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Founded in 2003, Tesla is the top manufacturer of electric vehicles in the US. Led by billionaire CEO Elon Musk, the automaker upended the industry with the futuristic designs and technology of the Gigafactory, the Model S sedan, the Model X SUV, the mass-market Model 3, and soon, the Model Y compact SUV and the unconventional, Blade Runner-inspired pickup Cybertruck. The company has also experienced a number of growing pains on the path to that status as a leader, including public clashes with government agencies, and it commonly faces questions about its technology, issues with its manufacturing, and the treatment of its workforce. The Verge covers all of Tesla’s product launches and ambitions, including energy generation and storage, and the push towards autonomous cars.

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Now that the Cybertruck has been revealed, “let's see how Earth responds to that.”

As Elon said during his DealBook interview earlier in the week. A peek at the r/Cybertruck subreddit finds that while some people are excited about the new EV, and are already preparing to drag race Porsche 911s while towing another Porsche 911, the Cybertruck event didn’t go over well with everyone:

You either throw the steel ball or you don’t bring it up at all. There’s no middle ground you just made a 2nd meme.

I wouldn’t mind a rational price increase but underdelivering on every other aspect - especially range…. Hell nah

Used to the awkward presentations, but being so light on the details like not even mentioning bi-directional and kicking the dual and beast up $30k, just totally wtf.

Maybe I’m dramatic, but I’ve been looking forward to this for almost half a decade, and now it’s unobtainable to me in price. I feel like a dream got crushed.


How much does the Cybertruck really cost?

Tesla has a TON of new accessories for its all-new Cybertruck — camp equipment, snow tires, truck stuff, this $55 decal of a broken window — so I was curious how much a top-trim truck (the tri-motor Cyberbeast version) with all the bells and whistles would cost. Because I assume true Tesla fans are going to want to support their favorite struggling billionaire.

The grand total, including all the accessories and Full Self-Driving, comes out to an eye-watering $126,860. That’s even more than the Hummer EV! And about double the average transaction price for a new truck in the US, according to Edmunds. Cyber-gulp!


How the Tesla Cybertruck has changed since 2019

It’s more expensive and gets less range than originally promised. But it’s still pointy and polarizing.

You can sacrifice almost half of Cybertruck’s bed space for more batteries.

Tesla’s Cybertruck site is introducing an upcoming “Range Extender” option that claims will give the pickup truck up to 470-plus miles of range. The storage-eating hump it leaves reminds me of early compliance EVs.

The automaker blinked on its 2019 promise of a 500-mile Cybertruck at the delivery event yesterday. Instead, Tesla’s highest range is just 340 miles on the new AWD model.


Extend your adventure, go even further with a range extender installed into cybertruck’s bed
You’ll need to get this installed by Tesla, it seems.
Image: Tesla
Today on The Vergecast: Cybertruck details, billionaire drama, and digital gods.

Somehow, even after the Cybertruck launched, we still don’t know how many wipers it has. But we do know a lot more about it, including how to open the door! We also kinda sorta got some closure on the OpenAI drama, but as always the CEOs are still out here saying some wild stuff on stage and on the internet. Thank goodness we have a podcast where we get to loudly ask the digital gods: why?


This Cybertruck can haul two kids for 12 miles on a single charge.

Specifically, we’re talking about the $1,500 kids version now on sale following the Cybertruck delivery event yesterday. It has a max speed of 10mph from a 500W motor, with a 5mph limit option. It features adjustable seats to accommodate 6 to 12-year-olds, air-filled rubber tires, and a 22-volt battery.

It’s a decent companion to the (previously recalled) Tesla Cyberquad for kids ATV, although don’t expect to store one on top of the Cybertruck version.


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Image: Tesla
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Marques goes hands on with the Cybertruck’s windshield wiper

— along with the rest of the truck, too. He’s got a 40-minute video out this morning taking Tesla’s new vehicle for a spin and offering some first impressions.

And yeah, he knows what we’re interested in.


Botched Cybertruck demo immortalized in window sticker.

Tesla’s calling it the OMFG Decal and it can be yours for $55, plus $60,990 for a place to stick it.


