Ford killed the F-150 Lightning because nobody wanted it. Tesla’s Cybertruck is selling even worse—but Elon Musk refuses to let it die. In this documentary, we uncover the hidden truth behind the spectacular collapse of the Tesla Cybertruck, how a promised $39,900 revolution turned into a depreciating six-figure nightmare, and how Musk is quietly using his own private rocket company to buy up unsold inventory just to keep the numbers from cratering.
Most people never had any interest whatsoever to begin with.
Ford killed the F-150 Lightning because nobody wanted it.
Wasn’t it the most sold EV shortly after launch?
Dealers fucked Ford Corporate’s EV strategy, by adding fees and slowing down sales on the EV versions, and using the wait-list to try to sell people on a truck today.
There have also been statements by Ford’s CEO that there were design lessons learned from the F-150 Lightning and Mustang Mach E about being more thoughtful and efficient with wiring and harnesses to save weight/material/cost with a dedicated EV platform rather than adding an EV powertrain to a vehicle designed for ICE powertrains.
The small truck they’re going to release next year should show some of the lessons learned.
I’m confused. So it wasn’t selling? I thought it was doing fine, but I’ve been wrong enough times to know better.
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Expensive for no reason
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Poor range because it has the aero of a barn
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Shit for towing
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It wasn’t selling at the volumes Ford expected, in large part because dealers were refusing to order enough to keep in inventory. So it was a paradoxical problem where customers were expressing interest on waitlists, but the manufacturer was seeing soft demand. The dealers basically would try to upsell them on the ICE version of the same truck decked out with high-margin options.
Thank you, that clears it up.
It was selling the best of all Ev trucks.
But
It wasn’t selling enough, and had recall / cost problems to make it hard to justify continuing. It was the first go, so usually auto makers count that one as an RnD project to learn from for the next one
Companies have a vision of about 90 days out at max now because shareholders want returns NOW so anything thats not an instant overblowing success affects stocks negatively and ceos are scrambling. See the gaming and tech industries as well.
I dislike that EVs have to look different though. Audis A range looks fierce, the Q range looks goofy and shit.
Never mind the fact that they have a new midsize EV pickup truck coming out next year.
Yep. And yet they only sold ~25k of them, with sales dropping off incredibly quickly toward the end. Even the hybrid sold ~85k units. I would never buy one but I know 2 people who have them, and I have done a couple of road trips in it. It is really really nice. The infotainment is the best I’ve seen in any modern vehicle. It still has physical buttons!
among other things, what disappoints me the most about EVs on sale nowadays–and cybertruck is a GLARING posterchild for all these issues (and more!)–is all the stupid bells and whistles. the obscene and stupid upcharge for shit i don’t need and didn’t ask for.
i’m excited for the Slate truck because the climate control interface is MECHANICAL KNOBS AND DIALS!!! there’s no distracting pointlessly complicated “infotainment system”. there’s no infuriating touch screen locking away fundamental features like drive control - YEAH NO THANKS I’D LIKE TO GO FROM DRIVE TO PARK TO REVERSE WITHOUT HAVING TO POKE A GODDAMN SHEET OF GLASS OKAY???
i’ll opt for the power windows, MAYBE the tablet mount-
(so i can bring MY OWN that won’t be obsolete and unsupported by ugly dysfunctional proprietary software from the vehicle manufacturer that they don’t even update anymore within a year or two of purchase)
-and ALSO maybe the speakers since i like to listen to podcasts and music etc while i drive sometimes.i don’t need a goddamn AI Datacenter on wheels.
I JUST WANT A MACHINE
THAT TURNS ELECTRICITY
INTO GOING SOMEWHERE.ok. Everyone says this on the Internet, but in the real world they buy a different car because of the color of the LEDs inside.
Car companies learned a long time ago to learn from sales, not what people say they want to buy.
I’ll refute that to say packages killed it. Bundling options together means that if you want this one specific feature, for example power windows, then that package also comes with cruise control, lane assist, infotainment screens, etc. It jumbles up the data.
The car market is so weird, plenty of cars like that in the rest of world.
Even Ford sells the Puma here, small electric car, but it’s not available in the US for some reason 😅
it’s a racket. most assuredly. the whole united states is a cash cow. an entire herd of captive consumers whom The Epstein Class expect to either a) BUY THE SLOP or b) DIE.
The Ford Puma is an suv, not a small electric car (I don’t like how tall it is, length is ok, tho), it starts at €30k (already including the government aid, and probably handing your old car) so hardly affordable. And the central console is just a massive touchscreen, the only buttons are on the wheel, lots of them, which the OC didn’t mention but I, personally, hate whit a passion.
The one and only Ford Puma
The new Puma is just a Mach-e
Definitely not an suv. It’s a compact crossover, which is marketing code for small 4 door car with hatchback. It has zero sport utility vehicle ability. Quick comparison, it’s basically a Mustang Mach-e but they changed the name for Europe.
