After a drawn-out production process and a lot of hype, Tesla’s Cybertruck is officially out in the world, bizarre logo and all. The gulf between the Cybertruck that was promised and the Cybertruck as it actually exists is, in some cases, substantial — Alex Lauer has a good rundown of the differences here — but that’s not the only big question facing the unconventional pickup as it enters the real world.
As Twin Birch co-founder Sawyer Merritt recently posted on social media, Tesla emailed Cybertruck reservation holders letting them know that they could get $1,000 off the price of another Tesla model if they order one by the end of the year.
As Ryan Erik King wrote at Jalopnik, this is — shall we say — unexpected behavior from an automaker, and it raises big questions about Tesla’s production capacity for the Cybertruck. If this discount is a salve for Tesla enthusiasts who have been waiting for their pickups for a while and will need to wait a bit longer, it’s not exactly an out-of-nowhere decision. In October, Musk spoke of needing to “temper expectations” for the Cybertruck on an earnings call, as Reuters reported at the time.
Cybertruck Scorecard: Does Tesla’s Truck Live Up to Elon Musk’s Promises?
Grading the electric pickup, which began deliveries Thursday, based on the original claims from 2019As of November 30, Tesla had delivered 12 Cybertrucks, according to the Associated Press. That number will increase in the coming months — but the rate at which it will do so remains an open question.
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