The Breakdown: Who’s Going to Buy the Tesla Cybertruck—and When?

MotorTrend

Now that we’ve seen the Tesla Cybertruck

Transcript

00:00 (upbeat music)

00:02 - So the ultimate question with the Tesla Cybertruck

00:10 is who the hell is it for?

00:12 Who's gonna buy it?

00:13 How does it compare against, you know,

00:14 the traditional pickups like a Ford F-150,

00:16 Chevy Silverado, and the upcoming electric ones

00:18 like the Rivian R1T.

00:20 Price-wise, where do we think the Cybertruck's

00:22 gonna come in?

00:23 - Well, they've talked about some numbers, right?

00:26 - A 50 grand is what they have, Elon has said.

00:29 They also, this is the same man who said

00:31 the Model S would start at $45,000

00:33 and compete with the Ford Taurus, so.

00:36 - So I think that's probably the base entry level

00:39 of the vehicle, not the 450 mile range version.

00:41 - Right, I imagine a well-equipped Cybertruck

00:44 will be probably 75,000 or so, which is,

00:47 honestly, I mean, we get test F-150s and F-1500s

00:51 all the time that are in that price range.

00:54 - But it is hard to project because of this

00:56 manufacturing change, this radical change

00:59 in how they're building and how those economics work out.

01:02 Do you think the mainstream truck buyer

01:05 is going to, this will be on their radar screen?

01:08 - It'll definitely be on their radar screen

01:09 because they'll be talking crap about it

01:11 because it's not what they own,

01:13 what's in their driveway.

01:14 But that being said, if you can take off

01:16 your brand loyal goggles, I think I would be foolish

01:19 not to seriously consider it.

01:20 - I have a hard time envisioning this as a work truck

01:23 or a plumber or somebody like that.

01:25 But I do see it as a lifestyle vehicle.

01:27 - Totally.

01:28 - It's something that you just, it clicks.

01:30 You wanna be different, unique, maybe younger,

01:32 more open-minded about brands and ideas and drive trains.

01:35 And I could see it really working for that audience.

01:38 - Speaking as someone who's driven a handful

01:39 of pickup trucks for multiple years

01:42 for our Motor Trend Garage program,

01:44 I totally see its benefits in that regard.

01:47 It seems like it'd be very easy to drive around town.

01:48 You don't have any fuel economy penalties.

01:50 I can't tell you how sick of nine mile per gallon,

01:53 $100 tanks I got in the Ram Power Wagon.

01:55 So with similar capabilities, driving it around town,

01:57 having no punishment for having its big truck

02:00 is pretty great.

02:00 And the fact that it could, in theory,

02:02 do everything I wanted it to do off-road

02:04 or out in the middle of nowhere is pretty awesome.

02:06 - And it'll be interesting to see how it plays

02:08 in the same niche as the Rivian.

02:11 - Totally.

02:12 - The Rivian, by comparison, suddenly seems

02:14 very, very conventional and conservative.

02:15 I think some may look at the Tesla and go,

02:17 "Wow, that's astonishing, but I do want an electric truck."

02:21 The Rivian's a little more, I don't know.

02:23 - Or the electric F-150, which is coming.

02:25 - Well, that's another possibility.

02:26 - Yeah, and that's probably easier

02:27 for the average truck buyer to wrap their minds around.

02:29 - Yeah, exactly.

02:30 - But that being said, Tesla definitely has an advantage

02:32 in battery and motor technology that, frankly,

02:35 the Detroit Three haven't caught up to yet.

02:38 So that's the Tesla Cybertruck.

02:39 For more, read my article on MotorTrend.com,

02:42 or Kim's, but mine first.

02:44 (laughs)

02:47 (upbeat music)

02:50 (upbeat music)

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