Enlarge / The Cybertruck remains a divisive vehicle. (credit: Jonathan Gitlin)
When Tesla CEO Elon Musk first unveiled the Cybertruck in 2019, the angular pickup was pitched right at the heart of the highly competitive truck market. With a promised starting price of $39,900, the single-motor version ever so slightly undercut the cheapest version of Ford’s electric F-150 Lightning. Tesla increased the entry-level price by more than $20,000 by the time the Cybertruck was actually getting close to production, with promises of deliveries in 2025. But now, all mention of the cheaper rear-wheel drive Cybertruck is gone from Tesla’s ordering page.
Although pickup trucks have dominated new vehicle sales in the US for decades, their buyers are not exactly clamoring to swap their V8s or diesels for a slab of batteries and some electric motors. Ford has been finding that out the hard way—a constant string of price changes have helped keep demand depressed enough that the Blue Oval is shifting its entire electric vehicle strategy as a result.
And the F-150 Lightning has the advantage of looking just like all the other F-150s that roll off the production line. Not so the Cybertruck, a vehicle that manages to look even less elegant when you see one in the wild rather than on a screen.
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