Tesla racks up 1 million Cybertruck orders

Tesla has reportedly surpassed one million orders for its pure-electric 2021 Tesla Cybertruck, based on figures from new software designed to track reservations.

According to blog Drive Tesla Canada, the one-million reservation threshold was reached in April.

However, the seven-figure number should be taken with a pinch of salt.

Firstly, the tracker does not rely on official figures from the US car-maker and depends on self-reported reservations.

It's also worth mentioning that to reserve a Tesla Cybertruck, which will be priced from $US39,900 ($A52,000) when deliveries begin later in 2021, only requires American customers to place a fully-refundable deposit of $100.

It's that last fact that has sparked off a fury of multiple reservations by rabid Tesla fans, with some prospective owners placing an incredible 300 orders to ensure they'll be among the first to secure an early delivery date for their battery-powered pick-up truck.

The remainder of the orders are set to be cancelled as soon as they get their delivery date.

Whatever the number, Tesla is believed to be facing unprecedented demand for the Cybertruck, with another source recently suggesting at the beginning of the year that the US car-maker had reported more than 535,000 reservations.

Despite Tesla suggesting first deliveries of the Cybertruck will begin later in 2021, there's still little firm detail on the full specification of the production version.

Many industry commentators have suggested that, in concept form, the six-metre-long pick-up truck had almost zero chance of meeting mandatory European crash tests, while the sheer size of its footprint would be a further challenge in most Euro markets.

Tesla boss Elon Musk is reportedly well aware of the Cybertruck's design failings and tweeted in February that the production version would "look slightly better".

The rigidity and sharpness of its angular design will reportedly also be softened to help meet pedestrian impact legislation.

The original concept promised to raise the bar for full-size pure-electric trucks for both range and performance, with even the single-motor, rear-wheel drive version claimed to hit 60mph (97km/h) in 6.5 seconds and offer a base range of more than 402km.

The mid-range dual-motor all-wheel drive Cybertruck, meanwhile, claimed 0-60mph acceleration of just 4.5sec and a range of 480km.

The flagship triple-motor AWD model was said to hit 60mph in just 2.9sec and achieve a 209km/h top speed. Its range was claimed to be 800km – almost 160km more than the longest-range Tesla Model S sedan.

All Tesla Cybertruck models will have a payload of 1588kg and the base model is rated to tow 3402kg.

Demand for battery-electric utes is clearly running hot in the US. In the few days the Ford F-150 Lightning has been available for order, the Blue Oval brand says it has received 70,000 reservations.