Disappointed Tesla fans took aim at the Cybertruck over its 'cringe' launch, with one even saying their 'dream got crushed' by its unexpected price hike

• Elon Musk has finally launched the Cybertruck at a live event at Tesla's Austin Gigafactory.
• Tesla fans called the event "cringy" and criticized the pickup's range and pricing on social media.

Elon Musk has finally launched the long-awaited Cybertruck — and some Tesla fans are not happy.

Deliveries of Tesla's futuristic pickup began at a glitzy event at the company's Austin gigafactory yesterday, but social media users have criticized the Cybertruck over its "disappointing" range and unexpectedly high price, as well as the "cringy" launch event.

"I expected some sort of surprise feature kept under wraps. It was the opposite, horrible launch event, disappointing range, almost abusive pricing considering what was promised," wrote one Tesla fan on Reddit.

Another user described the event as a "total debacle", and slammed a stunt in which Tesla recreated the now-infamous window-smashing incident from the Cybertruck's 2019 unveiling as "cringe and absurd."

"I couldn't believe they did that. Why draw attention to the old steel ball broken window gag at all if you're going to follow it up by gently tossing a baseball?" they said.

"For me, this potential purchase was always always about two things, setting aside the design: range & price. Both have missed the mark. Quite a bummer."

At the Cybertruck's 2019 launch event, Musk announced that the Cybertruck would start at $39,900, with the most premium version coming in at $77,000 and having 500 miles of range.

That is a far cry from what Tesla unveiled yesterday. The cheapest model, which is not coming until 2025, will cost $60,990 and have a 250 mile range, while the all-wheel drive version that is available from 2024 costs $79,990.

The premium "Cyberbeast" version, meanwhile, clocks in at a whopping $99,990 before tax for 340 miles of range.

Musk notably did not mention the price during the live event, which was streamed on X.

Tesla fans on the r/Cybertruck subreddit roundly criticized the vehicle's range and price, with several saying that they were reconsidering buying the Cybertruck after the underwhelming launch.

"The lighting was horrible, Elon sounded totally unprepared, repeating himself and stumbling through slides," wrote one, who described the range and pricing reveal as "absolutely heartbreaking."

"That was devastating to me. Maybe I'm dramatic, but I've been looking forward to this for almost half a decade, and now it's unobtainable to me in price. I feel like a dream got crushed," they said.

The company is offering a "range extender" which it says will bring the Cybertruck closer to its promised range. The extender is an external battery pack that sits in the truck's pickup bed and offers an extra 120 miles of range.

However, it's not clear how much this will add to the Cybertruck's price, and social media users pointed out that it would likely take up much of the space used for actually carrying things.

Prominent tech YouTuber Marques Brownlee also criticized the discrepancy between what Tesla promised in 2019 and what it is offering now.

"Tesla Cybertruck is notably the first time that Tesla is straight up not delivering on some of the key specs they promised," he wrote in a post on X.

Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider made outside normal working hours.