“I was so excited. And then totally let down.”
Cybertrauma
It’s been a disastrous week for Tesla CEO Elon Musk, from throwing a massive tantrum on stage and telling X advertisers to go “fuck” themselves, to a comedically half-assed delivery event of the EV maker’s long-awaited Cybertruck.
Strikingly, the company’s notoriously die-hard fans aren’t amused. The truck is considerably more expensive than what was promised back in 2019, and its range also leaves plenty to be desired, making its direct competition look a whole lot more desirable.
After four long years of hype and empty promises, the EV maker’s most fervent supporters can’t help but feel deflated.
“Was anyone else disappointed with the CyberTruck Introduction?” reads a top post on the Cybertruck subreddit.
“Was anyone impressed?” another user replied. “Serious question.”
Trucked Up
The Cybertruck may start at a considerable $60,990, but that’s a bottom-tier trim that won’t be available for over a year, if it ever even sees the light of day.
To realistically get their hands on a truck within the next 13 or so months, customers will have to dig a lot deeper than that, with the top-shelf model going for an eye-watering $100,000.
But even at that price, the specs simply don’t add up to much, the Cybertruck’s insane acceleration notwithstanding.
To get anywhere near the 500-mile range Musk promised at the truck’s initial unveiling, customers will have to purchase an optional range extender.
And that’s not to mention the massive cut to range users will incur if they load practically anything in their truck bed.
“This is the worst, omg,” one redditor commented on a post discussing the extender, which, according to Musk, will eat up a third of the truck’s bed.
“Well I am going to have to wait until battery tech catches up,” another user added.
“Oh yeah, the range extender would defeat the purpose of having a truck,” one particularly disappointed fan wrote. “If I can’t use a good portion of the bed, what’s the point?”
It’s not every day you see Tesla fans discussing the viability of the EV maker’s competitors. A dual motor extended range Ford F-150 Lightning costs roughly the same as the mid-range Cybertruck with comparable specs. Rivian’s R1T also starts at $73,000, putting it in the same ballpark.
In short, the Cybertruck is starting to look like a fairly terrible deal. And the disappointment among fans is palpable.
“I was so excited. And then totally let down,” one user wrote. “Tesla blew their biggest chance to really WOW the public.”
More on the truck: The Cybertruck’s Actual Price Just Dropped and Yikes
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