Nerfed.
Bargain Basement
Tesla has introduced a cheaper, entry-level Cybertruck — and by all accounts, it’s still not looking like a great deal.
The new Long Range Rear Wheel Drive (RWD) was announced by the EV maker on CEO Elon Musk’s X-formerly-Twitter on Thursday evening.
But at $69,990 — eye roll, please — before a $7,500 federal tax credit, it’s still a considerably expensive option compared to the steep competition in the space. That makes it $10,000 cheaper than the Long Range All Wheel Drive trim, but that “long range” in its name? Turns out it only ekes out an additional 25 miles of range as a result, from 350 to 325 miles.
And that’s not to mention the truck’s rapid depreciation, making it a highly questionable investment. As Electrek reported earlier this week, the company is sitting on almost 2,400 unsold Cybertrucks, worth roughly $200 million, and is no longer accepting them as trade-ins.
Oh, and did we mention the truck’s eight recalls?
The Cybertruck has also quickly become a huge target of protestors furious with Musk’s embrace of far-right extremism and dismantling of federal agencies, making the “swasticar” an even tougher sell to consumers.
Cyber Compromise
Buyers also would have to contend with several other compromises if they were to buy the latest trim, including a lower 7,500-pound towing capacity, and a significantly slower 6.2-second 0-60 mph time, as Teslarati points out.
The new trim also sacrifices synthetic leather seats in favor of textile seats, no second-row display, an inferior audio system, and no power outlets in the bed. It also has an adaptive coil spring suspension instead of the well-reviewed adaptive air suspension in the upper trims, which also means that it doesn’t have adjustable ride height.
In short, there’s a chance the latest trim could struggle to boost already waning demand.
According to the latest numbers, Tesla only sold 6,406 Cybertrucks in the first quarter of this year, a massive drop from the 12,991 it sold in Q4 of last year.
More on the Cybertruck: Official Cybertruck Account Explodes in Fury