New Base Tesla Cybertruck’s Wheels Are the First Part I Ever Liked About the Stupid Thing

The Tesla Cybertruck Long Range, a new rear-drive base model, is now being advertised on X as “available now” starting at “$62,490 after a $7,500 Federal Tax Credit.” So, $69,990 plus destination, and then of course tax, title, and registration fees like you’d have on any car. We’re quite a ways off the original promised starting price of $40,000 (yes, even adjusted for inflation) but this news does fall in line with recent rumors. I can say one nice thing about it, though: I like the wheels.

In 2023, Reuters published that “the cheapest rear-wheel drive [Cybertruck] with an estimated starting price of about $61,000 will be available in 2025.” Tesla’s website is upfront about factoring the U.S. federal tax incentive into the price; as of April 11, that’s the number you see on the company’s landing page. Given that Tesla’s configurator used to default to including “estimated gas savings,” this sort of thing is nothing new for the company.

It’s hard to say if that incentive will stick around forever or disappear tomorrow. Since the federal government has been anti-EV but pro-Tesla, while crippling the car industry in general with tariffs (perhaps you’ve heard of them), there’s no real way to predict how long any car’s posted price will stay accurate.

But I’ve been oscillating between panicking over car price fluctuations and trying to ignore them. What caught my eye about the Cybertruck Long Range are its 18-inch wheels. They’re the first Cybertruck aesthetic detail I’ve ever liked: Wheel covers that look like giant bolt heads, or Lego pieces. Either way, it’s one cyberpunky piece of design that I dig. My colleagues have been clowning on them, off the record, because they sort of look like hubcaps, but I think they’re pretty cool.

It’s also nice that the truck is finally getting some sidewall now. Most Cybertrucks run a 20-inch wheel with unique Goodyear all-terrain tires sized 285/65R20, about a 35-inch diameter tire. These Long Range models will ship with 18-inch wheels in all-seasons. I couldn’t find the exact tire size or sidewall dimensions, and Tesla doesn’t have media contacts, which left me no choice but to ask Grok—X’s AI chatbot that’s also prominently featured on the automaker’s website—for info. Unsurprisingly, it didn’t even know 18-inchers were available.

Anyway, Long Range Cybertruck drivers might appreciate the cushioning of taller, softer sidewalls, even if it translates to some diminished handling sharpness and puncture resistance. Those lighter-duty tires shipping with the 18-inch wheels should also help this version of the truck get good efficiency. If you still really want the bigger rims, you can option them for an extra $3,500.

As for other details on this model, it’s got a single rear-mounted motor with a locking diff and an estimated range of 350 miles. This base truck gets cloth seats, coil-spring suspension instead of adaptive air, and those 18-inch wheels are of course smaller than the usual 20s.

My friends at InsideEVs wrote that “the lower price comes with many downgrades compared to the All-Wheel Drive version,” lamenting that the towing capacity on this model is down to 7,500 pounds, and payload rating is 2,006 pounds. For what it’s worth, those are still very good specs as far as I’m concerned. 7,500 pounds of towing gets you enough to pull a car on a trailer, many different types of boats, and even a couple of horses. And any payload capacity over 1,500 pounds is plenty for the vast majority of consumer use cases.

The other Cybertrucks do better (11,000 pounds of towing, payload max of as much as 2,500 pounds) and are also much faster. An all-wheel-drive Cybertruck claims 0 to 60 mph in 4.1 seconds; the bonkers Cyberbeast touts a neck-snapping 2.6 seconds to 60; and this model does the sprint in 6.2 seconds. Again, technically not as good as its stablemates but more than fast enough for a pickup truck.

This “cheapest” Cybertruck also has no rear screen, no front seat ventilation, a less impressive stereo than the other models, and no 120-volt power outlets like the all-wheel-drive and ‘Beast models have.

I’m sure Tesla’s hoping this lower-cost variant stokes sales as it seems to be discovering that everybody willing and able to spend six figures on a Cybertruck has already done so. Like I said, this base model’s payload and pulling specs aren’t bad, but until gasoline hits $10 a gallon, I don’t really see the value proposition in a $70,000 rear-drive electric pickup.

A four-door, four-wheel-drive Ford F-150 Lariat hybrid also lists at about $70,000, and one of those can go almost twice as far between fill-ups. Plus the Ford doesn’t look like it was designed from the AI illustrator prompt: “Draw me a dream house for raccoons.” The iconoclastic look is of course the main offering the Cybertruck brings to the table, and maybe there are some people left who couldn’t swing the all-wheel-drive price of entry but might be able to get a loan for this base model. If that’s you, just make sure you’re willing to commit to owning it forever, because unloading a Cybertruck seems to be getting harder as people get tired of trolling everyone in traffic with the world’s fastest dumpster.

Want to complain at the author for not liking the Cybertruck’s design? Send him an email at andrew.collins@thedrive.com.

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