As Tesla describes it: “Inspired by the Cybertruck unveil event, this limited-edition window decal celebrates the moment that made us go ‘OMFG’.”
As Tesla describes it: “Inspired by the Cybertruck unveil event, this limited-edition window decal celebrates the moment that made us go ‘OMFG’.”
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Youtube
However many it is… it’s so floppy!

53 seconds into this Cybertruck walkaround video, Mat from Carwow picks up the wiper. And…it’s so floppy! Looks like one blade but still inconclusive.

Thanks to Tyler for the tip — The Verge is America’s leader Cybertruck wiper news source, and it’s all thanks to readers like you.


Tesla can make your Cybertruck black — for $6,500.

The black and white wraps are available as one of many Cybertruck accessories that you can now shop for on Tesla’s website. The company delivered its first Cybertrucks earlier on Thursday.


An image of the black Cybertruck.
The black Cybertruck.
Image: Tesla
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Tesla took a mulligan on the Cybertruck window.

The company’s lead designer Franz von Holzhausen notoriously smashed the Cybertruck’s window with a metal ball bearing in a botched demonstration of the truck’s armor plated glass back in 2019. Today, he got a chance at redemption. But his throws looked a little weak. And is that a baseball I see??


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The Verge
Elon finally jumps on the V2L bandwagon.

According to Tesla’s website, the Cybertruck will be Tesla’s first vehicle to feature bi-directional charging, or vehicl-to-load capabilities. That means to can buy two Cybertrucks and use them to charge each other. Like a shiny, triangular snake eating its own tail.


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The Verge
Okay, here are the prices.

Tesla’s order page just updated to include all the updated prices and range numbers. You can find them all here or in our announcement post that just went up.


Cybertruck doors: apparently very complicated!

As Elon Musk hands off the first production Cybertrucks to owners, he’s had to show almost every single one of them how to open the passenger door. “You just press this button over here,” he keeps saying, pointing to a spot that I think is on the B-pillar, just at the back of the door.

Tesla: lots of interesting ideas about cars, way more weird ideas about how to open them.


And that’s it?

In what can only be described as a very anticlimactic ending, Musk just signed off, and now the Cybertruck’s first customers are getting in their trucks and driving off. All told, that was about 25 minutes, one of Tesla’s shortest events ever.

Still no word on updates about price or range.


In a drag race, the Cybertruck beat a Porsche 911 — while towing another 911.

Some Cybertruck stats from the delivery event: zero to 60mph in 2.6 seconds. A quarter mile in under 11 seconds. Tesla is really getting cocky with these performance figures.


Tesla’s Cybertruck has 11,000 pounds of towing capacity.

Compared to the specifications set in 2019, the capability sits between the original dual-motor that could haul 10,000 pounds and the triple-motor with 14,000 pounds.

Ford’s F-150 Lightning with an extended battery is rated for 10,000 pounds of towing.


The Cybertruck can outpull a F-350 diesel.

At least according to a truck-pull demo, at which Tesla put its truck up against a Ford F-150 Lightning, Rivian R1T, and the aforementioned diesel truck. So, I guess we now know which trucks Tesla thinks it’s competing against.


A bulletproof truck for a gun-obsessed country.

Elon showed a clip of bullets exploding on the Cybertruck’s surface to demonstrate the truck’s durability. I’m not sure a Tommy gun is really the best choice for a real-world test. It’s not like Al Capone is going to be lining up as a customer.


We’ve gone from bulletproof windows to “rock proof.”

Just noting that Franz von Holzhausen weakly threw a baseball at this Cybertruck instead of a rock that broke the windows four years ago.


That’s a baseball.

At Tesla’s delivery event, Elon said they should try the glass durability test they attempted in 2019. If you remember, Tesla designer Franz von Holzhausen threw a metal ball at the window, and it broke. Today, he lightly threw a baseball instead, and it survived.


“What we’re aiming for here is something that’s more truck than truck.”

Elon is standing in the bed of the Cybertruck, talking about how tough his truck is. We’re getting details about the stainless steel alloy that reportedly has been incredibly difficult for the company to manufacture.


First up, a pretty traditional truck montage.

Tesla says the future should look like the future, but the first clip it showed was a Cybertruck doing a bunch of traditional stuff: spitting gravel, doing donuts in the dirt, getting loaded up with 2x4s. I kind of expected “Like a Rock” to suddenly kick in.


