Tesla Cybertruck receives 1,46,000 orders, says Elon Musk

Elon Musk stands in front of Tesla's Cybertruck. Pic/AFP

Los Angeles: Tesla's new electric pickup truck has secured almost 150,000 orders, the company's chief executive Elon Musk boasted on Twitter, just two days after its big reveal went embarrassingly wrong.

The billionaire Tesla co-founder floundered on stage in California on Thursday when the vehicle's armoured glass windows cracked in a demonstration intended to prove their indestructible design. Shares in the company plunged 6.1 per cent following the truck's bumpy launch and several lacklustre reviews. But on Saturday Musk tweeted that Tesla had already received 146,000 orders from prospective owners.

"146k Cybertruck orders so far, with 42 per cent choosing dual, 41 per cent tri and 17 per cent single motor," he wrote. The demand comes despite the product receiving "no advertising and no paid endorsement".

The industrial-looking Cybertruck is covered in the same steel alloy Musk plans to use for his SpaceX Starship rocket and will be able to go from 0 to 100 kilometres (62 miles) per hour in about three seconds, the Tesla chief executive claimed in his presentation. He said the entry-level model would have a starting price of $39,900 and a 400-kilometre (250-mile) range.

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