Looking into the Tesla Cybertruck

Tesla is the car company of the future. Except, they don’t just do cars anymore — now they have trucks as well. Or at least they will, supposedly, once production begins on the Cybertruck in 2021. The name gives off a space vibe, as if we’re living on other planets and exploring locations for our next settlement. And it’s not just the name with this hot current auto news topic.

The actual truck looks like it’s from the future, or what people imagine the future to look like. It’s sleek, with sharp angles, and smooth finishes. It probably wouldn’t look out of place driving around on the Mars surface. It’s extremely bizarre and yet intriguing at the same time.

What can we expect?

When it comes to Tesla, you can always expect top-of-the-line products that skirt the lines of luxury, performance, and practicality. Yes, three things that don’t always seem to go together in the automotive world. However, if you look at previous Tesla models, like the Model S Performance, you’ll find a high price tag ($99,990) that implies luxury, a 2.4s 0-60 speed that shouts performance, and features like standard Dual Motor All-Wheel Drive that are perfectly practical. Teslas are not machines for everyone, mainly because of the various price tags, but they sure do have options and features that are quite pleasing.

Fortunately, the Cybertruck is expected to have a price tag in the range of its competition, which has predominantly been seen as the F-150 and other similar pickups. Currently, you can find the Cybertruck in three different configurations, either Single Motor RWD ($39,900), Dual-Motor AWD ($49,900), or Tri-Motor AWD ($69,900). If you want to add on the Full Self-Driving option, it will cost an additional $7,000. Of course, you can’t actually buy and receive a Cybertruck yet, but you can place an order for one and pay $100 as a deposit.

Obviously, the difference in prices between the three variants is quite a bit, but you have seen the same thing with similar pickups from brands like Ford and Chevy for years. While a 2020 F-150 XL will start at $28,495, you’ll jump up to $53,205 for a 2020 F-150 Raptor, and $67,485 for a 2020 F-150 Limited. The difference with the Cybertruck is its lowest starting price, which is about $10,000 higher than the current lowest F-150 model.

Still, the Cybertruck backs up its prices with some impressive stats. Check them out here:

Let’s just say, these ranges and towing capacities are nothing to scoff at. Just remember, we’re talking about an electric vehicle here, and it’s a truck. This hasn’t really been done before on a large scale, and the numbers are competing against trucks that have been around for decades under brand names that have been around for even longer. These towing capacities are well within the range of what you’d expect on today’s top pickup options. The 0-60 times, though, are well above what you’d expect. Although, that’s starting to become a hallmark of Tesla vehicles, putting up 0-60 times that you’d normally only see on sports and supercars.

To give you a comparison, vehicles hitting less than 2.9 seconds from 0-60 come from brands like McLaren, Ferrari, Porsche, and Lamborghini. Sure, you’ll see a Chevy (Corvette) or Nissan (GT-R) in there as well, but they would be the minorities. And you certainly wouldn’t see a pickup truck anywhere near those speeds. But, that’s the surprising thing about Teslas — they come to compete, but not just against their immediate competition. The Cybertruck is taking on F-150s and Ferraris at the same time.

Part of the bizarre nature of the Cybertruck’s appearance is the fact that it doesn’t look like the design has been completed. It’s as if someone did a blueprint of how it should look conceptually, and then that’s what got handed off to the rest of the team to actually create at the factory, without any additions. The reason for this blank look, if you will, is two-fold, I believe. First, the Cybertruck is basically like an armored vehicle. The exterior is made from Ultra-Hard 30x Cold-Rolled stainless-steel, and the glass components are made from Tesla armor glass. Second, without all the frills, the Cybertruck can expound on its futuristic look even more. Many people have imaginative ideas of what possible futures may look like, with one common theme being a minimalist and clean environment. The Cybertruck, if that was its intention, pulls off the theme admirably.

Going back to the stainless-steel and armor glass. The point of these features is to lower the need for repairs (if it’s not getting damaged, then you don’t need to repair it) and to increase the protection of the passengers. Personally, those reasons are good enough for me to have some increased weight. You can most likely expect small ‘love taps’ and minimal fender benders to do little to no damage to a Cybertruck, although the same might not be said for the other vehicle.

As with other Tesla vehicles, you can expect a minimalist approach to the interior. There will be comfortable seating and ample enough space (for up to six passengers) with a customary giant screen (17”) attached to the dashboard. The screen will be your means to control just about everything you would expect to be able to control (music, GPS, etc.). The steering wheel appears to be about 1/3 the size of a normal steering wheel and more resembles some kind of racing wheel. Both the screen and steering wheel are attached to a dashboard that looks like it’s marble, although it seems to actually be made from paper or paper composite materials.

If you didn’t know, the roof is made of glass, there’s 100 cubic feet of exterior (and lockable) storage space, and the suspension can be raised or lowered four inches (either direction) for your convenience. It’s a versatile machine, and we’re excited to see more of it.

When can we expect it?

Well, when can we actually expect to see the Cybertruck out in the wild? According to the Tesla website, production dates are set for 2021 and 2022. The 2021 dates are for the Dual-Motor AWD and Tri-Motor AWD variants, whereas the 2022 date is for the Single Motor RWD option. It should be noted that it will be late in the year for both the 2021 and 2022 production schedules.

So, we shouldn’t be seeing Cybertrucks on the road for quite some time, actually. However, that doesn’t mean there won’t be plenty more news and releases about Tesla’s first pickup in the meantime. We all want to see further tests and presentations, as well as some increased information about the specifications of each configuration. Also, having more to configure in the pre-order would be pretty great, too. No worries, though, as Tesla is always one to populate the current auto news feeds. They won’t leave us hanging.