Tesla Cybertruck amasses a million pre-orders worth $37 billion

The Tesla Cybertruck, which was first revealed in November 2019, continues to attract more interest from potential buyers. A clue to the massive market enthusiasm came early after the reveal when in barely after week, 200,000 people had placed a deposit on the radical pickup. It also helps that the deposit is a refundable US$ 100 (Rs 7,401).

Latest Cybertruck reservation or pre-booking data, as of May 25, 2021 is 1.08 million or 1,084,200 units. The most popular variant is the Dual Motor AWD Cybertruck with 48% (520,416 units) of the pre-bookings. This variant delivers over 480 kilometres of range, has a 0-100kph time of less than 4.5 seconds, a towing capacity of over 10,000 pounds (4,535kg) and costs $ 49,900 (Rs 37 lakh).

Next up is the Tri-Motor configured variant with 44.5% (482,469 units), followed by 7.5% for the Single Motor variant (81,315 units). Production of the Tri-Motor Cybertruck is slated to begin in late 2022, Last week, Tesla tweeted a video of the Cybertruck moving around Times Square.

Given the 1,084,200 pre-bookings in hand and the model-wise split, let’s do the math. 

Put it all together and the pre-bookings for the three Tesla Cybertruck variants, if they translate into confirmed sales, adds up to $ 36,97,02,48,600 or $29.75 million short of the $ 37 billion milestone. Not bad for a product with zero advertising other than Elon Musk’s vast fan following.

Small reservation fee  a Cybertruck demand driver?
A Finbold report explains some of the driving factors in record Cybertruck reservations alongside the potential impact on deliveries. The research report says: “The massive interest in the Cybertruck also reflects the conditions set by Tesla for reserving the vehicle since customers need to deposit a refundable $100. The amount is affordable, but analysts have remained skeptical about the reservation numbers getting converted into deliveries. In the end, Tesla fans can take the money from their bank account, reserve the Cybertruck and get a refund later.”

Will Tesla be able to cater to this humungous demand for the Cybertruck? The million pre-bookings are more than the 866,750 total vehicles delivered by Tesla in two years between 2019 and 2020.

Last year, the company delivered 499,550 vehicles, while in 2019, the figure stood at 367,200. New Tesla factories being constructed in Texas and Berlin would help ramp up production.

Meanwhile, Tesla could be facing competition from GM and Ford, both of whom have announced their entry into the electric truck market.