Elon Musk tweeted Saturday that Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) has received over 146,000 pre-orders for its new pickup truck.
Tesla unveiled its Blade Runner-inspired Cybertruck at a promotional event in Los Angeles last Thursday. The electric-powered vehicle, which is made of cold-rolled steel and features armored glass, starts at $39,900 and will come in three variants.
“146k Cybertruck orders so far, with 42% choosing dual (Tesla’s middle-tier model priced from $49,900), 41% tri & 17% single motor”, Musk said in his tweet, noting that the reservations, which require a $100 refundable deposit, were achieved without any advertising or paid endorsements.
Tesla said it plans to start manufacturing the truck around late 2021.
The launch of the Cybertruck suffered a minor setback during its much-anticipated unveiling when it saw its armored glass windows smashed — twice. To prove Musk’s claim the car was “bulletproof” against a 9mm handgun, Tesla’s head designer threw a metal ball at one of its armored windows.
“Oh my f…. God,” Musk exclaimed after large cracks broke the window. “Well, maybe that was a little too hard.”
This came as a shock to Musk who said they had run extensive tests before.
“We threw wrenches, we threw everything even literally the kitchen sink at the glass and it didn’t break. For some weird reason, it broke now,” Musk said drawing laughs. “I don’t know why. We will fix it in post.”
The Cybertruck has a range of up to 500 miles on a single charge, over 14,000 pounds of towing capacity, and 0-60 mph in under 2.9 seconds. In a tweet, Musk described the pickup as “Better truck than an F-150, faster than a Porsche 911.”
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