The Potential of Cybertruck
There have been quite a few rumours and planned features for the Cybertruck since it was announced in 2019. Now that production has started, it would be helpful to take a look at the ones that look the most possible.
One of the biggest potential perks of the Cybertruck was the mention that it could able to use the ultra-fast 1 megawatt charging tech.
This isn’t really a rumour per se, as it came directly from Elon and the other presenters at the Tesla Semi Delivery Event back in December of 2022. While they were unveiling the V4 supercharging tech that allowed the Semi to charge at incredible speeds, Elon quickly added that the Cybertruck will be able to use this as well.
Since Tesla haven’t updated their site with that info, it’s likely that Elon was either being a little too quick with that announcement - or he was referring to the fact that the Cybertruck would be making use of the same technology that allowed the Semi to charge at those speeds - the 1000v powertrain. It would be great if the Cybertruck were able to charge at 1 megawatt.
But given the amount of changes in the company since the Semi’s Delivery event - it seems likely that this feature has been shelved until Tesla can get Cybertruck production to a reliable pace - if it was ever even going to be a thing.
The next rumour also comes from Elon - the four motor variant.
Back in 2021, Musk confirmed that Tesla was going to update the vehicle’s design to have a variant with a motor at each wheel - allowing for “ultra-fast response torque control of each wheel”, and the ability to drive diagonally using 4-wheel steering.
And while this “crab mode” and the extra power of an extra motor would certainly have helped Cybertruck claim the off-road crown - nothing else seemed to come of the announcement. Elon had originally said that the four-motor variant would be replacing the tri-motor one - and that obviously hasn’t happened - yet.
Not everything Elon throws out manages to stick, and we have to remember that this was late 2021 - when everyone was struggling in the Pandemic. Plans may have changed in favour of ensuring the Cybertruck made it into the hands of customers who had already pre-ordered it.
However, the Quad Motor variant is something that could be worked on for later, so don’t discount it just yet.
Cybertruck peripherals are also something that has been pitched by the Tesla team, Elon, and fans of the company - things like a camper, tool racks, and of course - the Cyberquad ATV.
We hadn’t received much more word about these peripherals for some time - and fair enough, add-ons are hardly a priority before a vehicle is even in production.
But during the Investor Day Event in March, the presenters announced that Cybertruck has an official Peripherals Team which was designing Cybertruck gear internally. This was mostly necessary because the Cybertruck’s 48v power systems are too strong for most 3rd party gear without some significant partnerships - but also because Tesla has been trying to move more and more of their production needs in-house.
So we might very well see some of the accessories pitched with the original truck back in 2019.
But some one of the most interesting rumours has come about more recently - from a colouring book. No, really!
This one comes from Greggertruck - a Tesla watcher who has managed to find a lot of great sightings over the past couple of years. Usually he catches things like parts, or vehicle prototypes - this time, he was apparently at a Tesla Service Center, and saw this colouring book which boasted that Cybertruck would have enough battery power to charge a Tesla.
Now that’s interesting, because at Investor Day, Drew Baglino - Tesla’s Senior Vice President of Powertrain and Energy Engineering - confirmed that future models of Tesla vehicles would be equipped with bi-directional charging; meaning that they would be able to share power back and forth.
Elon confirmed this for Cybertruck specifically back in 2021, when he responded to a question about the truck being able to support a customer’s home in the event of a power outage. So it’s not so outlandish that Tesla would have put this boast in a colouring book in anticipation of this feature. There’s no word on if the Cybertruck already has this capability or not - but it’s not out of the realm of possibility.
And finally, the elephant in the room: Pricing.
We don’t really know how expensive these vehicles are going to be. Back in 2019, Tesla announced the prices of their three variants which ranged from just under $40,000 USD to almost $70,000 USD- but there hasn’t really been much word beyond that.
It makes a lot of sense for Tesla to try and keep their Single Motor variant at that price range IF they want to compete with companies like Ford - who recently lowered the price of their F-150 Lightning to just under $50,000.
That said, a lot has changed since 2019, and it wouldn’t be surprising in the least if Tesla had run the numbers and decided that they just couldn’t hit that target. The new Inflation Reduction Act rebates are very enticing - and Tesla has gone to great lengths to make sure their other models could qualify for the biggest tax breaks - but that doesn’t mean they can afford to do that with their new Cybertruck.
It’s very likely that we could see the starting price for the Single Motor being somewhere around the $50,000 mark, or maybe even a bit higher. And certainly the Tri-Motor would be pricey enough to be hovering around the $80,000 mark or more.
Now that Cybertruck is starting its production run, a lot of these unknowns are going to be cleared up, and we should see a more realistic picture of this vehicle that we’ve all been building up in our heads for so long.
I’m certain the pre-order customers will be very excited to be getting their keys at some point soon - but with a possible 1.7 million orders, a lot of those folks are going to be waiting years. That’s a long time to stay hyped.