Elon Musk and Tesla are masters of the art of keeping consumers excited about a product, especially when that product has been anticipated for almost four years.
For instance, they know that, to keep the flame alive, you have to give something that will make people talk, keeping the product as a topic of conversation. This tactic is one they have been deploying since the unveiling of the Cybertruck in November 2019.
This vehicle is the latest passenger car that Tesla (TSLA) has unveiled. The Cybertruck is also Tesla's very first pickup truck, which will allow the company to enter the most profitable and competitive segment of the automotive sector in the United States.
A Camouflaged Cybertruck
The tactic produced the expected fruits, since the Cybertruck is the most discussed vehicle on social networks where it has millions of fans, even though no one really knows what the version which will be mass produced will look like. Musk and Tesla are also playing on this specific point.
They conscientiously maintain the mystery on the version that those who order this pickup truck will receive and drive. Tesla has been testing a fleet of Cybertrucks on the streets of California for several months. Videos and photos of some of these prototypes appear from time to time on social networks, including Twitter, which has been owned by Musk since last October.
The latest photos and video of the Cybertruck that make people talk are even more astonishing. They show a camouflaged Cybertruck driving through the streets of Palo Alto, California.
"A camouflaged Cybertruck is so low key that it’s almost impossible to tell what the next hottest product from Tesla is going to be. $TSLA," posted on Jun. 13 a Tesla fan Twitter account with which Musk often interacts.
"It’s practically invisible," the Techno King reacted.
The objective of these photos and videos is clear: to make people talk.
In a short 14-second video filmed in Mountain View, California, the camouflage Cybertruck is seen leaving the drive-through of a fast food restaurant.
"LOL @Tesla engineers took the Cybertruck through the In-N-Out Burger drive through today 🍔," commented Sawyer Merritt, a self-described Tesla investor. "Rear-wheel steering in action," he added in another tweet.
"It’s a tradition," Musk responded.
First Deliveries Scheduled for September
Musk does not say if this version will be mass produced.
The Cybertruck will compete with the Ford F-150 Lightning, the electric version of the bestselling F-150, GMC's Hummer EV and Chevrolet's in-preparation electric version of the Silverado from General Motors, and the Rivian R1T.
These videos and photos appear as the third quarter is approaching. Musk has promised that Tesla will organize an event to deliver the first Cybertrucks to consumers at the end of the third quarter, i.e., towards the end of September.
"We continue to build Alpha versions of the Cybertruck on our pallet line for testing purposes," the billionaire told investors during Tesla's first quarter's earnings' call in April. "It's a great product and we're completing the installation of the following production line at Giga Texas."
"We're anticipating having a delivery event, a great delivery event probably in Q3," he said.
The tech mogul didn't give an exact date, but later said that the delivery event should take place "around end of Q3," which means end of September.
The Cybertruck has been described as something out of the films "Mad Max" and "Blade Runner." Chief Executive Elon Musk has said that the vehicle was "influenced partly by 'The Spy Who Loved Me," in a reference to the amphibious Lotus Esprit S1 featured in the 1977 James Bond film.
"We've pulled people away from their kind of normal comfort zone and brought them something that's just radically different and will be on the street radically different and, you know, if you're not used to attention might be a little tough in the beginning," Franz von Holzhausen, Tesla's chief vehicle designer, said about the Cybertruck in January.
Musk and Tesla have not yet disclosed the vehicle's price.
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The pickup truck is said to have a low center of gravity, which provides good traction control and torque, enabling acceleration from 0-60 mph in just 2.9 seconds. Its range is estimated at as much as 500 miles.
In addition, Tesla said that it has up to 3,500 pounds (1,587 kg) of payload capacity, adjustable air suspension and 100 cubic feet of exterior lockable storage, including a tonneau cover "that is strong enough to stand on."
The Cybertruck has a towing capability of more than 14,000 pounds (6,350 kg), the carmaker has said.
During Tesla's annual meeting on May 16, Musk said that the carmaker planned to produce a "quarter-million a year" but the figure could double.
"It might be 500,000. I don't know, but we'll make as many as people want and can afford," he said, warning that the Cybertruck may not be widely affordable because of the manufacturing cost.
The Techno King also explained last month that delays in the development of the Cybertruck were due to its complexity.
"This was a tough product to design & even tougher to build," he said on Twitter on May 23. "But it will be great …"
