Here is a screen grab from the order page.
OK, but how does that F-150 with all of those extras compare to the Tesla, in terms of features and such? My understanding is that Tesla vehicles are relatively bare-bones.
The Cyberbeast is faster, has 4-wheel steering, a much better entertainment system, better self-driving features (including FSD when it ships), and a few other things. I added the motorized tonneau cover to the Raptor, which comes stock with the Cybertruck, but the Cybertruck still has more lockable storage. And, well, it’s an EV, and EVs are kickass and deserving of a premium of their own, unless long-range towing is super important to you (or the vroom-vroom sounds of an ICE).
The Raptor undoubtedly does some other things better, and so far it’s unknown how well the Cybertruck handles off-roading, which I’m sure the Raptor does very well. Anyway, the point is just that ~$120k is not unheard of for a super high-end truck. The AWD version (which is still pretty fast) without the $20k Foundation package comes to $80k, which is still high, but still inline with the mid-range trims for an F-150.
Only the Raptor R costs $110k. The regular Raptor (I have one) starts at around $75k. You’re paying a $30k+ premium for, largely, the supercharged V8.
As a “halo” model the Cyberbeast and Raptor R are pretty evenly matched in features and price. The Cybertruck air suspension is something the Raptor doesn’t have, although I doubt the Cybertruck will match the Raptor’s suspension performance overall.
But the normal Raptor is a ton of fun and comes pretty much fully-loaded for $80k. That comparison is where the $100k for the standard Cybertruck looks pretty disappointing.
As I said, I just can’t get over my lack of confidence in Tesla’s engineering. Not on batteries and electric motors - but everything else. I had a Tesla Model 3 for 2 years. It was a clever, innovative design and in many ways I liked it even by “car guy” standards - it drove well and handled and rode well. But several of the less-sexy practical aspects of automotive engineering were lacking: the weatherstripping on the doors constantly fell off and thus failed to seal properly, the underbody panels trapped pounds and pounds of sand and salt when driven in winter, the front trunk lid was so flimsy I bent it with my palm when closing it, the door handles froze over in the winter, there was a ton of road noise on the highway, etc.
I use the Raptor off-road a lot and Ford has decades of experience building trucks that see actual hard use - and three generations of experience now with the Raptor by itself. All the glitches and gotchas were figured out years ago. I just have zero confidence that Tesla hasn’t made any stupid mistakes in their very first truck, that they seem to have done zero practical testing on until the design was already nearly finalized.
Sure, but that’s with the $20k Foundation package. Totally fair if you don’t think that’s worth it–but the $80k non-Foundation AWD model will ship eventually, and is still pretty damn quick, and has most of the other features like the air suspension.
As for the rest of the stuff, well, we’ll have to see. The reviewers have praised it for being quiet in the cabin, especially given the 35" tires. And supposedly it has active sound cancellation. But you’ll probably have to wait for some extended reviews to find out whether the body panels trap salt or whatever.
As for the Model 3, they do specifically warn you to close the hood with two flat palms so as not to bend it 
. That’s more about extreme weight saving than bad engineering.
@Absolute: Thanks for the detailed price feedback. So the order screen says a Cyberbeast in the only available (i.e. fully loaded) configuration is $120K, while the catalog page available to everyone else says the price is estimated at $100K.
Sorta sleazy, but not quite evil.
IMO the real competition for Cybertruck is the Hummer line. Both vehicles are aimed at conspicuous consumers, not for ordinary working dudes, even well-off ordinary working dudes.
I just now checked, and Hummer now only makes their vehicles as EVs. It’s available as either a 4-door SUV resembling a Jeep Grand Cherokee or Ford Bronco, or as a 4-door club cab pickup.
Per GMC’s website the stripper starts at $96K, the midrange at $105K, and the not-yet-available super-fancy loaded model starts at $110K. Starting from the $105K mid-model I went through the “build your own” process and pretty quickly added $25K of options to get most of the goodies already on the Cyberbeast. So about $130K at MSRP.
So it seems @Dewey_Finn’s incredulity about prices is perhaps unsurprising, but also a bit misplaced; this blingy shit be real spendy.
I’d argue that it’s good engineering in terms of weight tradeoff, but bad engineering in terms of durability and customer utility.
When you need to add a caution to the owner’s manual to not do something many (most?) users will do reflexively, you’ve lost sight of the real goal. Or more accurately, your management set their goals past the point of diminishing total return.
