Elon Musk announced during the company’s fourth-quarter results call today that full-volume production of Tesla’s long-awaited Cybertruck won’t begin until 2024.
On the call, Musk was questioned about if the upcoming car would be produced by the mid-2023 deadline that was established in Q2 of last year. Musk acknowledged that Cybertruck production would begin “sometime this summer,” but came to the conclusion that the divisive pickup won’t go into mass production until the following year. “I always try to downplay the start of production,” Musk said. “It increases exponentially, but it is very slow at first.”
Although there was a considerable curiosity when Cybertruck was first revealed in 2019, its construction has been postponed numerous times. Pre-production was initially planned to begin in late 2021, but the COVID-19 epidemic caused this to change. Then, it was projected to happen sometime in 2023, a year ago. Additionally, Musk stated to investors last year that Cybertruck’s specifications and cost “would be different.”
As an afterthought, Tesla said on Wednesday that it has begun setting up the manufacturing tools required for the Cybertruck’s assembly, including the castings that will create the body of the electric pickup truck. The company’s Gigafactory in Austin, Texas, is anticipated to be the primary manufacturing location for the Cybertruck.
Industry analysts cautioned that in order for the Cybertruck to have the desired effect, the schedule needs to be accelerated. According to Jessica Cawell, managing director of insights at Edmunds, “Cybertruck will be entering an increasingly congested section of the EV market amid the F-150 Lightning, GMC Hummer EV, Rivian R1T, and probably the Chevy Silverado EV and RAM 1500 EV following closely behind.” In a statement, Cawell disclosed that “The Cybertruck almost seems like old news, which is bad for Tesla.”
The Cybertruck continues to draw a lot of interest after its extravagant debut, which unveiled its abrasive, post-apocalyptic look. Tesla might be able to start manufacturing if it throws more metal balls around.
