Tesla’s botched Cybertruck event is good news for Rivian, other EV truck makers
Tesla delivered the first Cybertrucks yesterday, to lukewarm reaction given revelations on its specs, pricing and availability. But Tesla’s miss might be other EV truck makers’ gain, as the big question marks on Cybertruck have been answered disappointingly.
At the original Cybertruck unveiling, Tesla said the truck would start at $39,900, be available in late 2021, have a payload of 3,500 pounds in a 6.5ft bed, and a tow rating of up to 14,000 pounds max range of 500+ miles for the top-end version (which was meant to start at $69,900).
As of yesterday, we know that none of those numbers are true. The truck starts at $79,990 today (and $60,990 in 2025), has a payload of 2,500 pounds in a 6ft bed, tow rating of up to 11,000 pounds and range of 340 miles, or 470 with an additional battery that eats up a chunk of your bed space.
It seems like the only place where Tesla exceeded its original estimation is in 0-60 times for the mid- and high-spec configurations, which are .6 and .3 seconds faster respectively. These are nice specs and it’s awesome to see a Cybertruck beat a Porsche 911 while towing a Porsche 911, but a truck is still not a sportscar no matter what the quarter-mile results suggest.
And overall, the presentation at the event was just underwhelming (you can view a recording of our live-react watch party here). Not only was the event almost half an hour late and poorly-lit, but Tesla CEO Elon Musk showed off his standard poor presentation skills (which have been getting worse lately with his twitter distraction, prompting questions from investors). Worse, some cool Cybertruck features weren’t even mentioned – like Powershare bidirectional charging which lets you run your home, camp, or another vehicle off of the Cybertruck’s battery.
Tesla even did a repeat of its window strength testing stunt from the original Cybertruck unveiling, but it pointlessly used a lobbed baseball instead of a steel ball.
All of this has led to a lot of disappointment among order holders – and made room for competing electric trucks now that we finally know answers to questions that have loomed large over the segment for years now.
Other electric trucks compare favorably with Cybertruck’s unveiled specs, pricing
Prior to now, other electric trucks have suffered from the comparison to a potential Cybertruck, with millions of preorders and a promised $40k base price.
With that product looming, it’s hard to look at an F-150 Lightning at a base of $50k (which is also $10k over its originally-promised price) and think that you’re getting a great deal. And the Rivian R1T, which has been widely praised as easily the best pickup ever, looks like even more of a stretch at its $73k base price.
But now that Cybertruck specs and pricing have been officially unveiled, those comparisons become a lot better.
There is a question whether many people were actually cross-shopping the Cybertruck versus more traditional-looking pickup trucks in the first place, but a difference in base price of more than $20k can make up for a lot of questionable styling.
The comparison was made directly on reddit, in a post comparing Musk’s past statements about the Lightning’s price with the actual prices of the Cybertruck – which are now much more expensive than the base and even upgraded trims of the Lightning, both of which are available now whereas the base model Cybertruck won’t come until 2025.
We’ve also seen plenty of comments, including the top comments on our own post about the Cybertruck yesterday, which aren’t happy about the Cybertruck’s base price and compare directly to the Lightning.
So despite the Cybertruck’s unconventional look, it’s clear that a lot of people are putting it into the “truck” category, and comparing it against other offerings. Tesla did so too, themselves, by offering a comparison against the Lightning, F-350 Super Duty, and Rivian R1T in a tractor-pulling test during the presentation yesterday.
The market has noticed
This means that Tesla’s loss is the other trucks’ gain. If Tesla truly has 2 million order holders who were waiting off on buying an electric truck until they finally saw the Cybertruck specs, surely some percentage of those holders will end up deciding to go elsewhere.
And it seems like the stock market has already made this comparison, because the market isn’t looking favorably on Tesla’s unveiling, whereas other EV truck makers are up quite a bit (with Rivian leading the pack, since trucks are their whole thing). The whole market is up intraday, but Rivian is up quite a bit more than the sector as a whole.
Even Tesla seems to have recognized that those reservation-holders might want to go elsewhere. Soon after the event, it offered Cybertruck reservation-holders $1,000 off its other EVs.
There has been a lot of talk recently about EV demand, but much of it is false. EV sales are indeed still rising, and rising at a good pace that is comparable to previous years. There are headwinds in the entire auto market right now, but a lot of the complaints can be shown to have ulterior motives – like, potentially being used to influence upcoming tailpipe regulations.
But for electric trucks specifically, both GM and Ford have backed off on production plans, for supply chain and other reasons, even though Ford just set an all-time Lightning record with a 100% year-over-year sales increase. Rivian has not reduced its production plans – in fact, it has increased them twice this year.
Given the poor reaction to the Cybertruck’s unveiled specs, maybe it’s time for those production plans to ratchet up a little further, since we think there will be some customers out there looking for something else to buy.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
On today’s informative episode of Quick Charge, we’ve got Honda engineers Jason Hwang and Emilio Sanchez to talk us through some of the things that make the GM Ultium-based Honda Prologue EV feel like a real Honda, and why that matters.
Jason and Emilio talk about some of the choices they made to make the Honda Prologue and Acura ZDX feel different from its GM-branded cousins, and explain why this was much more than a case of badge-engineering. Give it a listen, then let us know what you think of the Prologue and ZDX in the comments.
