Lucid hosted an impressive unveiling event of the Air on September 9th, showing the vehicle’s four different configurations and the remarkable performance specifications of the Dream Edition. With 517 miles of range and some of the fastest acceleration rates ever seen on an electric vehicle, the EV community widely speculated on how Tesla would manage to compete with Lucid’s newly-introduced technology and speed, and the Cybertruck seems to fit the bill.
The Cybertruck from Tesla would match Lucid’s range and performance specifications, while also offering versatility for tasks such as construction and camping. The Lucid Air Dream Edition also doesn’t have something that the Cybertruck does: affordability.
The Tesla Cybertruck Tri-Motor variant starts at $69,990 while offering 500+ miles of range and 0-60 times that are under 2.9 seconds. To obtain a Dream Edition Air, consumers will pay $100,000 more.
The consumer base of the two vehicles will likely be vastly different. The Cybertruck’s affordability across its three variants will prove to be a bigger seller, especially considering the truck has an estimated 500,000+ pre-orders ahead of its planned initial production phase.
Lucid will attract luxury car buyers across all of their variants for the Air. Its high-quality interior, executive rear seats, high-tech features, and sleek sedan design all make for a perfect car for those who are willing to spend a little extra.
But the Cybertruck’s tech shows one thing, and it is the fact that Tesla is capable of competing with Lucid in terms of range and performance.
On top of that, Tesla’s timeframe for the production of the Cybertruck was moved up to May 2021, which is around the same time that Lucid plans to begin deliveries of the Air’s Dream Edition.
A few months ago, Teslarati reported that Elon Musk has a tendency to announce big developments as other automakers are gaining momentum. When Nikola started to see traction with its Semi trucks, Musk announced that the Tesla Semi would begin “volume production” in a timely fashion.
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- Credit: Twitter | @zfescht
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- The Tesla Semi visits Yandell Truckaway. (Photo: Arash Malek)
The Cybertruck also pulled wind from the sails of Rivian, who had planned to introduce the first fully-electric pickup to the market with the R1T. However, the Cybertruck took over a massive amount of the appeal because of its unique design and sci-fi event, which captured the attention of millions.
In the grand scheme of things, Tesla has the Cybertruck, and it plans to offer it in the U.S. market where the pickup is widely popular. It is more affordable, offers impressive range ratings that are comparable with the Air, and has excellent performance. It is sure to capture a broad consumer group because of its specifications.
Meanwhile, the Air will appeal to luxury sedan buyers, who are not necessarily worried about performance. These buyers look for exclusivity, brand prestige, build quality, and a high-end consumer experience, according to Limelight. Lucid will be able to offer all of these things apart from prestige, simply because of its startup label. However, electromobility will appeal to some high-end car buyers, and the Air could be the answer to those needs.
Although the Cybertruck and Air are two different cars completely, Tesla is proving outright that it is capable of creating a truck that has versatility and a useful platform, while offering comparable performance and range specifications for significantly less money.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk hints Tesla investors will be rewarded heavily
“Hold onto your Tesla stock. It’s going to be worth a lot, I think. That’s my bet,” Musk said.
Elon Musk recently hinted that he believes Tesla investors will be rewarded heavily if they continue to hold onto their shares, and he reiterated that in a new interview that the company released on its social accounts this week.
Musk is one of the most successful CEOs in the modern era and has mammothed competitors on the Forbes Net Worth List over the past year as his holdings in his various companies have continued to swell.
Tesla investors, especially those who have been holding shares for several years, have also felt substantial gains in their portfolios. Over the past five years, the stock is up over 78 percent. Since February 2019, nearly seven years ago to the day, the stock is up over 1,800 percent.
Musk said in the interview:
“Hold onto your Tesla stock. It’s going to be worth a lot, I think. That’s my bet.”
Elon Musk in new interview: “Hold on to your $TSLA stock. It’s going to be worth a lot, I think. That’s my bet.” pic.twitter.com/cucirBuhq0
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) February 26, 2026
It’s no secret Musk has been extremely bullish on his own companies, but Tesla in particular, because it is publicly traded.
However, the company has so many amazing projects that have an opportunity to revolutionize their respective industries. There is certainly a path to major growth on Wall Street for Tesla through its various future projects, including Optimus, Cybercab, Semi, and Unsupervised FSD.
- Optimus (Tesla’s humanoid robot): Musk has discussed its potential for tasks like childcare, walking dogs, or assisting elderly parents, positioning it as a massive long-term driver of company value.
- Cybercab (Tesla’s robotaxi/autonomous ride-hailing vehicle): a fully autonomous vehicle geared specifically for Tesla’s ride-sharing ambitions.
- Semi (Tesla’s electric truck, with mentions of expansion, like in Europe): brings Tesla into the commercial logistics sector.
