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Tesla Cybertruck reservations peak at over 1 million units, Dual Motor most popular

Credit: @stevenbrnnn | Twitter

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An online Tesla Cybertruck reservation tracker shows that net reservations for the all-electric pickup have peaked at over 1 million pre-orders. The Cybertruck was unveiled in November 2019 and has accumulated an estimated 1,084,200 pre-orders so far, with the most popular variant being the Dual Motor All-Wheel Drive configuration.

An online Cybertruck reservation tracker that was created around the time of the November 2019 event has tracked nearly every pre-order of the all-electric pickup. It recently crossed the 1,000,000 reservation mark, making it one of the most anticipated Tesla vehicles of all time, without a doubt. Due to its interesting, unorthodox, and robust look, the Cybertruck attracted curiosity from all walks of life: EV owners, pickup owners, and even those who have not yet obtained a driver’s license. However, the demand for the Cybertruck points to one thing for sure, the employees at Giga Texas will be busy, and they’re going to be producing Cybertrucks in massive volumes for years to come.

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According to the reservation tracker, there are 1,084,200 estimated reservations for the Cybertruck. The most popular variant is the Dual Motor All-Wheel-Drive configuration that packs over 300 miles of range, a 0-60 MPH time of less than 4.5 seconds, a towing capacity of over 10,000 pounds, and costs $49,990. 48% of reservation holders have chosen this Cybertruck variant, while 44.5% have chosen the Tri-Motor configuration. Only 7.5% have gone with the Single Motor build; Tesla has stated that it will produce this vehicle in late 2022, a year after Cybertruck production is expected to begin.

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Credit: Cybertruck Reservation Tracker

It appears that several sources have indicated that an increase in pre-orders may have occurred recently due to the fresh unveiling of Ford’s all-electric F-150 Lightning. Gali of HyperChange pointed out that some electric truck buyers may have been waiting for Ford to unveil their specs of the F-150 so they could decide what vehicle to purchase. While Rivian is also floating out there with imminent deliveries of the R1T, some buyers may be waiting for the Normal, Illinois-based company to deliver a few thousand units to examine build quality, advantages and disadvantages of the car, and how much other drivers enjoy the Rivian platform.

Gali believes that the Cybertruck’s premium specs were an indication that it was a better option than the F-150, according to truck buyers.

“What it boils down to is, if you’re buying this F-150, you’re paying a premium to the Cybertruck at every level,” Gali said. “You’re paying more money for a car with less range, less towing capacity, less speed.”

Additionally, analyst Gary Black stated that Tesla was “flooded with inquiries following Ford F-150 EV event last week,” according to a Tesla salesperson in Chicago. “Orders for all models are through the roof,” Black said.

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The Cybertruck is slated for a late 2021 production date, but CEO Elon Musk does believe that volume production will begin at Giga Texas next year. If we get lucky, we’ll be able to do a few deliveries toward the end of this year, but I expect volume production to be in 2022,” Musk said.

Check out Gali of HyperChange’s thoughts on the Cybertruck’s comparison to the F-150 Lightning below!

What do you think? Let us know in the comments below, or be sure to email me at joey@teslarati.com or on Twitter @KlenderJoey.

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Joey has been a journalist covering electric mobility at TESLARATI since August 2019. In his spare time, Joey is playing golf, watching MMA, or cheering on any of his favorite sports teams, including the Baltimore Ravens and Orioles, Miami Heat, Washington Capitals, and Penn State Nittany Lions. You can get in touch with joey at joey@teslarati.com. He is also on X @KlenderJoey. If you're looking for great Tesla accessories, check out shop.teslarati.com

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Tesla Semi enters new Pilot Program with interesting challenge

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Credit: PTI

The Tesla Semi is entering a new Pilot Program with Paper Transport, LLC (PTI), a Wisconsin-based transportation provider. The company will test the Semi’s Long Range configuration through “dedicated operations within the Chicago market.”

Chicago presents an interesting challenge for the Semi, as it will be a colder-weather climate that will test the Semi’s ability to operate in lower temperatures and in potentially large accumulations of snow. This is something Tesla has been testing with the Semi in Alaska and even in Northern California during the colder months, but Chicago will present a truly tough midwestern winter.

Tesla Semi spotted on journey home after winter performance testing

PTI says it is using the Semi to evaluate its strategy of reducing transportation emissions while maintaining performance, reliability, and cost efficiency. These are major arguments for the Semi being introduced into new fleets.

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CEO of PTI Tyler Ellison said:

“PTI has been a leader in sustainable transportation solutions for over 15 years. We take a consultative approach to helping customers identify and implement the right transportation solution for their network. Our partnership with Tesla expands our portfolio alongside renewable natural gas and intermodal, giving customers more ways to reduce Scope 3 emissions without compromising service or economics.”

PTI is far from the first company to adopt the Semi within a fleet, as Tesla entered strategic agreements with PepsiCo. and its subsidiary Frito-Lay for a Pilot Program that extended throughout the California region.

Tesla has let companies like those utilize the Semi to determine whether it would be suitable for their operations. Additionally, Tesla gets valuable information regarding the Semi’s performance, knowing what to improve and what is ideal for companies that will utilize the all-electric truck for regional and nationwide logistics.

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PTI plans to utilize the Long Range configuration, which is priced at $290,000 and features a range of approximately 500 miles, a three-motor powertrain, up to 800 kW of drive power, and consumption of just 1.7 kWh per mile.

Tesla Semi pricing revealed after company uncovers trim levels

VP of Maintenance at PTI, Bryan Ellen, added:

“We are excited to partner with Tesla, leveraging their ever-evolving technology. We are bullish in our estimation of the parallels available between our dedicated model and the efficiency of their fully electric Class 8 tractor. We anticipate a growing synergy between our businesses as we work to facilitate this sustainable solution for our customers.”

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PTI has logged more than 87 million miles using sources like compressed and renewable gas, but now is looking to take it a step further with fully electric operations.

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Tesla is building a wheelchair-accessible Robotaxi

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A beautiful spring landscape at SoFi Stadium with lush green palm trees and plants with powerful clouds at sunset in Inglewood California USA. (Credit: Tesla)

Tesla revealed on Monday that it is building a new autonomous vehicle at Gigafactory Texas, its plant just outside of the City of Austin. This particular vehicle will be geared toward those who are in need of a wheelchair-accessible car that would require no human driver for operation.

According to a new report from Wired, Tesla’s Senior Policy Advisor, India Herdman, told members of the Washington D.C. City Council on Monday:

“We are in development for a purpose-built, wheelchair-accessible autonomous vehicle. We know that paratransit can be very difficult, and people who are confined to wheelchairs permanently should still be able to move around freely, so that is an active product being built by Tesla in Texas.”

This builds upon what CEO Elon Musk said last year on X, which confirmed the company was working on accessible rides within its Robotaxi platform, which currently is confined to the Model Y.

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Tesla is also developing the Cybercab, which started employee rides last week. However, this vehicle is not necessarily geared toward wheelchair accessibility.

That leaves a major gap in the autonomous ride-sharing program that Tesla is attempting to build; the company has been pretty clear that it does not want to complicate its manufacturing lines by bringing in a wide array of body styles.

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However, it seems necessary to have something larger that could help transport people to appointments when they cannot drive. For wheelchair accessibility, the Robovan, which was unveiled at the “We, Robot” event in October 2024, seems to be the most ideal solution:

Tesla unveils the Robovan at ‘We, Robot’ event

Herdman did not indicate whether she was referring to the Robovan or if Tesla is building yet another body style that is geared toward full autonomy but also caters to the handicapped.

Tesla might need to develop something specifically for the handicapped in order to align with the Americans with Disabilities Act, which prevents discrimination against people with disabilities in transportation services. Uber was hit with a lawsuit late last year for “refusing to reasonably modify its policies, practices, or procedures where necessary to avoid discriminating against riders with disabilities.”

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Tesla would obviously like to avoid this.

It will be interesting to see what Tesla will do with this project, and whether it will introduce something new to the market or just continue with the Robovan.

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Tesla weirdly confirms Cybercab employee rides, a huge milestone

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla weirdly confirmed that its steering wheel-less and pedal-less Cybercab vehicle is now in the process of giving employees rides, a huge milestone for the vehicle program.

But the entire thing was super strange. On Friday, Tesla released a video stating that there was “Cool news from Giga Texas” and that employees were now taking rides in Cybercabs that have no manual controls. The units seen on public roads are engineering vehicles that have manual controls inside, a necessity as Tesla moved through the testing phase.

However, Tesla removed the video and reposted it shortly after with a more vague title. It seems like the employee rides are still going, but the video was adjusted slightly. The initial upload showed employees doing things like watching movies and adjusting the climate, but these snippets were removed in the second upload.

Both images below were uploaded with the first video, but were removed after Tesla re-uploaded the announcement. These are not available in the second upload

tesla cybercab with no manual controls showing a movie with two employees inside

Credit: Tesla

tesla cybercab with no manual controls showing a movie with two employees inside

Credit: Tesla

Nevertheless, the announcement from Tesla is that the Cybercab is operating with employees inside who can control the vehicle’s audio, video, climate, and destination settings through their smartphone app.

Tesla has already been testing Cybercab engineering units, but last month, it was able to self-certify for SAE Level 4, which would enable unsupervised self-driving in Texas. The company is moving toward that, and the plans have always been to launch Cybercab rides this year.

The Cybercab is potentially looked at as the next generation of Tesla’s mobility leg. For the past 15 years, the company has been known as somewhat of an automaker, among many other things. However, these passenger vehicles that Tesla has manufactured are now moving into a new realm, as they will eventually drive themselves with no supervision thanks to the Full Self-Driving suite.

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Tesla flexes how it will help the blind with Cybercab

The Cybercab is just the next step of that: a true vehicle developed for the sole purpose of ride-hailing. It has no human controls, it has only two seats, and it will get passengers from Point A to Point B with no awkward driver, no need for manual inputs, and with no stress.

Tesla is moving forward with other developments related to the Cybercab project as well. However, the big announcement will come when Tesla finally announces that it is launching Cybercab rides to the general public, something that it plans to launch either late this year or early 2027.

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