At $400,000, a Tesla Cybertruck disappoints

This page is translated from the original post "À 400 000 dollars, un Tesla Cybertuck déçoit" in French.

Comment
Tesla Cybertruck

Sold at auction during the Petersen charity gala, a Tesla Cybertruck just barely made it with a Could have done much better!

This sale was interesting for more than one reason, as it featured for the first time on a real market, the Tesla Cybertruck and its main competitor from General Motors, the GMC Hummer EV Pickup.

A VIN that makes a difference

As indicated by Tesla, the vehicle auctioned at the Petersen Museum is a 2024 model year Cybertruck with a low VIN. Nothing mysterious—the VIN is the “Vehicle Identification Number” or, for non-English speakers, Vehicle Identification Number (VIN). It is better known as the “Chassis Number” and was created in the United States in 1954 to identify each vehicle with a 17-character alphanumeric code. It became standard for all global vehicles by 1981.

Why this parenthesis? To explain why this Tesla did not break records. $400,000 is a significant sum for a vehicle that is expected to be marketed around $40,000, or ten times less. But this is not extraordinary for a one-of-a-kind vehicle at a charity gala where each bidder had already spent $1,750 to attend the evening! A VIN 001, meaning the very first vehicle registered, has considerable and highly symbolic value. With a low VIN, you own one of the first, but not THE first.

Tesla beaten by GM

Thus, the final bid of $400,000 for the Cybertruck is significantly lower than the $2.5 million bid for the VIN 001 model of the new GMC Hummer EV Pickup! General Motors played along and can forever claim to have produced an electric vehicle worth $2.5 million.

READ ALSO > Buy one of the first Tesla Cybertrucks at auction

We also suggestthese articles:

Electric Car

The Incredible Dashboard of the Porsche Cayenne!

Recent articles