Today’s episode is sponsored by BLUETTI, a leading provider of portable power stations, solar generators, and energy storage systems. For a limited time, save up to 52% during BLUETTI’s exclusive Black Friday sale, now through November 28, and be sure to use promo code BLUETTI5OFF for 5% off all power stations site wide. Learn more by clicking here.
Source Links
Prefer listening to your podcasts? Audio-only versions of Quick Charge are now available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, TuneIn, and our RSS feed for Overcast and other podcast players.
New episodes of Quick Charge are recorded, usually, Monday through Thursday (and sometimes Sunday). We’ll be posting bonus audio content from time to time as well, so be sure to follow and subscribe so you don’t miss a minute of Electrek’s high-voltage daily news!
Got news? Let us know!
Drop us a line at tips@electrek.co. You can also rate us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, or recommend us in Overcast to help more people discover the show!
Read more: All my favorite EVs, racecars, and robots from Electrify Expo Austin.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
The first EV charging hub funded by the Charging and Fueling Infrastructure (CFI) Program in the Eastern US is now online in Deerfield, Massachusetts.
The town installed the region’s first DC fast chargers (four ports), along with four Level 2 chargers, at 59 North Main Street in South Deerfield.
These new charging stations, funded with $2.46 million from the CFI program, are conveniently located near Interstate 91 in Franklin County, the most rural county in Massachusetts, which serves drivers from Connecticut up to the Canadian border.
The hub also features local and regional bus stops and designated bike lanes with secure onsite bike racks. The chargers are meant to cater to everyone: from local residents and visitors to municipal EVs and commercial vehicles that service the region’s businesses, like those in food and beverage manufacturing.
Gabe Klein, executive director of the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation, sees this as a model for future projects:
Multi-modal charging hubs in communities are key to giving more people the choice to ride and drive electric. The Town of Deerfield is showing leadership in building out convenient charging infrastructure that brings new transportation choices to rural and disadvantaged communities while supporting local commerce.
In recent years, Deerfield has experienced increased climate change-driven flooding from nearby rivers, including the Deerfield River, the Connecticut River, and the Bloody Brook. The project incorporates environmental engineering designed to mitigate and adapt to the effects of flooding and climate, including the installation of permeable asphalt and rain gardens, planting of native trees, grasses, and shrubs, and the creation of new greenspace in the center of Deerfield.
The Biden-Harris administration’s CFI Grant Program is expanding EV infrastructure nationwide. It offers grants for projects that complement and expand upon the initiatives of the NEVI program in urban, rural, and disadvantaged and low-income communities. So far, the CFI Grant Program has allocated over $1 billion to nearly 100 projects across the US, encouraging private investments and expanding the EV charging network to make EV ownership more practical and convenient.
Read more: The US reaches milestone of 200,000+ public EV charging ports
If you live in an area that has frequent natural disaster events, and are interested in making your home more resilient to power outages, consider going solar and adding a battery storage system. To make sure you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. They have hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them.
Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisers to help you every step of the way. Get started here. –trusted affiliate link*
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
Kia’s upcoming EV4 electric sedan was just spotted testing in the US for the first time. The low-cost EV is expected to make its big debut by the end of the year. Here’s a look at the new model.
The EV4 will round out Kia’s new “EVs for all” master plan launched last year. Kia showcased three new models, the EV3, EV4, and EV5, during its first annual EV Day in October 2023.
During the event, Kia outlined its new global strategy to “lead and accelerate the EV revolution” with a wide range of models priced from $30,000 to $80,000.
Kia plans to rapidly expand its lineup with a series of smaller, lower-priced models. It launched the EV9, its first three-row electric SUV, which is already proving to be a hot seller in the US. Starting at under $55,000, the EV9 is still a great deal compared to others in its class, but Kia plans to go even lower.
The EV3 and EV4 are expected to be among the most affordable electric vehicles when they arrive in the US.
Kia’s new EV4 is now testing in the US
Ahead of its official debut, Kia’s new EV4 sedan was recently caught driving on US streets for the first time.
The latest image from KindelAuto doesn’t reveal much more than what’s been shown in the past, but the fact that it’s now testing in the US is significant.
Kia’s EV3 is already on sale in Korea, starting at around $30,000 (42.08 million won). Earlier this week, the company said its new compact SUV is now available across Europe, starting at around $38,000 (36,000 euros) with a “segment-leading range” of up to 375 miles (WLTP).
Next up will be the EV4. Kia is expected to officially reveal the new EV by the end of the year, with deliveries starting in 2025. It could be as soon as next week at the 2024 LA Auto Show.
The interior will feature Kia’s advanced new ccNC infotainment system with dual 12.3″ navigation and driver display screens. An otherwise minalimalistic design is expected inside.
Kia’s EV4 will also be available in a hatchback variant. Although the hatch is likely aimed at European buyers, it was also recently spotted testing in the US for the first time.
We will learn official prices closer to launch, but the EV4 is expected to start at around $35,000 to $40,000.
Kia is teasing five new vehicles for the US, at least one being a new EV, that will debut at the LA Auto Show next week. Will it be the EV3? EV4?
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports7 months agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Environment1 year agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Sports3 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business2 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway