Tesla’s much-anticipated Cybertruck won’t reach full production until 2024, Elon Musk said today during the company’s fourth-quarter call.
During the call, Musk was asked if the forthcoming vehicle would meet a mid-2023 production target set in Q2 last year. Musk tentatively confirmed that production of the Cybertruck would begin “sometime this summer,” but concluded that mass production of the polarizing pickup won’t begin until next year. “I always try to downplay the start of production,” Musk said. “It’s increasing exponentially, but it’s very slow at first.”
Cybertruck was originally announced in 2019 to widespread interest, but production has been delayed several times. Pre-production was originally set to begin in late 2021, but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was then scheduled for sometime in 2023, a forecast from a year ago. Additionally, Musk told investors last year that Cybertruck’s specs and price “will be different” (read: will be more expensive).
As a consolation prize, Tesla revealed on Wednesday that it has begun installing the production equipment needed to assemble the Cybertruck, including the castings that will produce the electric pickup’s body. The Cybertruck is expected to be largely manufactured at the company’s Gigafactory in Austin, Texas.
Industry experts warned that the timeline needed to be accelerated for the Cybertruck to have the desired impact. “Cybertruck will hit an increasingly crowded sector of the EV market, amidst the F-150 Lightning, GMC Hummer EV, Rivian R1T, and likely the Chevy Silverado EV and RAM 1500 EV following closely behind,” said Edmunds. executive director of insights Jessica Cawell in an email to The edge. “The downside for Tesla is that the Cybertruck seems almost old news.”
There’s still a lot of focus on the Cybertruck after the over-the-top reveal that introduced its aggressive, post-apocalyptic design. If Tesla throws more metal balls around it, maybe production can get going.
