Update: It's official, the Cybertruck won't be arriving until 2023 at the absolute earliest — and ongoing supply chain issues are to blame
The Tesla Cybertruck is shaping up to be the most unique vehicle Tesla has ever produced. But there’s still one thing the electric truck has in common with other Tesla cars: perpetual delays.
Originally slated for production in late 2021, Tesla has seemingly pushed back the truck’s launch at least twice. So when will the Cybertruck hit the production lines? One report claims it may not happen until early 2023.
That’s according to sources speaking to Reuters, who claim the automaker won’t begin production on the Cybertruck until Q1 2023. That would explain why Tesla pulled the 2022 launch estimates from the Cybertruck’s order page, a move that had plenty of people speculating about another delay.
According to the sources, Tesla is expected to start with limited Cybertruck production in Q1 2023 and will increase output some time after that.
Following the Cybertruck’s original delay, CEO Elon Musk claimed that, while initial production would begin in 2022, volume production wouldn’t commence until the following year. He later confirmed that Cybertrucks built in the initial production run would have four motors, rather than the previously-announced three.
Tesla hasn’t commented on the status of the Cybertruck, and Elon Musk hasn’t tweeted anything about it. So the true status of the truck is still unknown, and we may not get firm answers until Tesla’s Q4 2021 earnings call on January 26.
You may be wondering why the Cybertruck is delayed, when other automakers, like Rivian and Ford, seem to have no issues producing electric trucks of their own.
From the sounds of things there are a lot of factors that play into the Cybertruck’s slow development, including the need to develop more powerful casting machines for the truck’s unique steel frame. Musk has also pinned some problems on Tesla’s inability to produce enough 4680 battery cells, something that Musk claims would cause each truck to cost “a million dollars” if production had begun last year.
Tesla has also made it very clear that it wasn't going to begin production of the Cybertruck until the Texas gigafactory had been set up producing the Tesla Model Y. Sadly, Texan Model Y production hasn’t started yet, and until it does the Cybertruck seemingly remains in limbo.
Hopefully, we’ll be hearing more about the Cybertruck from Tesla within the coming weeks.
