Tesla Cybertruck gets a hefty price hike with mandatory Luxe Package

Tesla quietly raised the price of its most powerful electric pickup, the Cybertruck Cyberbeast, by $15,000. The company's website now lists the top version of the truck at a starting price of $117,235.

The price increase is the result of a new, mandatory "Luxe Package" that is now bundled with every Cyberbeast purchase. This package cannot be removed, forcing anyone who wants the fastest, tri-motor version of the Cybertruck to pay for a suite of features whether they want them or not. The bundle includes Tesla's driver-assistance software, marketed as Full Self-Driving (Supervised), which is typically an $8,000 option. It also adds unlimited access to the company's Supercharging network, a four-year premium service plan, and premium connectivity.

The package bundles several of Tesla's high-end services, but the mandatory inclusion pushes the Cyberbeast's price far above the critical $80,000 MSRP cap for the U.S. federal tax credit for electric cars. This means buyers of the top-trim truck who pay cash will not be eligible for the $7,500 incentive, further increasing the total cost of ownership. For those who want a Cybertruck without the bundled extras, the only options are the less powerful All-Wheel Drive model at $82,235 or the base Long Range version, which starts at $72,235.

This pricing strategy makes the high-performance EV a tougher sell against its direct competitors. For instance, the quad-motor Rivian R1T offers more power at a similar price point, boasting 1,205 horsepower compared to the Cyberbeast's 845 horsepower. The R1T is also slightly quicker, accelerating from zero to 60 mph in 2.5 seconds, just edging out the Cyberbeast's 2.6-second time. The Rivian provides a longer estimated range of 338 miles, compared to Tesla's 320 miles.

The decision to raise the price of its halo truck comes at a very tough time for the model. Sales figures for the stainless-steel pickup have not been strong. In the second quarter of the year, Tesla sold just 4,306 Cybertruck units, marking its poorest sales performance in a year. Making an already expensive and niche vehicle even more costly seems counterintuitive to boosting its appeal among buyers of electric cars, but this is Tesla, and "counterintuitive" is often the name of the game.

Tesla recently applied a similar strategy to its other premium vehicles, the Model S sedan and Model X SUV. Both models also received a mandatory "Luxe Package," which added $10,000 to their final prices. Like the Cybertruck, these models are not the brand's volume sellers. Making the most expensive EVs even less accessible does not appear to be a strategy aimed at increasing sales volume for Tesla's premium lineup; it seems the company wants its premium models to be seen as more premium than before.

Source