There has been a lot of discussion lately about how Tesla is finding it hard to sell Cybertrucks. Yesterday, we even reported that Tesla had exhausted the Canada Cybertruck reservation list only six days after opening orders in the country.
There are also reports showing that Cybertruck's resale values have plummeted over the past few weeks, including one person sharing that he can’t find anyone to buy his Cybertruck even at an $18,000 loss.
However, amidst this negativity, some individuals appear to still be excited about the all-electric truck, and of these people, Sam Shahidi might be the biggest one.
Sam is an entrepreneur and the CEO of Happy Dad, a company that sells hard seltzer and iced tea. Over the past few weeks, Sam has been showing off his growing fleet of Cybertrucks, culminating in his post yesterday showing five Cybertrucks he has taken delivery of.
Sam shared a screenshot of his Tesla app showing the five Cybertruck under a single account and simply wrote, “My Tesla app 🤠.”
My Tesla app 🤠 pic.twitter.com/YyFBiENpGl
— Sam Shahidi (@sammy) August 15, 2024
The cheapest Cybertruck variant on sale is currently the Cybertruck all-wheel-drive, which costs $100,000 before taxes and fees. This means that the five cybertrucks cost him at least $500,000.
However, Sam has customized his Cybertrucks, including putting on custom wraps promoting his company, Happy Dad. This means that, with taxes and fees, Sam has spent close to $600,000 to purchase his five all-electric trucks.
When you have these many Cybertrucks under one account, you need to give them unique names to distinguish them. Here are the names of Sam’s five Cybertrucks.
The first is CyberSammy, which appears to be Sam’s personal truck. The second is Happy Dad America, a Cybertruck wrapped in the US flag and showcasing the Happy Dad logo.
The third and fourth Cybertrucks are Happy Dad Blue and Happy Dady Camo, which, as the names imply, are wrapped in blue and camouflage wraps.
The fifth Cybertruck is called John’s Cybertruck, which is most likely driven by John Shahidi, Sam Shahidi's brother.
It’s exciting to see a person so passionate about the Cybertruck; however, it also raises the question of whether Sam made a good financial decision by purchasing five Cybertrucks at this moment.
From an advertising perspective, promoting his company, Happy Dad, Sam’s Cybertruck purchase appears to be a good decision. Certainly, if Sam had bought any other five trucks for his company other than Cybertrucks, we would not be talking about him.
He gets a check from the free advertisement point of view; however, how about from the practical perspective of using his truck to presumably haul his Happy Dad drinks from one place to another or simply doing truck duties for his company?
In this aspect, it’s more of a mixed bag. Sam’s Cybertrucks with all-terrain tires have an EPA estimated range of 318 miles. However, while towing, especially if towing non-aerodynamic trailers, this range could be cut down to close to 100 miles.
Given that Happy Dad is a nationwide brand that sells drinks all over the country, a 100-mile towing range might not be enough to satisfy his job needs.
In this aspect, Sam might need to add the optional range extender battery pack to his Cybertrucks, which would increase their range to 470 miles.
This is wonderful; however, Tesla has recently delayed production of the Cybertruck range extender battery pack. The additional battery pack also takes up one-third of the truck bed space and costs an extra $16,000.
At this price, Sam will need to pay an extra $80,000 to give his 5 Cybertrucks the added range. This will bring Sam’s Cybertruck total cost close to $700,000.
Since Sam is running a business with five trucks costing $700,000, he must make a sober calculation to determine whether he has made the right decision.
Other things to consider are the issue of depreciation, depreciation tax writeoffs, and the cost of running a fleet of Cybertrucks as opposed to other electric trucks or gas trucks, including charging and maintenance costs.
Let me know in the comment below whether a fleet of Cybertrucks is a good idea for a business. Share your ideas by clicking the red “Add new comment” button down below. Also, visit our site, torquenews.com/Tesla, regularly for the latest updates.
Image: Courtesy of Sam Shahidi on X
For more information, check out: Tesla Informed Me They Are Not Taking Cybertruck Trade-Ins Even If to Upgrade My Cybertruck AWD to a Cyberbeast – It’s Almost Like They Don’t Trust Their Own Brand
Tinsae Aregay has been following Tesla and the evolution of the EV space daily for several years. He covers everything about Tesla, from the cars to Elon Musk, the energy business, and autonomy. Follow Tinsae on Twitter at @TinsaeAregay for daily Tesla news.