Tesla Cybertruck appears to be facing significant sales challenges. After initial hype faded, and over a million reservations turned out to be as real as unicorns, Tesla is now enabling leasing options and free upgrades to move its inventory of the futuristic pickup truck. The company’s recent silence on the Cybertruck, even omitting it from their earnings call, speaks volumes about the situation.

Tesla initially projected sales of 500,000 Cybertrucks annually and established production capacity at the Giga Texas for 250,000 units per year. After working through the initial reservation backlog with fewer than 40,000 deliveries, the automaker is now struggling to sell the remaining vehicles.

  • Manmoth@lemmy.ml
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    23 days ago

    EV trucks will never make sense. Hybrids can but I have yet to see anything I would buy.

    • eestileib@sh.itjust.works
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      23 days ago

      If you actually value low end torque over everything else, electric is a gimme.

      Sounds like that’s not your use case.

      • Manmoth@lemmy.ml
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        23 days ago

        Electic motors are unmatched for torque and response time. No debate there but if you need to tow a big ass camper your range is going to suck if you dont have some hybrid config.

    • Mitchie151@lemmy.world
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      23 days ago

      The Silverado EV and F150 lightning seem pretty decent from the specs, but towing anything they still seriously suck. But for most people they’re actually already pretty good… Unlike the cyber truck.

      • Manmoth@lemmy.ml
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        23 days ago

        You hit the nail on the head. If it can’t tow it’s pretty useless as a truck. If someone doesnt tow they probably dont need a truck in the first place otherwise they are better off with a gas model. The unfortunate thing is that regulations have forced manufacturers to implement shitty ICE drivetrains. Everything is a turbo now which is “more efficient” but there is no way they will last as long as the naturally aspirated V6 or V8s that would go for 400-500k miles.

        • catloaf@lemm.ee
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          23 days ago

          Even most work trucks aren’t towing very often. Even on job sites, most of the towed equipment is either brought in the first day and stays there (though with minor relocations) or it’s brought in by the rental company, with their own vehicles.

        • JeremyHuntQW12@lemmy.world
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          23 days ago

          Everything is a turbo now which is “more efficient” but there is no way they will last as long as the naturally aspirated V6 or V8s that would go for 400-500k miles.

          You do know that turbocharged engines don’t rev as much don’t you ? They last longer.

          A 1.8L NA Atsra put out 92 kW at 6000 rpm. The 1.6L turbo version put out 134kW at 2800 rpm.

        • Duamerthrax@lemmy.world
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          23 days ago

          Everything is a turbo now which is “more efficient” but there is no way they will last as long as the naturally aspirated V6 or V8s that would go for 400-500k miles.

          uh, it’s pretty common for turboed diesels to go over 500k miles. It’s been standard since the late 90’s.

          • Manmoth@lemmy.ml
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            23 days ago

            If that’s the case that’s great. Not familiar with turbo diesels. I know that the turbo failure rate is non-trivial for regular gas vehicles and the repairs can be expensive.

        • Mitchie151@lemmy.world
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          23 days ago

          The average use case for the majority of truck owners in the US does not involve towing. Light trucks are driven an average of around 30 miles per day, which is why I say for most people they’re actually in a pretty good position, other than being pretty expensive vehicles of course. If you own a caravan or something and are doing regular massive road trips, you are the minority that these vehicles still don’t cater to.

      • Duamerthrax@lemmy.world
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        23 days ago

        I’ve been following Edison Motors. EV and Hybrid both make sense and can work depending on the application. They managed some real work tests towing log trailers without the genset kicking on.

        Personally, I would have a model line with the option to either have an all EV or hybrid drivetrain. Share parts from the battery to the wheel, but more batteries where the engine/generator would go if it’s the pure EV option.

    • ramenshaman@lemmy.world
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      23 days ago

      I think they do/will make a lot of sense. Being able to drive to a job site and run your welder or other tools from the truck’s battery seems like a game changer for certain applications. The Chevy Silverado EV and the F-150 Lightning seem pretty nice to me. They’ll both be much more appealing once battery tech, charging speed, and charging infrastructure improve. I’m pretty stoked about this new company called Telo, I hope they make it. It’s a pretty small truck with an 8’ bed that’s about as long as a Mini Cooper, plus it has the solar tech from Aptera.

      Edit: and I imagine the Rivian R2T and R3T will be pretty sweet.

      • foofy@lemmy.world
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        23 days ago

        I think a generator for that purpose would likely make a lot more sense. I can’t see buying an electric truck just so you can use its battery to weld. Maybe that’s a nice to have at best.