SUV is literally how Ford is marketing it, in my country at least, I took it directly from their website.
This is one reason I drive a BMW i4. It’s got some gimmicks, sure, but it’s mostly just an EV that looks like a regular car.
There’s plenty of much cheaper regular-looking EVs outside North America, too. The US is too busy protecting the low-quality local car market to allow better, cheaper models to be sold in the country.
There’s plenty of much cheaper regular-looking EVs outside North America, too
Looking at the top 10 selling EVe in the US, it’s Tesla with the top 2, then 5 vehicles you’d only know are EVs if you follow this stuff closely (looks like a normal crossover SUV from the outside, normal driving controls in the driver’s seat, mostly tactile buttons and knobs for controlling radio and climate), a Rivian, then 2 semi-normal vehicles.
It’s mainly crossover SUVs (Tesla 3 sedan and the Ford F-150 pickup being the main exceptions), but that’s mostly true of America’s top selling gasoline vehicles, too, at least after the pickups.
Interesting, I didn’t realize that so many popular EVs in the US just look like normal cars.
The US is only 5% of worldwide EV sales, and things are very different outside the USA! Out of the top 20 EVs worldwide last year, only three are sold in the USA - the Tesla Model 3 and Y, and the VW ID.4.
There’s big differences in price, too. The BYD Seagull (#5 most popular) is $8k in China or AU$24k (US$17k) including tax in Australia.
I love my little BYD dolphin essential,
It’s everything I need without much that I don’t
I drive the dolphin from the company work this week, it was the first i drive a EV and automatic car at the same, it feels weird the lack of hand break but it does fine, only reforced to me buy a EV as my next car
Few hybrids have hand brakes these days, and even many combustion powered vehicles
It has a hand brake, but it’s electronically operated and I have it set to automatically operate, because there’s no benefit in not doing that
I’m amused by the notion that Musk thinks they will somehow become more fashionable in another few years.
The whole thing of it was it was supposed to be cutting edge, disruptive, revolutionary, futuristic, hi-tech etc; if people still aren’t going for it three years in, it’s hardly likely they’ll suddenly start being impressed now.
They stopped making these months ago. The have lots filled with unsold trucks. Tesla was supposed to be a build to sell model, but now they build to generate fake sales numbers.
It’s so futuristic that it’s worthless until some point in the distant future.
It’s futuristic in the dystopian, Blade Runneresque future envisioned by Musk. For the rest of us, it’s the dream car a child could have drawn - which is the kindest thing that can be said of that design.
I’m amused by the notion that Musk thinks they will somehow become more fashionable
You’d be surprised. I mean there are people today - retrocomputing enthusiasts - who pay insane amounts of money for 286, 386, 486 beige box PC garbage just because it’s old and rare. Yeah it’s rare: that’s because it’s crap and people my age couldn’t wait to throw it in the trash. In retrospect, I should have kept all that garbage to sell to today’s fools.
The Cybertruck too will be rare some day - for the same reason - and then it’ll be worth a lot of money to collectors with more money than brains.
There are many old rare cars that have no value. Old and rare does not mean valuable.
Sorry I don’t buy this argument. Maybe the first Tesla will be bought some day as a collection prize but the cyber dumpster, hardly.
People buy crappy beige PC because they are culturally significant, the cybertruck is not
People buy crappy beige PC because they are culturally significant, the cybertruck is not
That’s what people of my generation used to say of crappy beige PC: trust me, in the eyes of this beholder, there’s nothing LESS culturally significant than a beige PC of any era - all made in China, all the same, all boring to tears. And yet younger people of today marvel at that no-personality, mass-produced crap of yesteryear. Well, to each his own I guess…
And just by extrapolating what’s happening with crappy PCs today, I guarantee you Cybertrucks will be hot collectors some day. They’re shit, for sure. But they’ll be yesterday’s rare and interesting collectible shit to some young adult of tomorrow, to be bought for unjustifiable sums of money and lovingly restored.
A 21 minute video that never answers the question in the title…
how a promised $39,900 revolution turned into a depreciating six-figure nightmare
That’s not what happened. It was $70k. They’re conflating different models. It’s still completely ridiculous, there’s no reason to BS.
At the reveal, they promised that it would be under $40k. They also claimed that it looked the way it did because of using a steel exoskeleton instead of a traditional frame. It was supposed to be a much cheaper way to produce a car. Then it turned out they couldn’t produce it that way and instead of cutting their losses, they built it on a frame and kept the hideous design by gluing the panels on.
Anymore?
That would be a sick wrap on any car, if real.
Its not a boat ,that’s the reason
If it looked like that I’m sure they could be used for a Mad Max IV: Wowing my ex with my rustbucket
Used Mad Max vehicles sell for way more than used Cybertrucks.
Let’s face it, the dude is stupid.
