After delaying the Cybertruck until late 2022 earlier this year, Tesla has removed all mentions of pricing, specs, and model information from the Cybertruck reservation website overnight, leading many to believe a price increase is coming.
Now, the page simply has a “Buy Now” button where customers can reserve their own with a refundable $100 deposit and says that “you will be able to complete your configuration as production nears in 2022.”
Could Tesla be preparing a price increase or even a redesign? It’s hard to know, as they’re pretty quiet when it comes to these things. That said, during Tesla’s shareholder meeting on Oct. 7, Musk attributed the delay to parts supply issues as it develops new battery technology that will be used in the Cybertruck.
Before today, the website offered three different models to choose from, including an affordable single-motor RWD option starting at $39,900, which was the cheapest vehicle on its entire website in late 2021.
- Single Motor RWD with 250+ miles of range, 0-60 in 6.5 seconds, and starting price of $39,900
- Dual Motor AWD with 300+ miles of range, 0-60 in 4.5 seconds, and starting price of $49,900
- Tri Motor AWD with 500+ miles of range, 0-60 in 2.9 seconds, and starting price of $69,900
Tesla first unveiled the Cybertruck way back in November of 2019, and since then, a lot has changed. For starters, the entry-level Cybertruck was more expensive than several cars available, which is no longer the case.
Similar to the silent overnight change to the Cybertruck website today, Tesla has slowly increased the price of its vehicles throughout 2021. For example, at the beginning of the year, the base Model 3 cost $36,990, but now it starts at $41,990 after several small increases in July, plus the latest overnight price increase in early October.
With all these changes throughout the year, the most affordable Cybertruck reservation made it the cheapest vehicle in Tesla’s lineup. Obviously, that’s unlikely, which is why there’s a good chance we’ll see some changes before the truck is released.
A lot has changed in the EV market since the vehicle first debuted nearly two years ago, including battery technology and the level of competition. As a result, there’s a chance we could see tweaks to the design, upgrades to the battery, or more before the Cybertruck’s inevitable release in late 2022 and early 2023.
Who knows, maybe all these Cybertruck delays are worse than we thought.
via Electrek
