LOS ANGELES: Tesla's new electric pickup truck has secured almost 150,000 orders, the company's chief executive Elon Musk boasted on Twitter, just two days after its big reveal went embarrassingly wrong.
The billionaire Tesla co-founder floundered on stage in California on Thursday when the vehicle's armoured glass windows cracked in a demonstration intended to prove their indestructible design.
The company shares plunged 6.1 per cent following the truck's bumpy launch and several lackluster reviews.
But on Saturday Musk tweeted that Tesla had already received 146,000 orders from prospective owners.
The demand comes despite the product receiving "no advertising & no paid endorsement".
The industrial-looking Cybertruck is covered in the same steel alloy Musk plans to use for his SpaceX Starship rocket and will be able to go from 0 to 100 kilometers (62 miles) per hour in about three seconds, the Tesla chief executive claimed in his presentation.
He said the entry-level model will have a starting price of USD 39,900 and a 400-kilometer (250-mile) range, while a deluxe option will be able to travel twice the distance and will sell for USD 69,900.
No date has been given for its release, but analysts said it would not be ready before the end of 2021 at the earliest.
Its space-age design is unlikely to challenge top-selling models by Ford and other conventional car companies, analysts warn.