by: Mike Ginsca,
Late Thursday evening, Tesla unveiled the eagerly anticipated Tesla pickup truck. To everyone’s surprise…. it’s not what we expected.
Let’s start with the things we can make sense of. The Tesla Cybertruck will be available with 3 powertrain options:
- Single motor, rear-wheel-drive with 250 miles (400 km) of range for $39,900 USD.
- Dual motor, all-wheel-drive with 300 miles (480 km) of range for $49,900 USD.
- Tri motor, all-wheel-drive with 500 miles (800 km) of range for $69,000 USD.
Elon Musk says that the Cybertruck will do the 0-60 mph (0-96 km/h) sprint in 2.9 seconds, run the quarter mile in 10.8 seconds and handle like “it’s on rails”. The configuration of the truck is a crew cab with a 6.5-foot bed and a payload of 3,500 lbs (1,587 kg). Towing is equally impressive with up to 14,000 lbs of towing (6,350 kg) which would put it at the very top of the towing hierarchy when compared to other conventional 1500 pickup trucks. It also comes equipped with 110 and 220 volt power outlets for tools and an air compressor.
Now for the things we can’t make a sense of starting with the looks. There isn’t a single smooth curve on the Tesla Cybertruck, just angles. It looks like something dreamt up in the 1970’s as to how things in 2019 would look like. But there’s nothing else on the roads today that look anything like the Cybertruck. “Trucks have been the same for a very long time, we wanted to try something different.” Tesla CEO Elon Musk said at the reveal. The design looks like it took a lot of inspiration from the original Blade Runner or Total Recall movies.
Another aspect of the truck that doesn’t really make sense is why the body and glass are made of bulletproof materials? Tesla design chief Franz von Holzhausen demonstrated this at the reveal by repeatedly hitting the cold-rolled stainless steel body of the Tesla truck with a sledgehammer. He then proceeded to throw a metal ball at the glass, which Tesla says can stop a 9mm handgun bullet, but that didn’t quite go as planned as the glass shattered. However, in their defense, the glass remained intact. But the question remains, why does it have to be bulletproof? Is Elon Musk expecting Judgement Day like in the Terminator movies?
Those who do want to place an order for the Tesla Cybertruck can do so now for just $100 USD. Tesla says that production will start in late 2021 with deliveries short-after.
