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Truck owners prefer GM and Ford over Tesla Cybertruck, new study says

There has been a lot of hype recently surrounding Tesla’s electric pickup truck known as Cybertruck, but drivers still prefer other electric pickup models, according to a new study. 

Autolist, a search platform for vehicles, released a survey about electric trucks on Tuesday. Out of about 1,100 car shoppers polled in late November and early December, 63% of current truck owners prefer the GM electric truck and the Ford F-150 electric truck (both of which haven’t even been released yet) over the Tesla Cybertruck (also not released as of yet). 

About 35% of people who own a truck prefer the GM truck, 28% prefer the Ford F-150, 23% like the Rivian R1T, and only 14% like the Cybertruck. 

In comparison, 25.8% of car shoppers who have never owned a truck prefer Tesla’s Cybertruck, followed by 24.8% who like the Rivian R1T and 24.7% who want the Ford F-150 electric or the GM Electric Truck.  

Autolist also found that respondents who are 18 to 28 years old like the Cybertruck the most, while shoppers who were 46 to 55 years old preferred Rivian, GM, and Ford in that order. 

“This is both a blessing and a curse for Tesla,” said Chase Disher, an analyst at autolist.com, in a blog post about the survey. “While any automaker welcomes the enthusiasm of a younger buyer, it’s typically the older, affluent consumer who actually buys more of these high-dollar vehicles.”

The Tesla Cybertruck starts at $40,000 and can get as high as $69,900, which isn’t exactly affordable for young millennials or Gen Zers who prefer that model over the others. 

Of those that chose Tesla, 50% said they did so because of its expected performance. While not everyone has responded positively to the truck’s futuristic-looking style since Tesla CEO Elon Musk unveiled the vehicle last month, its specs are definitely impressive for an electric truck. It has seating for up to six, an onboard air compressor, a towing capacity of 14,000 pounds, a range between 250 to 500 miles depending on the model, and semiautonomous technology.

Respondents of the survey ultimately cited the Supercharging network and the Autopilot hands-free driving system as the top reasons for choosing the Cybertruck over the other EV models. 

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Allison Matyus
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Allison Matyus is a general news reporter at Digital Trends. She covers any and all tech news, including issues around social…
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