Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced the science-fiction-styled Cybertruck in 2019, saying at the time that production would begin in 2021. Well, that didn’t happen, and Musk confirmed during the company’s Q4 earnings call that 2023 isn’t the year either. Tesla has now pushed back Cybertruck mass production to 2024, but you are still welcome to give the company $100 to reserve a place in line.
That’s not to say there won’t be any Cybertrucks rolling off the line this year. Musk says that the company will start producing some Cybertrucks this coming summer, but numbers will be small at first. That suggests it’ll only be the earliest pre-orders and influencers who will see their electric pickup trucks in 2023. This “very slow” production will be taking place at the Tesla Gigafactory in Austin, Texas. It must take a long time to make all the pointy bits.
This is not the first Cybertruck disappointment. In 2021, Tesla said it was moving the delivery date to 2022. In mid-2022, Musk said that production would ramp up in 2023, and we also learned that the sub-$40,000 Cybertruck was not going to happen. Now, even this modest single-motor version of the vehicle will cost more — how much more is still unclear. But who buys a two-wheel drive pickup truck anyway? The dual-motor version with all-wheel drive was supposed to cost closer to $50,000, but that’s probably going to be higher as well. We don’t know for sure as the most anyone has paid for the non-existent EV is $100, and that just saves a place in line. Tesla says those with active pre-orders will be able to choose their loadout closer to availability.
Tesla’s year-end numbers were a bright spot for investors, overshadowing the additional delay in Cybertruck manufacturing. The company’s stock had been on a steep decline all through 2022, worsening in Q4 as Elon Musk shifted to spending most of this time antagonizing people on his newly acquired social network. There has also been speculation that Musk would have to sell more Tesla stock to cover the debt obligations he took on to acquire Twitter. Strong overall 2022 sales pushed Tesla’s stock price about 20% higher this week, although the price is still just half of what it was a year ago.
However, Tesla is facing more competition in the electric vehicle space from established automakers. Ford, Volkswagon, and others reported large increases in EV sales last year, and General Motors is set to release an electric Chevrolet Blazer and Silverado pickup truck. Tesla has lowered the price of some Teslas by as much as 20%, allowing them to qualify for a new government tax incentive, purely by coincidence, I’m sure.
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