Cars and Drivers

Tesla Gets Orders For 146,000 Pick-Ups, But Will Anyone Actually Buy Them?

Douglas A. McIntyre

Published: November 24, 2019 7:44 am

Last Updated: January 6, 2020 12:58 am

According to Tesla CEO Elon Musk, 146,000 people have put down a tiny refundable, $100 “pre-order fee,” for his Cybertruck pick-up. Since the people have no obligation to buy the trucks, and Tesla does not have an exact date for release, few of the people may actually take delivery. Tesla has had a problem with getting its vehicles out the door on time before.

Musk tweeted–“146k Cybertruck orders so far, with 42% choosing dual, 41% tri & 17% single motor”. The way the trucks will be built and delivered is up in the air. So are final configurations of the vehicles. The truck comes in three versions but Tesla has only given the broadest description of their features. The base single motor with rear wheel drive will cost $39,900. A dual motor all wheel drive version will cost $49,000. A tri motor version will be priced at $69,900.

In 2016, when Tesla introduced its low end Model 3, 400,000 people put down deposits to buy one. Experts believe that many of these people never took delivery. They either got tired of waiting to get a Model 3, which suffered several delays in delivery time. Or, they bought a competitor like the Nissan Leaf. Or, they abandoned electric cars completely and bought a gas powered or hybrid vehicle.

While people wait for the Tesla pick up, other large car companies will come to market with electric pick ups. Some will just be announced, and others may reach the delivery phase. So far, Tesla’s models have made it to market ahead of most competition, despite delays. The electric car business has accelerated enough so that this may not happen again.