- Unsupervised FSD (Full Self-Driving software achieving full autonomy without human supervision): turns every Tesla owner’s vehicle into a fully-autonomous vehicle upon release
These projects specifically are some of the highest-growth pillars Tesla has ever attempted to develop, especially in Musk’s eyes, as he has said Optimus will be the best-selling product of all-time.
Many analysts agree, but the bullish ones, like Cathie Wood of ARK Invest, are perhaps the one who believes Tesla has incredible potential on Wall Street, predicting a $2,600 price target for 2030, but this is not even including Optimus.
She told Bloomberg last March that she believes that the project will present a potential additive if Tesla can scale faster than anticipated.
Cybertruck
Tesla drops latest hint that new Cybertruck trim is selling like hotcakes
According to Tesla’s Online Design Studio, the new All-Wheel-Drive Cybertruck will now be delivered in April 2027. Earlier orders are still slated for early this Summer, but orders from here on forward are now officially pushed into next year:
Tesla’s new Cybertruck offering has had its delivery date pushed back once again. This is now the second time, and deliveries for the newest orders are now pushed well into 2027.
According to Tesla’s Online Design Studio, the new All-Wheel-Drive Cybertruck will now be delivered in April 2027. Earlier orders are still slated for early this Summer, but orders from here on forward are now officially pushed into next year:
🚨 Tesla has updated the $59,990 Cybertruck Dual Motor AWD’s estimated delivery date to April 2027.
First deliveries are still slated for June, but if you order it now, you’ll be waiting over a year.
Demand appears to be off the charts for the new Cybertruck and consumers are… pic.twitter.com/raDCCeC0zP
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) February 26, 2026
Just three days ago, the initial delivery date of June 2026 was pushed back to early Fall, and now, that date has officially moved to April 2027.
The fact that Tesla has had to push back deliveries once again proves one of two things: either Tesla has slow production plans for the new Cybertruck trim, or demand is off the charts.
Judging by how Tesla is already planning to raise the price based on demand in just a few days, it seems like the company knows it is giving a tremendous deal on this spec of Cybertruck, and units are moving quickly.
That points more toward demand and not necessarily to slower production plans, but it is not confirmed.
Tesla Cybertruck’s newest trim will undergo massive change in ten days, Musk says
Tesla is set to hike the price on March 1, so tomorrow will be the final day to grab the new Cybertruck trim for just $59,990.
It features:
- Dual Motor AWD w/ est. 325 mi of range
- Powered tonneau cover
- Bed outlets (2x 120V + 1x 240V) & Powershare capability
- Coil springs w/ adaptive damping
- Heated first-row seats w/ textile material that is easy to clean
- Steer-by-wire & Four Wheel Steering
- 6’ x 4’ composite bed
- Towing capacity of up to 7,500 lbs
- Powered frunk
Interestingly, the price offering is fairly close to what Tesla unveiled back in late 2019.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk outlines plan for first Starship tower catch attempt
Musk confirmed that Starship V3 Ship 1 (SN1) is headed for ground tests and expressed strong confidence in the updated vehicle design.
Elon Musk has clarified when SpaceX will first attempt to catch Starship’s upper stage with its launch tower. The CEO’s update provides the clearest teaser yet for the spacecraft’s recovery roadmap.
Musk shared the details in recent posts on X. In his initial post, Musk confirmed that Starship V3 Ship 1 (SN1) is headed for ground tests and expressed strong confidence in the updated vehicle design.
“Starship V3 SN1 headed for ground tests. I am highly confident that the V3 design will achieve full reusability,” Musk wrote.
In a follow-up post, Musk addressed when SpaceX would attempt to catch the upper stage using the launch tower’s robotic arms.
“Should note that SpaceX will only try to catch the ship with the tower after two perfect soft landings in the ocean. The risk of the ship breaking up over land needs to be very low,” Musk clarified.
His remarks suggest that SpaceX is deliberately reducing risk before attempting a tower catch of Starship’s upper stage. Such a milestone would mark a major step towards the full reuse of the Starship system.
SpaceX is currently targeting the first Starship V3 flight of 2026 this coming March. The spacecraft’s V3 iteration is widely viewed as a key milestone in SpaceX’s long-term strategy to make Starship fully reusable.
Starship V3 features a number of key upgrades over its previous iterations. The vehicle is equipped with SpaceX’s Raptor V3 engines, which are designed to deliver significantly higher thrust than earlier versions while reducing cost and weight.
The V3 design is also expected to be optimized for manufacturability, a critical step if SpaceX intends to scale the spacecraft’s production toward frequent launches for Starlink, lunar missions, and eventually Mars.
Elon Musk hints Tesla investors will be rewarded heavily
Tesla drops latest hint that new Cybertruck trim is selling like hotcakes
