Tesla’s long-awaited Cybertruck won’t see full volume production until 2024, Elon Musk said during the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call today.
During the call, Musk was asked if the upcoming vehicle would meet the mid-2023 production target that was set in the second quarter of last year. Musk cautiously confirmed that Cybertruck manufacturing would begin “sometime this summer,” but concluded that mass production of the polarizing truck won’t begin until next year. “I always try to minimize the start of production,” Musk said. “It increases exponentially, but it’s very slow at first.”
The Cybertruck was originally announced in 2019 to great interest, but its production was delayed several times. Pre-production was originally supposed to start in late 2021, but was pushed back as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was then scheduled for sometime in 2023, a projection made a year ago. Also, last year, Musk told investors that the Cybertruck’s specs and pricing “will be different” (read: more expensive).
As a consolation prize, Tesla revealed Wednesday that it has begun installing the production equipment needed for the Cybertruck assembly, including the castings that will produce the electric truck’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 Cybertruck to have the desired impact. “Cybertruck will hit an increasingly crowded sector of the EV market with the F-150 Lightning, GMC Hummer EV, Rivian R1T and likely the Chevy Silverado EV and RAM 1500 EV following close behind,” said the executive director of insights. by Edmunds, Jessica Cawell. in an email to the edge. “The downside to Tesla is that the Cybertruck almost seems like old news.”
There’s still a lot of attention on the Cybertruck after its over-the-top introduction that featured its aggressive, post-apocalyptic design. Maybe if Tesla throws in more metal balls, it can kick-start production.
