Promises, Promises — Tesla Cybertruck Edition – CleanTechnica

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Is there anyone left in the world who believes a word Elon Musk says? If so, answer this question: Would you allow him to implant a computer chip in your brain? A case in point is the Cybertruck, which to hear Musk tell it at the debut event in 2019 would have a starting price of $39,900, a three-motor version with a range of 500 miles, a companion Cyberquad two-person electric ATV, the ability to float like a boat, and a stunning, “never seen anything like it before” ability to crab walk and do tank turns when equipped with four motors. None of those promises have been kept.

This week, Business Insider took a look at those claims. In its analysis, Musk has been weighed in the balance and found wanting. The Cybertruck for sale right now has less range and a far higher price tag than Musk initially predicted, with the cheapest model currently available costing nearly $100,000. Here’s what it found when it looked at some of Musk’s claims about the Cybertruck.

$39,900 Price Tag

When Musk first unveiled the Cybertruck in 2019, he said the cheapest version would cost $39,900, with more advanced variants costing $49,900 and $69,900. Then, in 2023, Tesla said its cheapest model would actually cost $60,990 and would arrive in 2025. This month, Tesla quietly hiked the price of the dual-motor all-wheel-drive version of the Cybertruck to just under $100,000 and removed the option to pre-order the less expensive single-motor rear-wheel-drive version. It is now unclear what Tesla’s plans are for the single-motor model.

500 Mile Range

Musk also said in 2019 the most advanced tri-motor version of the Cybertruck would have a 500 mile range, which would have made it one of the longest range electric vehicles available. But once again, it was a promise Tesla couldn’t deliver on. Tesla advertises the $100,000 all-wheel-drive Cybertruck as having an estimated 318 miles of range, with the $120,000 “Cyberbeast” clocking in at a measly 301 miles.

Tesla said it plans to offer a range extender — a supplemental battery pack that will sit in the truck bed of the vehicle, which it says will increase the range of the Cybertruck to over 470 miles. Production of the range extender is expected to begin in early 2025 and it will cost an extra $16,000. But isn’t that cheating? I had a friend once who said his Raleigh three-speed bicycle could go 60 mph — which was true if you were going down a steep hill. But his claim was grossly inflated, even if theoretically possible. When Musk first claimed the Cybertruck would have a range of 500 miles, he conveniently forgot to mention that customers would have to pony up an extra 16 grand to make it happen.

Cyberquad

Musk ended the 2019 Cybertruck event with a surprise unveiling of the “Cyberquad,” a Tesla quad bike. At the time he wrote on Twitter that the Cyberquad would be a two-seat ATV that would be released at the same time as the truck. In fact, Tesla did release a $1,900 kids version of the Cyberquad, which now costs $1,650. The full size quad bike is yet to materialize.

Cybertruck As Boat

One of the most eye catching promises Musk made about the Cybertruck is that it would be able to float and serve as a boat for short periods. He wrote on X that the pickup would be waterproof enough to “cross rivers, lakes, & even seas that aren’t too choppy.” Although the Cybertruck has a “wade mode” that allows drivers to drive through 30 inches of water for a limited time, it’s not quite seaworthy enough to serve as a boat. Musk hasn’t given up on this feature, however, posting on X last December that Tesla would release another upgrade that would allow the Cybertruck to “traverse at least 100 meters of water as a boat.” An AmphiCar the Cybertruck is not.

Crab Walking

In 2021, Musk wrote on Twitter that the initial Cybertruck production run would have four motors, one for each wheel, allowing it to turn 360 degrees like a tank and move diagonally like a crab. But this feature never made it off the Tesla drawing board. Cybertruck lead engineer Wes Morrill said in April of this year that Tesla experimented with the feature but couldn’t find a practical use for it. “We played with this in development, but no matter what we tried, it was a clunky/awkward experience with no real use case,” he wrote in a post on X.

Cybertruck And That Range Extender Battery

Writing on Autoblog, Jonathan Ramsey has more on the Cybertruck range extender battery. The longer the Tesla Cybertruck is on the market, the more confounding the stainless steel pickup gets, he says. “Last November, the dual-motor AWD Cybertruck launched with an MSRP of $79,990, the tri-motor Cyberbeast started at $99,990, meaning both have gone up by $20,000 in less than nine months. That fact is not merely breathtaking, it should come with a ventilator. Range estimates, on the other hand, went in the the opposite direction. The dual-motor AWD was meant to go 350 miles on a charge but is now advertised at 318 miles, while various owners have reported less than 300 miles in real world driving.”

To address the range deficiency and perhaps get close to the 500 mile range touted at launch, Tesla has previewed a range extending battery that would sit in the pickup bed. For a $500 non-refundable deposit, Cybertruck owners can now reserve one of these auxiliary battery packs for themselves and pay an estimated $16,000 when it becomes available. Ramsey points out that in the arcane world of Tesla, “estimated” should give customers pause. The price of the company’s Full Self Driving software suite has varied widely over time. People who paid more for it are none too happy that others have paid considerably less. And don’t forget to ask Model Y owners who paid $66,000 for their cars how they feel now that the starting price is $20,000 lower.

Tesla isn’t coming clean about battery capacity either, Ramsey says. One description says the pack will provide “470+ Total Mi. Range (Est.).” Another says, “Enable more than 450 miles of range without impacting accessory capability.” The 470 miles applies to the dual-motor truck, 450 miles means the Cyberbeast; however, those distances were from when the dual-motor truck was rated at an estimated 350 miles on a charge and the Cyberbeast at 320 miles, so who knows where final numbers will end up being?

InsideEVs tried to work the math based on the Cybertruck’s traction battery efficiency, figuring the bed-mounted pack would be good for 130 miles from roughly 47 kWh. Oh, and it takes up one third of the 6-foot by 4-foot bed and weighs about 660 pounds, which means it’s never coming out. What truck owner is going to pay for removal and re-installation, and more importantly, where would they store more than a quarter ton of battery when it’s out of the truck, Ramsey asks?

The pack won’t enter production until early next year. Potential takers would be handing over $500 now for the chance to find out how much the pack will cost later and how much range it will actually provide. “So if Tesla says the pack costs $20,000 and only adds 110 miles, well, thank you for your deposit, good day, sir. We rarely happen upon circumstances that so perfectly define the word flabbergasting, but we think we’ve hit it here. Stay tuned,” Ramsey writes.

The Takeaway

When media sources start using words like “flabbergasting” in connection with claims made by Musk and Tesla, you might want to check to make sure you still have all 10 fingers and your wallet. Why people put up with these deceitful, underhanded statements that are little more than 100% Grade A horse puckey from Musk over and over and over again is a great mystery. PT Barnum may have expressed it best when he said, “There’s a sucker born every minute.”