Musk revealed this information in a recent interview on the Ride the Lightning podcast. According to him, it is currently capped at $49,000, but claims that "you should be able to buy a really great truck for $49k or less," implying that it could be lower.
Price is one of the biggest determining factors when buying a new car of any kind. With electric competitor Rivian releasing their own R1T pickup last year for $69,000, this puts some new pressure on the industry.
In the same interview, Musk talks about the unique, somewhat sci-fi design. While he acknowledges that it's not the most popular decision, he wants the pickup to be "a truck that's more capable than other trucks".
"It’s like I really wanted something that’s like super-futuristic cyberpunk. If there’s only a small number of people that like that truck, I guess we’ll make a more conventional truck in the future. But it’s the thing that I am personally most fired up about. It’s gonna have a lot of titanium. I think this is the kinda thing the consumer would want to buy, even if they don’t normally buy a pickup truck.”
When you compare stock photos seen of the vehicle so far, this tracks perfectly with his sentiment.
Making electrics more affordable to a wider audience is a great way to expand their brand and clientele, for sure. I know plenty of folks that are interested in electrics, but not interested in dropping $70k on one. Throw in the utilitarian nature of a pickup and you have one appealing vehicle.