A jillion trade decisions go into a complete vehicle. That one was IMO getting carried away for a consumer product. Having similar cautions about how to carefully and gently close the payload hatches on SpaceX vehicles? Sure; those hatches are being handled by pros. On a passenger car? Nope; those are being handled by your neighbors.
yep, never buy a V1.0 car … (ICE or EV) …
I recall my grandfather purchasing the first audi A3 (1990ies) and it came with lots of problems …
Probably good to wait 2-3 years for others to help iron out the wrinkles …
Agree, but Tesla tends to update things as they go, rather than waiting for the next model year. I will not be surprised at all if in a few months there are articles about Cybertrucks being delivered with somewhat different suspensions, or whatever.
My Model 3 was built about 6 months after the earliest consumer deliveries, and I think they were already on their third revision of the back seat by then.
Thinking further, many of the early adopters have more money than sense, so why not soak up as much of their money as possible? Then, once the number of fools dries up, offer lower-cost options that more sensible people might buy.
I am pretty sure they all do that … no reason to send cars out with leaky sunroofs if you already know about it …
What I am not too sure about is how fast are those feedback-loops … (and probably some manufacturers are faster than others to pick up problems (talking with their dealer-base) and feeding that back to engineering to prompt solutions)
probably the more “niche” a car is, the longer it takes for problems to manifest on a meaningful level - due to lack of statistical “n” … (thinking about makes like Jag or Maserati)
Well, they’re recruiting their beta test program now.
Neat trick, getting the test candidates to buy into the program for $100k…
I’ve heard and read of many horror stories about build quality in the early Model 3’s. IMHO, they were much worse than other newly introduced autos. They’ve improved dramatically, though. We have a 2021 and a 2022 with zero issues so far.
I’m fine with the lightweight frunk lid. The trunk is so big that the frunk is rarely accessed (we use ours for emergency items). And it feels flimsy when you close it so you’re reminded to press down on the frunk medallion, which is right above a brace on the lid underside.
There’s another reason I’m ok with the flimsy lid. I’ve always scrutinized the weight of vehicles. Added weight negatively affects performance, range, mileage, durability, and cost. A model that is heavier than others in their market segment is the result of poor design. The Model 3/Y are the lightest EVs in their classes, typically by hundreds of pounds.
I don’t understand what is the market for these things? Wealthy Elon fanboys with an extra $100,000 to spend on an ugly impractical truck?
If I’m buying a $100k car, I don’t think this would be my first choice.
Also it looks stupid. Like a prop from an 80s sci-fi movie set in the not too distant future. Specifically a cross between a time-travelling DeLorean and the Landmaster vehicle from Damnation Alley. I fully expect the self-driving version to have a “Johnny Cab” animatronic head from Total Recall.
I was thinking more like Otto the auotpilot.
Actually, yes. That does seem to be the target market.
Not necessarily fanboys, but yes.
Folks looking to buy a “Look at meeee!!!” vehicle that makes them feel macho (regardless of gender) and safe to drive bullyingly. Plenty of ridiculously styled practically useless Hummers got sold that way to people in that demographic. This is just more of that.
The Cybertruck becoming available just as the stock market is once again booming is a real fortunate bit of timing for them. Lotta folks saw some eye-watering portfolio gains recently. Skimming off $100K for a new toy just sounds like belated Christmas.
That’s just ordinary price discrimination, which everyone does. The idea is to maximize the money you get from every customer by offering them a slightly different product. Price-insensitive customers buy the super-blingy models, less-rich ones get something slightly worse, and so on down the scale. Plus the premium for buying the product first, when the customers have a temporary monopoly on the product (valuable for anything perceived as a status symbol). Offering everyone the same price leaves money on the table, because if the price is too high, some people can’t afford it; and if the price is too low, the rich people are paying less than they otherwise might. Same reason why Apple offers $1600 and $400 phones.
The strategy is even more useful when you’re production-limited; if you’re only producing so many goods/day, you may as well target the premium market initially. You can always go downscale later.
People are paying serious multiple tens of thousands over MSRP for Mercedes G-class über boxy SUVs right now. That’s another damned fugly high performance status symbol right there.
Demand has exploded and supply has not. The dealers and M-B are gleefully raking it in.
Retail Capitalism at its legitimately finest.
Right, the advantage to having lower price points is that you sell more. But if you’re already selling as many as you possibly can, that’s no advantage.
The CT does look silly, but all the full size trucks look stupid. Their engines are getting smaller but somehow this requires a longer and higher hood. In the race to see who can build the tallest truck with the most aggressive name, they will soon make one called the Big Balls, which will include a catcher under the front bumper to hold all the dead pedestrians that couldn’t be seen from the cab.