The current product is not even remotely one that can compete in the market. It has to be redesigned, or they’re going to end up shipping the Pontiac Aztek of EV trucks.
Jay Leno hit the nail on the head “this doesn’t look anything like a pickup truck” which is exactly what the problem was with the Aztek. Crossovers are a huge market but the totally ridiculous body style was a flop.
If Tesla priced this more like a Raptor, in order to market it as a futuristic status car, it might work. That’s not what they’re doing. Rivian is eating their lunch here and will continue to do so.
If you're basing your criticism on looks, there are two responses:
1. it's an opinion, and there are a substantial number of people who like the cybertruck
2. a truck is a functional vehicle, and functionality is the primary consideration. Lots of people think the Ram is the best looking truck, but it's substantially outsold by F-150 & GM.
Unless it massively changes between now and launch (which is possible) Tesla is only going to outperform traditional trucks on one functional vector, which is speed and acceleration, but they don't outperform other EVs on that front. The Ford F-150 Lightning, Hummer EV, and Rivian's truck are all among the most powerful EVs you can buy. On other functional vectors like reliability and towing capacity they either don't really matter or Tesla won't win.
Rivian's truck in particular has solidly beaten them to market with a highly functional vehicle that has a ton of incredible design details and has some of the highest driver satisfaction ratings of any new car models on the market. They have already captured a significant chunk of the market in luxury SUV and truck EVs, also partially due to the fact that a lot of rich liberals don't want to be associated with Elon Musk in any way now, and Tesla has moved downmarket pretty hard.
Separately, a big part of the reason Ford massively outsells Dodge or other brands is because Ford is particularly loved by fleet buyers. Expect them to continue to do so with the Lightning.
So that leaves the Cybertruck to pin its whole hopes on style/appearance, selling to the same type of bros that might buy a Ford Raptor or higher end Tacoma/Tundra model at similar price points. Not exactly a move poised to win the EV truck market overall, given how polarizing the design is.
