The average consumer of a truck cares about the looks. Unless the Cybertruck allows buyers to address a use case that is so compelling that they're willing to excuse the looks, Tesla is not going to sell many of these.
Maybe Tesla is banking on luring people who don't usually buy trucks, or that truck buyers are so hungry for an EV that they'll go for it. But someone who doesn't usually buy trucks, would just buy a Model 3 or Y.
Traditional truck buyers tend to be fiercely loyal to their brand so they'd probably be more likely to wait for EV versions from the favorite truck brand.
Yes. Existing truck owners will not buy this truck. They will be afraid they will be laughed at by other truck owners like themselves.
Trucks are very much a product that identifies you as "one of us" vs "one of them". The Cybertruck will fail that test utterly. Owning one screams "I'm one of THEM". Not what you want if you want to make inroads in the mainstream pickup market. (Not to mention that recharging a truck with a 220V line in rural America, where folks often park nowhere near their house, will be a major problem.)
Yes, this truck will be popular initially among well-heeled yuppies who want to stand out -- probably taken entirely from the existing Tesla S market (or S wannabes). But unless you leave SF/NYC/Boston every once in a while, you don't realize how small that world really is. No more than 5% of this country can afford an S. And while this truck is more affordable than an S, its appeal is much narrower. It will attract only the vanishingly small Venn intersection space that's Tesla S + pickup-drivers-who-don't-actually-haul-anything.
This thing will flash on the radar for a year or two, in small sales numbers, then die utterly, with poor sales used thereafter, once the fashionista bloom fades.
Do you realize how much full sized diesel trucks cost? They typically start at $50k, and can be configured close to $100k. People are buying them. Whether they can afford them, who knows, but they do sell. Flyover country is not broke. Plenty of these expensive trucks around here; I drive a Leaf.
Good point though about the outdoor charging, but running an external charger is cheap and easy on rural property. Some diesels have block heaters anyway.
What will be interesting to see is the range when towing. This thing will have the torque of 350 diesels, but what about the range in towing, compared to dual tanks. Operating costs could be far less with electricity.
Yep. Phoenix resident here; can confirm that expensive full-size trucks are the norm for well-heeled folk of all cultural strata in this region. I live in a fairly affluent section of the city and big, costly pickup trucks are _far_ more common than luxury sedans or especially sports cars.
That market probably includes me. I bought a new Honda Ridgeline this year -- a truck that many consider not to be a 'real' truck since it doesn't go offroad or haul 7000+ pound loads. The Cybertruck will surely suffer the same fate.
Are there enough buyers out there of quasi-trucks for the Cybertruck to thrive (no) much less survive (doubtful). Even now, Honda isn't selling as many of their quasi-trucks as they hoped since that market stratum is not as predictable as other more stereotypeable strata like minivans or commuters or... big pickups.
I don't know what motivates a mainstream carmaker to build a niche product like this. But whatever is motivating Tesla to build the Cybertruck smacks of the same cluelessness that gave us the Hummer. And the Edsel.
> Unless the Cybertruck allows buyers to address a use case that is so compelling that they're willing to excuse the looks
I'd say "off-road-capable truck that requires no gas and has better specs and lower pricepoints than nearly all other electric pickups" is pretty compelling. The only electric pickup coming up (to my knowledge) that looks more compelling than this is the Atlis XT.
It gives the yuppies an ugly ass brodozer that out-bros the F350s and other 3500 pickups on the market, without the coal rolling.
And they'll be faster in a straight line too, so they can now get their e-peen off beating out the big, modded 600hp diesels and laughing about how they are so much more eco-friendly.
