Tesla has revealed its first pickup truck the ambitious six-seater electric vehicle “Cybertruck” at an event in Los Angeles.
Nobody *expects* the Cybertruck pic.twitter.com/khhYNFaVKs
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 22, 2019
The all-electric truck was unveiled by chief executive Elon Musk, who instructed workers, including Tesla’s chief designer Franz von Holzhausen, to hit it with sledgehammers and metal balls. “It is literally bulletproof to a 9mm handgun,” he said.
Starting at $39,900, “Cybertruck” is inspired by “Lotus Esprit S1” from the Bond film “The Spy Who Loved Me”. The Cybertruck comes in three versions: a single motor RWD, a dual-motor AWD and a tri-motor AWD with 250 miles, 300 miles and 500 miles of range, respectively.
Mr Musk had previously said the vehicle would be a “really futuristic-like cyberpunk, ‘Blade Runner’ pickup truck” and the reality was suitably strange and industrial-looking. “Tesla Cybertruck(pressurized edition) will be official truck of Mars. Cybertruck design influenced partly by The Spy Who Loved Me,” tweeted Musk.
Tesla Cybertruck (pressurized edition) will be official truck of Mars
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 21, 2019
According to research firm IHS Markit, the Ford F-150 has been the top-selling pickup truck in the US for more than 40 years, followed by GM’s Chevrolet Silverado.
At the Los Angeles event at the Tesla Design Centre late Thursday, Musk took a dig at Ford, showing a video of a “tug of war” between F-150 and the Cybertruck.
In June this year, the Tesla CEO said the truck would start at “less than $50,000,” putting it between the starting price of the Model 3 (currently $39,400) and the Model S (currently $79,990) sedans.
(With input from agencies)