Tesla’s Long Range Cybertruck Is an Odd Equation—Priced Above $39,990 (2025)

• 2025 Tesla Cybertruck Long Range version arrives on sale, offering up to 362 miles of range and 315 hp with a single motor out back.
• The Long Range, single-motor Cybertruck promises a 37-mile bump over the AWD model, while offering a bit less content inside and lower towing and payload ratings.
• The Long Range model starts at $71,985, positioned about $10,000 south of the AWD version's starting price, but is still quite far from the initially promised $39,900 base price of the Cybertruck.

Six years ago, when the Cybertruck was first shown to a slightly bewildered audience gathered for the reveal, Tesla said the base model of the truck would eventually cost $39,990. Quite a lot has happened between the angular pickup's reveal and the present day, to put it mildly.

But just over a year into Cybertruck production and after some fears that a base, single-motor model would be delayed indefinitely until everyone forgot about it, a single-motor version is finally available to order. But it's hardly a base model in the classic sense.

Days ago Tesla quietly added the Long Range model to its order page, promising a range of 362 miles courtesy of just one motor positioned out back, good for 315 hp.

Among other things, this gives it a 37-mile advantage over the AWD version—a somewhat incremental increase—while giving up 285 hp compared to the AWD model along with some towing capacity.

And a chunk of that extra range is dependent on whether you order a tonneau cover or not. Without the aerodynamic benefit of the $750 tonneau cover, range drops to 350 miles for the single-motor version, which is still better than the AWD model's 325-mile range, but perhaps not all that much of an advantage in the grand scheme of things.

Also, you'll want to get the 18-inch wheels if you want to squeeze every last mile of range out of the battery, as the 20-inch wheels (a $3,500 option) carry a 19-mile penalty.

The Long Range model also pays a price in towing capability, dropping from 11,000 pounds down to 7,500.

Payload capacity suffers a bit, too, sliding down to 2,006 pounds from the AWD model's 2,500. The adaptive air suspension is also not a feature of the Long Range model, which relies on simpler coil springs and dampers.

Those who pick the Long Range model will have to live with slightly slower launch times: 6.2 seconds for a 0-60 mph sprint compared to the AWD model's 4.1 seconds—if you're into mashing the accelerator from stop lights in a Cybertruck, that is.

A few other cost-cutting measures pick away at the Cybertruck's starting price, including cloth seats, a more modest speaker count, pedals without metal covers, no heated rear seats, and a few other downgrades.

Taken together, these changes may not mean a world of difference to buyers in sunny states, but they also don't exactly amount to a true "base" model.

The Long Range Cybertruck's biggest competitor, we suspect, will be AWD versions of the same Cybertruck, but in used condition. That's because the single-motor, Long Range flavor still carries a price tag of $71,985, which is not a vast difference from $82,235 if you're already set on buying a new Cybertruck in 2025.

If there is one metric in which the Long Range model outperforms the initially promised base model, it's the 362-mile range. The $39,900 model, if you recall, was promised in 2019 with a 250-mile range, and therefore represented a planned offering with a much smaller battery.

But that was in a different time, and it's debatable how much demand a Cybertruck with a 250-mile range could really attract in this day and age.

At this point it's difficult to picture what kind of content-cutting would be required to get a Cybertruck down to its initial promised price of $39,990.

But if you wait long enough and can live with some miles, we suspect that eventually a used AWD Cybertruck could be yours for that price at a Tesla store's used vehicle section.

This could well be the least expensive Cybertruck we'll ever see, unless Tesla puts a much smaller battery in a yet-unseen base model along with other cost cutting measures.

Will demand for the Cybertruck be reenergized with the debut of the Long Range model, or does it represent too incremental a step down in price? Please comment below.