  • shikitohno@lemm.ee
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    23 days ago

    Have they tried pulling out the “Make a vehicle that’s not a massive and shitty death trap,” or “Boot the Nazi from the company” stops? Because, I suspect doing those two might help it out.

    • MutilationWave@lemmy.world
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      23 days ago

      The myth of Elon is still going strong. Now he’s taking over government agencies. Not that it’s the right move, but keeping him on might keep the stock at the insanely overvalued level it’s at. That’s all that matters.

  • absGeekNZ@lemmy.nz
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    22 days ago

    I can’t buy one, they are not available in NZ yet. Despite what anyone else says, I like the look, it looks like the bastard child of a delorian and a countach, but in a good way.

    I wouldn’t buy one despite the fact that I like it. It is far too big for NZ roads, I may have overlooked that. But I can’t overlook the fact that Elon has, for me at least, destroyed any good will that was built up. Tesla and all the people who work there have been tarred with the Nazi brush that Elon is wielding.

    The only way that Tesla could claw back any respect from me (and hopefully the rest of the world) would be to oust Elon, and all his family from any decision making in the company. It will not happen so my respect for them is gone!

  • sorghum@sh.itjust.works
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    23 days ago

    It’s the price. I want a truck, not a Cadillac with a bed. A truck is meant for work not be a pavement princess. $50k was already high and the truck market is still stupid on price with most trucks going over $60k and Cybertruck starts at $75.5k. If the price was what Elon said when he announced the Cybertruck, it would be flying off the shelves $40k

      • AA5B@lemmy.world
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        23 days ago

        As and when announced, it would have been one of the cheapest EVs. I’m not interested in a truck, but that announced price and done of the technology they promised, were very tempting. However now we see how preorders based on just an announcement are risky

        • jballs@sh.itjust.works
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          23 days ago

          Exactly, they were taking reservations at the $40k price for a really long time. I was looking to buy an EV in 2021 and at that price, it was significantly cheaper than anything being sold. I laughed at how fucking ugly the thing was, but it was so cheap that I didn’t hesitate to put down a reservation.

          Then when it was released, it was like $100k. Ain’t no way am I paying that for that piece of shit. And in the meantime, Elon went full on Nazi. I could kind of ignore his dumbfuckery back in 2021 but not now.

  • LovableSidekick@lemmy.world
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    22 days ago

    Probably would have helped if it didn’t look cobbled together out of sheet metal for a low-budget post-apocalypse movie. I picture Humungus standing up in it chasing Mel Gibson.

  • Aeri@lemmy.world
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    22 days ago

    I wouldn’t take a cybertruck if it was free, ignoring musk entirely it’s just a bad vehicle.

    The only place I’ll drive a Cybertruck is in Fortnite because there I want my car to be unsafe.

  • jaschen@lemm.ee
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    22 days ago

    I was one of those that put down a deposit and happily waited for this truck to replace my 25 year old car. Then after he called the diver/rescuers pedophiles, I was instantly turned off. Now I actively push others to not buy a Tesla and refer to all Teslas as a Nazi mobile.

    Get fucked Elon.

  • floofloof@lemmy.ca
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    23 days ago

    The best thing they could do for their sales is get rid of all ties to Elon Musk.

    • BrianTheeBiscuiteer@lemmy.world
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      23 days ago

      I definitely would’ve considered Tesla as my first EV but as of now they’re dead to me. If he was completely gone then that actually becomes a selling point for me.

    • CosmoNova@lemmy.world
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      23 days ago

      While true this still won’t make the Cyberdrumpf meet EU regulations. You can’t make it street legal here.

      • snooggums@lemmy.world
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        23 days ago

        Also have anyone who understands basic car design point out why shit like door opening buttons are a terrible idea in emergencies. Or why requiring the doors to lock during a software update is stupid. Or why putting electronics not designed for extreme heat is terrible. Or that trying to use cameras in bad weather isn’t any better than human eyes…

        • andyburke@fedia.io
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          23 days ago

          It’s all 5d chess technology that us plebs would never understand, what with our preference for simple, maintainable shit.

        • floofloof@lemmy.ca
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          23 days ago

          I’m sure people pointed out all of those things and were overruled by the Nazi manchild in charge.

      • ms.lane@lemmy.world
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        23 days ago

        Or even better, get Olivier Boulet (of Mitsubishi infamy) to do their future designs so we can put the company out of its misery.