- Tesla Cybertruck orders have opened up, and you no longer need a reservation to get one.
- The truck has been purchase-only so far, but Tesla just started offering a leasing option.
- Lease prices start at $999 a month with $7,500 down, but that doesn’t include mandatory taxes and fees.
Tesla has opened up Cybertruck orders to the masses. Well, the masses that have 80 grand to blow on an EV pickup truck, at least. The company no longer requires an existing reservation to order one, and you don’t get the $20,000 Foundation Series package, which was required on all Cybertrucks until recently. We already knew you could go out and buy one today. But now you can lease one, too.
Tesla added the lease option to its website recently, and it was first spotted by Bloomberg News. Lease prices start at $999 a month for 36 months, though that’s not what you’ll actually pay. To get that rate, you’ll need to put $7,500 down, and it doesn’t include taxes. The good news is that—thanks to the so-called “leasing loophole”—you should be able to get that much from the federal government. While the Tesla Cybertruck does not qualify for a $7,500 tax credit for buyers due to stricter rules implemented by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), all EVs qualify if they are leased. We have no reason to believe the Cybertruck is an exemption.
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But even if you live in a state without sales tax, expect to pay more than $999 a month. When I click “include est. taxes and fees,” it adds a $1,995 destination charge, $250 order fee, $695 acquisition fee and a $395 disposition fee. I don’t really understand how they can charge you three separate fees for “receiving the car,” but it’s not like things are any better at a car dealer. I live in San Diego, California, so my lease payment would also include $2,398 worth of registration fees, taxes and license fees. That would bring the total cost to $1,086 a month with $11,679 due at signing. Chop $7,500 off that due-at-signing figure and you get $4,179 out-of-pocket.
That includes the first month’s payment, so my grand total of that and 35 $1,086 payments comes to $42,189 over the course of three years. Yowch. That’s a net effective payment of $1,172 per month, and that’s for the base model with no options. A Cyberbeast tri-motor truck with “Full-Self Driving” and all-terrain tires would be $1,533 per month for me. For context, GMC’s current incentivized Hummer EV deal is $849 a month for 36 months, with $6,229 due at signing, not including taxes. I can’t fathom paying either of those figures, but I also can’t imagine spending $110,000 on an electric pickup. And the Cybertruck is the third-best-selling EV in the country right now, so I’m the crazy one, I guess.
Regardless, it’s good that Cybertruck buyers now have a leasing option. Tesla’s depreciation figures have been all over the map, and some people want to get a truck for a fixed payment without having to worry about long-term costs. Plus, they can take advantage of the tax credit. But I’m not sure I’d want to pay $42,189 over three years just to not own an $80,000 truck. I’m currently paying $8,000 over two years to effectively rent a $52,000 car, and that at least makes sense to me. For most people, I think financing a Cybertruck is still the better play.
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