Tesla Cybertruck and Rivian Show Why Promised Features Can Disappoint

PSA – If you’re buying a new vehicle, don’t ever buy it for what it might be able to do tomorrow. Buy it for what it can do today. That’s a lesson Tesla Cybertruck owners are learning the hard way, as Tesla just canceled the extended range battery option that was supposed to be available this year. Many early Cybertruck buyers were expecting longer road trips with the extended range pack, but now they’re left with a vehicle that simply won’t have the range they were promised.

But this isn’t just a Tesla thing. Rivian made similar promises with its first-generation R1 vehicles. Back in 2018, Rivian promised that the R1T and R1S would eventually get Level 3 autonomous driving capabilities. Level 3 means the vehicle would be able to drive itself under certain conditions without the driver needing to constantly monitor the road. But here we are, years later, and Rivian’s software has come a long way—but it’s nowhere close to Level 3 autonomy, maybe next year?

These examples are a good reminder of why you should never buy a product based on the promise of future features. Tech companies, including automakers, love to sell a vision of what their products will eventually become. But buying into that vision often means paying for promises that may never be kept.

If you’re buying a vehicle—or any tech product—ask yourself if you’d still be happy with it if it never improved beyond what it can do today. Would you still be okay with that Cybertruck without the extended range battery? Would you still be satisfied with your R1T without Level 3 driving? That’s the reality check most buyers should consider.

When you’re buying a car, it should be for what it does now, not for what it might do one day. Because as many have learned, promises can be canceled, delayed, or forgotten.