Tesla Cybertruck's Big Problem: Buyers Prefer Ford F-150 Electric, GM EV Truck: Poll

Despite the media glare on the design and hyped launch of Tesla’s electric pickup Cybertruck, a survey has revealed consumers are expressing more comfort with legacy brands’ EV pickup as their choice than newcomers such as Tesla and Rivian.

The survey by Autolist.com held in late November and early December compiled views of roughly 1,100 current car buyers.

The results could be music to the ears of General Motors and Ford as they take on new Elon Musk-led Tesla and Rivian backed by Amazon when they come up with the electric pickups.

In the survey, potential car shoppers were asked which of the four electric trucks they prefer: the upcoming General Motors pickup, Ford’s all-electric F-150, the Tesla Cybertruck, or Rivian’s R1T.

Most respondents preferred GM’s truck as the top choice, grabbing a 29 percent share followed by Ford’s truck with 27 percent, and Rivian R1T at 24 percent and Tesla’s Cybertruck coming at 20 percent.

Chase Disher, an analyst at Autolist.com noted that the results bode well for all brands and show Ford and GM can leverage their background in conventional trucks to boost interest in their EV models.

But the survey showed Tesla and Rivian are also taking a “meaningful share” of the emerging growth segment, Disher added

Tesla appeals to first-time buyers

In the survey people who never owned a truck favored the Tesla Cybertruck while a meager 14 percent who owned a truck before preferred the Cybertruck over others.

That shows among non-truck owners, Cybertruck is the most popular choice, although it is a close race.

· Tesla Cybertruck: 25.8 percent

· Rivian R1T: 24.8 percent

· Ford F-150 Electric: (tie) 24.7 percent

· GM Electric truck: (tie) 24.7 percent

As for Rivian, the consumer interest is the same regardless of previously owning a truck or not.

Tesla Cybertruck was seen exerting more appeal to those scouting for a more performance-based model, Disher added.

Tesla’s strengths such as the vast supercharging network and Autopilot hands-free driving system are also one of the top five reasons people seeking the Cybertruck.

The survey also revealed the linkage between the buyer’s age and brand choice. Younger consumers are choosing the Tesla Cybertruck.

Noting youth appeal as a blessing and curse for Tesla, Disher notes enthusiasm of a younger buyer can be exciting, it is the older, affluent consumer who buys more of these costly vehicles.

Another survey sees greater reach

Meanwhile, a consumer insight firm’s survey assessed the reach of the Cybertruck and people’s perception of the new product. Piplsay surveyed 21,143 Americans over Tesla Cybertruck, and the results showed 44 percent of Americans have seen the all-electric Cybertruck and it signaled a fairly good reach achieved from the unveiling buzz, reports Electrek.

Meanwhile, Tesla has made changes to the Cybertruck production schedule by making certain changes in the priority on production based on pre-order demand, reported Fox News.

So far the electric automaker has been saying it had more orders for rear-wheel-drive and dual-motor models and their production will start in late 2021. The tri-motor truck will go into production only in 2022.

However, CEO Elon Musk has announced lately that reservations for the tri-motor version are double that of the rear-wheel-drive.

The schedules are being swapped with the tri-motor launch happening in 2021 before the dual-motor version.

Musk has previously claimed at least 250,000 people have placed pre-order with a $100 deposit, the cheapest pre-order sum for any Tesla vehicle so far.