Tesla already has over 200,000 preorders for its divisive Cybertruck

Two days after its big (and slightly botched) unveiling, the Cybertruck is already racking up a lot of interest. Tesla had received 146,000 preorders for the electric pickup truck as of Saturday, later increasing to 200,000, Elon Musk tweeted on Sunday. And with customers dropping $100 refundable deposits for each preorder, that’s a cool $20 million for Tesla’s bank account in just 48 hours.

Tesla is offering three versions of the truck: single motor rear-wheel drive with 250 miles of range for $39,900; dual motor all-wheel drive with 300 miles of range for $49,900; and tri motor all-wheel drive with 500 miles of range for $69,900. Musk said that 42 percent of preorders are dual motor, 41 percent tri motor, and 17 percent single motor.

“With no advertising & no paid endorsement,” Musk said in a follow up tweet.

Customers preordering the Cybertruck will have to wait a while before the boxy pickup pulls into their driveways, though. Production on the single and dual-motor versions won’t begin until late 2021, while the tri-motor truck won’t roll off the assembly line until late 2022.

Tesla uses preorders for its forthcoming vehicles to generate excitement and provide a short-term revenue infusion, which helps provide a cushion for the cash-strapped automaker. And Musk likes to tout preorder numbers as a way to juice even more sales. For example, the company received 276,000 preorders for the Model 3 a few days after its unveiling in 2016; two days later that number grew to 325,000.

To be sure, Tesla doesn’t always release its preorder numbers. The company has yet to reveal how many customers have put down deposits for the Model Y, its electric crossover that it revealed last March.

The Cybertruck is no Model 3 or Model Y, but the respectable number of preorders indicates that Tesla still has its fair share of early adopters. That said, the Blade Runner-inspired design of the truck has been wildly polarizing, with social media spilling over with jokes at the truck’s expense.

Update November 25th, 2:41AM ET: Story updated with revised preorder numbers.

https://www.theverge.com/2019/11/24/20980141/tesla-cybertruck-preorder-deposit-elon-musk