Sometimes it’s impossible to kill the hype, and Tesla CEO Elon Musk is proving that as he confirmed 200,000 “orders” for his company’s new Cybertruck despite a less-than-stellar reveal last week.
In a simple tweet Sunday night that just read “200K,” Musk broke the news of the electric truck’s orders, which just means someone paid a $100 “preorder fee” that is refundable.
200k
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 25, 2019
The Cybertruck Motor Vehicle Pre-Order Agreement says that customers who actually want to go through with the purchase must complete some other steps:
“After you submit your completed pre-order and the options you selected become available in production, we will invite you to complete the configuration of your Vehicle. We will then issue you the Vehicle Configuration and Final Price Sheet based on the base price of the model and any options included or that you select.”
An earlier tweet from Musk on Saturday revealed “146k Cybertruck orders so far, with 42% choosing dual, 41% tri & 17% single motor.”
146k Cybertruck orders so far, with 42% choosing dual, 41% tri & 17% single motor
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 23, 2019
A big reason for the huge preorder number is that the Cybertruck has a much lower fee to reserve a vehicle when compared to previous Tesla models. The deposit for the Model Y SUV crossover required a $2,500 deposit, while the Model 3, Tesla’s more affordable vehicle, required customers to put $1,000 down.
And this was all despite the Cybertruck’s reveal that didn’t go according to plan — to say the least. During the presentation Thursday, Musk tried to show how durable the truck’s armored windows are by having Tesla’s design chief swing a metal ball at it. The ball cracked the window, and on a second attempt it produced another crack.
“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,” said a slightly baffled Musk after the blunder. “I don’t know why. We will fix it in post.”
Musk wasn’t shy about why the cracks happened, either, when he revealed the cause in a Twitter response Monday afternoon.
“Yup. Sledgehammer impact on door cracked the base of the glass, which is why the steel ball didn’t bounce off,” he tweeted.
“Should have done steel ball on window, *then* sledgehammer the door. Next time …”
Yup. Sledgehammer impact on door cracked base of glass, which is why steel ball didn’t bounce off. Should have done steel ball on window, *then* sledgehammer the door. Next time …
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 25, 2019
Tesla’s stock plummeted 6.1% Friday after the reveal, but it was up 2.1%, to $340.21, Monday morning around 9:45 a.m. EST.
