Tesla Cybertruck confirmed as dual-motor AWD and tri-motor Performance for 2024, with single-motor RWD and quad-motor AWD missing from lineup ^↺

Tesla CEO, Elon Musk, revealed earlier this week that the highly-anticipated Cybertruck would start delivering to customers on November 30, 2023. Although, aside from some chaotic tweets and rumours, not all that much is known about what to expect from the Cybertruck's drivetrain. Recently, however, the NHTSA published the 2024 Tesla VIN decoder, giving us some idea of the motor configurations for 2024.

In the VIN decoder [PDF], shared by Greggertruck on X (fka Twitter), Tesla points to the 8th digit of the VIN as the "Motor/Drive Unit/Braking System," designating letters D and E as Cybertruck "Dual Motor — Standard" and "Triple Motor — Performance," respectively.

Those motor configurations are pretty standard for high-end Tesla vehicles, like the Model S and Model X, although the promised entry-level single-motor RWD and high-end quad-motor AWD trims are notably missing from the lineup.

As the Cybertruck has creeped through the development cycle, Elon Musk has tweeted a handful of times about the Cybertruck's drivetrains, at one point indicating that it would feature an entry-level, US$40,000 RWD trim and top out with a quad-motor AWD variant.

The configurations on the VIN decoder indicate that the Cybertruck likely won't be available in the promised US$40,000 variant for the 2024 model year, and it's a bit up in the air whether Tesla will launch a quad-motor version at all. Previous predictions put the standard dual-motor Cybertruck at a starting price of US$59,900, which is a little underwhelming, compared to the larger Ford F-150 Lightning that starts at US$49,995 for the dual-motor Pro trim with 240 miles of range.

That predicted price puts a bit of a damper on the excitement generated by Elon Musk when he criticised the F-150 Lightning's price as being too high a few weeks ago.

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