Tesla Cybertruck: Would be 'very surprised' if it hit the road in next 12-18 months, journalist says

Tesla (TSLA) releases its third quarter results on Wednesday, October 18 after the market close. The EV maker's much talked about Cybertruck has yet to be released, but many are wondering how the model will fair in the current market given the demand for more affordable vehicles. David Undercoffler, Autolist Editor-in-Chief joins Yahoo Finance to discuss what lies in store for Tesla going into the next fiscal year and how the Cybertruck may fair in this pricing environment.

"I would be very surprised if the actual Cybertruck hit the road in the next year to 18 months and it a starting price of had anything lower than $60,000. That is an expensive proposition right out of the gate," says Undercoffler, remaining skeptical on the future performance of the vehicle with most consumers.

However, Undercoffler says the company's revised Model 3 is "bigger news" given that the refresh has potential to generate more interest and boost sales.

For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Yahoo Finance Live.

Video transcript

- In this pricing environment should we continue to see that play into next year or whenever the Cybertruck is finally available for purchase and delivery? How does that impact what Tesla could even expect given the financing options that would be available, given the price tag and all of the other considerations that consumers would really have to wade through for a vehicle that still has yet to have a version of it on the streets right now?

DAVID UNDERCOFFLER: Yeah. The Cybertruck is a tough one to read. I know initially when they presented it, they were targeting like a pretty low starting price for a base model, I think a single motor rear wheel drive. I would be very surprised if the actual Cybertruck hit the road in the next year to 18 months. And it had a starting price of anything lower than $60,000. I mean, that's an expensive proposition out of the gate. Usually, all automakers, not just Tesla like to get the most premium version out first. Those have the fattest profit margins.

They're sort of the most appealing. You get them in the hands of journalists. It's sort of a win-win. And then you sort of trickle down and get to the more affordable ones. So it's going to be a while, even after the Cybertruck does hit the road, it's going to be a while before the more affordable version is in consumer hands. And again, that's a relatively low volume play relative to Tesla. Tesla is the leader right now for Model 3 and Model Y. So I don't see that as having the sort of outsized impact.

I think the bigger news for Tesla is they do have they've already shown a revised model 3. There's a revised Model Y expected, potentially brings the price down with different battery technology. It's a facelift. It looks different. We haven't really seen these two vehicles get updated really since they were introduced. So I think that actually has more potential to generate interest and sort of boost sales again for Tesla.

- I mean, a mass market Cybertruck. I mean, are we going-- are we talking about going from the shape of a pentagon down to like a rhombus or something like that?

- They have to make it a circle.

- A circle. Just a circle, a sphere coming down the road with some other wheels.

DAVID UNDERCOFFLER: I can't even imagine. Right.

- Oh, we can't either. We can't wait to see it. David Undercoffler, Autolist editor-in-chief. Thanks for taking the time here with us today.

DAVID UNDERCOFFLER: Thank you guys.