
of 14,000 pounds (6350kg) and battery range of more than 500 miles (804km).
According
to the company, the Cybertruck is designed to have the utility of a truck and
the performance of a sports car. The vehicle is built to be durable, versatile
and capable, with exceptional performance both on-road and off-road. The single motor version can do 0 to 60 miles
per hour (approx. 100kmph) in less than 6.5 seconds. The dual motor one can
complete the same distance in less than 4.5 seconds, while the tri motor one
can do so in less than 2.9 seconds.
The
Cybertruck is built with an exterior shell made for ultimate durability and
passenger protection. Starting with a nearly impenetrable exoskeleton, every
component is designed for superior strength and endurance, from ultra-hard 30X cold-rolled
stainless-steel structural skin to Tesla armor glass.
As
for the Tesla armour glass, this ultra-strong glass and polymer-layered
composite can absorb and redirect impact force for improved performance and
damage tolerance. The vehicle has adjustable air suspension. One can raise and
lower suspension four inches in either direction for easy access to Cybertruck
or the vault, while self-leveling capabilities adapt to any occasion and assist
with every job.
It
has a flexible interior wherein six adults can be seated comfortable with
additional storage under the second-row seats. The vehicle also comes with an
advanced 17” touchscreen that has an all-new customised user interface.