Faizel Patel, Radio Islam News – 25-11-2019

(Twitter: @FaizelPatel143)

South African-born billionaire and co-founder of electric car company Tesla Elon Musk has revealed that the company’s new electric pickup truck has secured almost 150,000 orders just two days after its big reveal went embarrassingly wrong.

AFP reports Musk boasted on Twitter about how Musk floundered on stage in California on Thursday when the vehicle’s armoured glass windows cracked in a demonstration intended to prove their indestructible design.

146k Cybertruck orders so far, with 42% choosing dual, 41% tri & 17% single motor

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 23, 2019

With no advertising & no paid endorsement

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 23, 2019

While shares in the company plunged 6.1% following the truck’s bumpy launch and several lacklustre reviews, Musk tweeted that Tesla had already received 146,000 orders from prospective owners.

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 per hour in about three seconds.

Musk says the entry-level model will have a starting price of $39,900 (R 586,000) and a 400-kilometer range, while a deluxe option will be able to travel twice the distance and will sell for $69,900 (R 1,027 million).

No date has been given for its release, but analysts said it would not be ready before the end of 2021 at the earliest.

Its space-age design is unlikely to challenge top-selling models by Ford and other conventional car companies, analysts warn.