Musk unveils Tesla’s electric ‘Cybertruck’ at $39,000

Los Angeles, Nov 22 (IANS) Taking on the pickup truck marker leader Ford, Tesla CEO Elon Musk finally unveiled the ambitious six-seater electric “Cybertruck” at a packed house here that will soon be seen on the roads.

Starting at $39,900, “Cybertruck” is inspired by “Lotus Esprit S1” from the Bond film “The Spy Who Loved Me”.

The truck will come in three versions with 250 miles, 300 miles and 500 miles of range, respectively.

“Tesla Cybertruck(pressurized edition) will be official truck of Mars. Cybertruck design influenced partly by The Spy Who Loved Me,” tweeted Musk.

According to research firm IHS Markit, the Ford F-150 has been the top-selling pickup truck in the US for more than 40 years, followed by GM’s Chevrolet Silverado.

Pickup trucks are currently the fastest-growing segment in the US.

At the Los Angeles event at the Tesla Design Centre late Thursday, Musk took a dig at Ford, showing a video of a “tug of war” between F-150 and the Cybertruck.

In June this year, the Tesla CEO said the truck would start at “less than $50,000,” putting it between the starting price of the Model 3 (currently $39,400) and the Model S (currently $79,990) sedans.

Musk originally planned to reveal the truck earlier this year, but extended the launch event to November.