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Tesla cybertruck orders near 150,000 just days after chaotic launch
LOS ANGELES, Nov 24, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Tesla’s new electric pickup truck
has secured almost 150,000 orders, the company’s chief executive Elon Musk
boasted on Twitter, just two days after its big reveal went embarrassingly
wrong.
The billionaire Tesla co-founder floundered on stage in California on
Thursday when the vehicle’s armored glass windows cracked in a demonstration
intended to prove their indestructible design.
Shares in the company plunged 6.1 percent following the truck’s bumpy
launch and several lackluster reviews.
But on Saturday Musk tweeted that Tesla had already received 146,000
orders from prospective owners.
“146k Cybertruck orders so far, with 42% choosing dual, 41% tri & 17%
single motor,” he wrote.
The demand comes despite the product receiving “no advertising & no paid
endorsement”.
The industrial-looking Cybertruck is covered in the same steel alloy Musk
plans to use for his SpaceX Starship rocket and will be able to go from 0 to
100 kilometers (62 miles) per hour in about three seconds, the Tesla chief
executive claimed in his presentation.
He said the entry-level model will have a starting price of $39,900 and a
400-kilometer (250-mile) range, while a deluxe option will be able to travel
twice the distance and will sell for $69,900.
No date has been given for its release, but analysts said it would not be
ready before the end of 2021 at the earliest.
Its space-age design is unlikely to challenge top-selling models by Ford
and other conventional car companies, analysts warn.
BSS/AFP/FI/ 1444 hrs