Doug is right. It will be a niche vehicle. I'd rather have a Ram.

 

You make some valid points. I won't argue with most of them, although as far as paying inflated costs, Tesla certainly is no stranger to big expenses.

 

So would I, but plenty of people will want this.

 

As bizarre as the cybertruck is, i’d rather have it over any of the current ‘big 3’.
but as doug demuro points out in his very articulate analysis, price-wise the cybertruck competes with the heavy/super duty models of trucks rather than the so-called ‘light duty’ ones.

 

There are actually three different versions of the Cybertruck, each version increasing in price, cruising-range, power, and payload-capacity. Most reviews/discussions (not surprisingly) center on the top-dog version.

 

Once the "new kid in town" has worn off, it will flop. The full size pickup truck demographic won't be as starry-eyed with Musk and his products as the millennials and techo-geeks. If he wanted to get in the "truck" market, he should have jumped into the Tacoma/Ranger segment or even gone with some type of versatile Subaru Baja knockoff design.

 

Very simple. Auto shows are run by dealer associations. Tesla is not welcome.

 

The only way a Tesla truck had a chance at success was to be completely different. Traditional truck buyers aren't looking to jump to electric. This vehicle will find sales from a range of buyers who wouldn't have even considered a truck in the first place.

 

Different does not have to be less functional.

I am sure a lot of it will change for production model anyway.

 

This is perfectly stated and 100% right on IMO. Well said.

 

Customers complaining of being charged for multiple orders. No idea here if it was just a small handful or a large number. Still pretty impressive order numbers.

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I respectfully disagree. Doug may end up eating his words. Tesla does not make niche vehicles. Tesla is changing the future of transportation, one market segment at a time. There's a common unifying thread among all of their cars, a consistent interface awaiting it's drivers, and smart assisted driving and safety features is wreaking havoc on each segment for a competitive alternative.

It won't be long before a million Teslas are on the market globally. A new gigafactory every 12-18 months around the world will ramp up production numbers while everyone is trying to figure out how to be as good as Tesla is at their price points. The boldness of re-engineering efforts involved in an EV vehicle is a massive undertaking.

What I really like about the CyberTruck is potentially several variants that can happen on this platform, one which may include a larger luxury SUV instead of a slipstreamed Model X SUV, a commercial service truck variant, RV variants, food truck variants, and a small transit vehicle for 8-12 people. The basic infrastructure can be nailed down to serve all these variants. When fully realized, we could be looking at easily half million vehicles yearly or more of all vehicles on this platform. Its more than a niche, but multiple niches where there is no competition. In 10 years, Tesla may be the best and only choice for these options. The market is too fragmented to mount a viable competitive alternative, and the clock is ticking on them at a pace of being 5-8+ years behind schedule.

The way the CyberTruck was presented in the reveal -- it does looks more like a niche product, very much in the sense of how the volt/bolt/prius/etc cars were released. These cars never had the capability to be anything else, where variants of the fast fabrication Cybertruck can cumulatively steal sales in 5 years from top 3-4 truck segments (aka the giant sucking sound as Ross Perot would say). The reveal has officially created a new crisis point for truck makers, or they are in denial until it is too late. Case in point... Model 3 and soon to be released Model Y has proven to disrupt sales of BMW/Audi/Mercedes and their bloated vehicle line ups and will continue to do so globally. The best response we have so far is the eTron, polestar, Mach-E and high end Porsche offerings. S3ri0usly? That being said, the CyberTruck has potential to become a bigger industry scare point than what the model 3/X/S/Y can do. What's on the market in 2025 will shape transit over the remaining 75 years of the 21st century. It's going to be a fast and furious introduction of the future. Exciting times for us as potential buyers wanting an alternative to nagging premium fuel costs, expensive maintenance, and something you can look sexy and cool in.

 

Has anyone seen the video with the tug of war between the Tesla and an F150? I don't know how it was set up, which could be a factor, but the result was interesting. I'll try to find it.

 

F150 EV towed a freight train....they are all staged.

 

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