Finally, Tesla Delivers the First Cybertrucks and Sets Pricing

• It took years but Telsa delivered a handful of Cybertrucks to customers at a special event at Tesla’s Gigafactory in Austin, Texas.
  

• Chief designer Franz von Holzhausen successfully displayed the so-called “basically rock-proof” Tesla Armor Glass by throwing a baseball at the passenger window.

• Tesla says the rear-wheel-drive Cybertruck will start at $60,990 when it arrives for the 2025 model year.

Well, the day has finally come: Tesla has delivered a Cybertruck. In fact, Tesla delivered multiple battery-electric pickups during its delivery event at the Gigafactory in Austin, Texas. In addition, Tesla formally revealed the Cybertruck’s pricing on the company’s website. The event showed the company handing over the keys to a handful of Cybertruck models but didn’t disclose which models were moving down Texas highways.

While Tesla boss Elon Musk didn’t talk about pricing during the event, the pricing might be the most important part of the Cybertruck’s journey. According to Tesla’s website, the base-model, rear-wheel-drive Cybertruck is scheduled to arrive in 2025 and set you back $60,990.

These initial models being delivered are likely some mix of two-motor and three-motor variants for a select group of buyers. Despite this week’s event, Tesla’s website says AWD models and top-flight three-motor Cyberbeast models will be available in 2024. The AWD Cybertruck is scheduled to start at $79,990, with the Cyberbeast setting you back at least $99,990.

Keen observers of those prices will see a slight discrepancy in the pricing from what Tesla suggested four years ago. In 2019, the base-model Cybertruck was planned to only set you back $39,990, the AWD variant starting at $49,990, and the three-motor Cybertruck ringing in at $69,990. Obviously, inflation has set in, but the aggressive pricing might have made more sense a few years ago.

Pricing aside, the delivery event echoed the Cybertruck’s challenged reveal. Musk made light of the Cybertruck’s 2019 reveal event, when he learned that the truck’s Tesla Armor Glass wasn’t as robust as he may have thought. In the 2019 demonstration, chief designer Franz von Holzhausen broke both side windows by throwing a steel ball at them. This time, he threw a baseball at the windows, and the glass held up.

This week’s presentation also showed some Cybertruck crash test videos. Even though these selectively released videos don’t show the whole picture, it’s reassuring to see at least some of the Cybertruck’s crash tests as they happened.

Hopefully, the folks at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety will get a chance to run one through their test protocols with a camera rolling.

Musk also used the delivery event to show some of the Cybertruck’s strengths. Tesla’s team showed the Cybertruck could outpace a Porsche 911 in a drag race while towing a Porsche 911. The folks at Tesla also had the Cybertruck pull a tractor sled against competitors—namely the Rivian R1T, Ford F-150 Lightning, and diesel Ford F-350 Super Duty. But Musk didn’t exactly reveal what 911 the Cybertruck bested in a quarter-mile sprint.

Porsche fans will also notice the 911’s clear marker lights, which hint that it might not be a US-market Porsche or at least one that is showroom-fresh. Of course, the popular Euro-spec lighting modification doesn’t change the fact that the hefty Tesla outperformed this Carrera in a sprint, which, according to Car and Driver travels down the asphalt aisle in 11.5 seconds at 120 mph.

All of this is to say that the day has finally come, and Tesla is pushing the Cybertruck out of its factories and into the hands of customers, even though you probably won’t see one at your local grocery store anytime soon. You can check out the whole delivery event yourself in the embedded video above.

Do you think the Cybertruck will be a success? Tell us your thoughts below.