Cybertruck hold music is... ominous ambient?

We’re all waiting on this stream to start, and the music is like standing in the most evil possible version of Starship Earth at Disney World.


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Twitter
Watch the Tesla Cybertruck event with us!

The delivery event in Austin, Texas, is scheduled to start now, but as with all things Elon, we should expect a delay. Tesla is expected to hand over the first batch of trucks to customers, but I’m more interested in getting updated details on price, performance, and production.

Also, for those who pay way too much attention to Elon Musk, this should provide a nice palate cleanser after last night’s disastrous appearance at The New York Times’ DealBook conference.


UAW is going to take another stab at organizing Tesla workers.

Fresh off its win against the Big Three, the United Auto Workers announced an official push to begin unionizing all the non-union automakers in the US — including Tesla. It will be a tough battle: unionizing efforts at Tesla have failed in the past because of the company’s willingness to retaliate against union friendly employees. Tesla has been accused of illegal union busting by federal regulators, and Elon Musk openly flouts the rules. But UAW President Shawn Fein is a brawler, and will use the union’s newly ratified contract as leverage. This could be a much more even match-up than in the past.


Highlighting Elon Musk’s net worth seems like a pretty obvious tactic.
Highlighting Elon Musk’s net worth seems like a pretty obvious tactic.
Image: UAW
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MKBHD’s in the Cybertruck driver seat (and may have leaked some range details).

YouTuber Marques Brownlee just tweeted a photo of his POV from the driver seat of the Tesla Cybertruck — but what I’m interested in is that range estimate. The dash display reads 265 miles, so assuming that’s a full charge (or at least 80 percent), this could be Tesla’s dual-motor version of the truck. That lines up with what we’ve seen from other prototype Cybertrucks that have been floating around since this summer.

We’ll have to wait until Thursday for final word on the range, price, and pretty much everything else that’s still unknown about this thing. (Wiper! Wiper! Wiper!)


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Twitter
The Cybertruck’s ‘Beast Mode’ looks trippy as hell.

X user Tesla App Updates unearthed some new visuals (via Electrek) from Tesla’s mobile app that confirms a few things about the Cybertruck, including a Basecamp accessory for campers, and something called “Beast Mode.” My best guess is that it will be akin to Tesla’s other sport modes, like Ludicrous and Plaid, but for the Cybertruck. Whatever it is, it looks trippy. Time to get my third eye ready for this announcement on Thursday.

Elon Musk confirmed Beast Mode in a recent interview with Joe Rogan. (The one where he shot an arrow at the Cybertruck and it exploded. The arrow, not the truck.)


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“Yes, the windshield wiper does appear to be one gigantic piece.”

The mystery of the Cybertruck wiper continues: Verge pal Patrick George went and looked at a Cybertruck in the Tesla Manhattan showroom, and he thinks the wiper is all one piece, not two. Lots of fun photos in his story, too. I guess we’ll find out on Thursday at the launch event, unless someone actually picks the wiper up and looks first.

I repeat: The Verge remains America’s number one source of Cybertruck wiper news, and it’s all thanks to readers bold enough to pick up the wiper on a stranger’s truck.


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The Verge
Tesla will get its seized Swedish license plates while continuing to dodge a collective bargaining agreement.

In Sweden, the company sued the government after postal workers stopped delivering Tesla’s license plates in solidarity with striking service autoworkers. Tesla won, and now Sweden’s Transportation Agency must get the plates to Tesla or get fined.


Happy Thanksgiving. The mystery of the Cybertruck wiper continues.

As you may know, we’re chasing down a hot rumor that the Cybertruck wiper is actually two wiper blades in a trenchcoat. Reader Glenn tips us to this TikTok showing a very muddy Cybertruck parked at a hotel; there is a clear line of mud on the windshield where the wiper did not make solid contact. Evidence of the two blade theory, or no? In any case, the passenger was forced to do some manual wiping, which is very funny.

Keep sending in these tips! The Verge is America’s leading source for Cybertruck wiper news, and it’s all thanks to readers like you.


Close up photos of the Tesla Cybertruck windshield wiper on a very muddy truck, showing a line of mud on the windshield that may be evidence of the wiper being two wiper blades.

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That’s a big mud streak in the middle of the wiper.
Chadmfive / TikTok