The electric pickup truck ‘Cybertruck’ released by Tesla, an American electric vehicle, is hitting the stock price drop with a more expensive starting price and reduced mileage.
According to the 30-day (local time) Tesla North American website, the starting price of the 2025-year-old Sievertruck rear-wheel drive model is $69,900 .
The four-wheel-drive Cybertruck, which will be delivered from the following year, is $70,000 and the high-end model ‘Cyberbeast’ is $99,990 .
The price Tesla presented earlier in the first release of the prototype in November 2019 was $39,000 to $69,900. It is up to 53% more expensive than the previous cost.
Mileage Woes
Mileage was also less than Tesla's earlier specifications.
Tech Professional Review with 17.8 million subscribers, YouTube Marquez Brownie, left a review of the early delivery on the 29th.
According to him, the first mileage of the Sievertruck fell 32% to 340 miles (547 km), unlike the promised 500 miles (804 km). For this reason, after the launch, the ‘price increased and the mileage decreased’ was criticized.
Elon Musk's Defense
Pre-conscious, Elon Musk, Tesla's chief executive officer, felt good about the price and mileage of the Sievertruck as he appeared at the Sievertruck India event in Austin, Texas, this day.
Instead, Musk directly drove the Sievertruck luxury model and appeared at the venue, highlighting that it was “stronger, more practical than traditional pickup trucks and faster than sports cars”.
To this end, Musk showed the same car and a video that won the race speed race at this day's event, with Sabertruck towing the sports car Porsche 911.
Production Challenges and Market Competition
In addition, to demonstrate the bodywork performance of stainless steel alloy materials, bulletproof experiments through pistol shooting and impact experiments using baseball tools were also shown.
But even in his efforts, the shipments of Sabertruck on this day were only 12, which was in stark contrast to the pre-booking of more than 2 million.
The bodywork material of the Sievertruck is stainless steel, which is said to have a high cost, such as production time and assembly difficulty. Because of this, Sabertruck has been delayed by many years until its first shipment, and to this day, the mass production method is still unfinished.
Moreover, the unique straight design showed a shortcut, such as a body junction, which was also acclaimed by Bloomberg's ‘Tesla's nightmare’.
As expected of the headwind, Musk last month “It would take up to 18 months for the Sievertruck to contribute to Tesla's cash flow” and “We are digging a grave with a Sievertruck” even self-helpful remarks.
Stock Price Impact and Competitive Landscape
Stock prices were also affected. Tesla shares closed at $240.08, down 1.66% from the previous day in regular transactions. Off-hour transactions fell 1.7% more.
Meanwhile, Tesla was in a situation where he had to compete with Ford Motor's electric pickup truck ‘F-150 Lightning’ and Rivian's ‘R1T’.
Their starting prices are $50,000 and $73,000 , which is advantageous over Sabertruck in price competitiveness.
Low Shipment Numbers and Bodywork Material Challenges
"Despite Musk's efforts, the shipments of Sabertruck on this day were only 12, which was in stark contrast to the pre-booking of more than 2 million."
The bodywork material of the Sievertruck is stainless steel, which is said to have a high cost, such as production time and assembly difficulty.
