Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that production of the long-awaited Cybertruck might begin “maybe this summer.”
Since its debut in 2019, the one-of-a-kind pickup has been the subject of much speculation. Much of the speculation centred on when it might come. It’s made infrequent appearances, but the chronology, which originally saw it coming in 2021, has been changed many times since its introduction.
However, speaking with analysts and traders during the company’s This autumn and full-year results call on Wednesday, Musk once again danced around a firm date for the start of the truck’s production run, though he did trim it down some additional.
“We do anticipate manufacturing to begin, I don’t know, maybe this summer,” he said. “However, I usually prefer to minimise the start of production since it is always quite sluggish. It grows exponentially, but it’s usually sluggish at first, so I wouldn’t place too much stock in the beginning of production.”
He said that mass production would not begin until 2024, but the company was putting in the necessary equipment — including the world’s biggest press — to build the vehicle, which apparently had more than 200,000 reservations. The Cybertruck series will be manufactured in Gigafactory Texas, which is located just outside of Austin.
Musk, who has frequently said that he doesn’t care whether the Cybertruck is profitable; he just loves it and wants to build it, has been shifting the production “goalposts” in the years since its unveiling in 2019. Rivian, Ford, General Motors, and Lordstown Motors have all started building vans since its introduction.
Not only has the start-up date changed, but so has the value.
The original intention was to launch a single-motor pickup for $39,900, followed by a more powerful dual-motor variant for $49,900. Tesla said almost three years ago that the high-performance, three-motor Cybertruck would start at $69,900. However, when supply costs rise, so does the value of the Cybertruck, but the amount has yet to be announced.
“A lot has changed since” the Cybertruck was initially presented, Musk said, “so the specifications and cost will be changing.” Nonetheless, he continued, it’s “going to be a very fantastic computer.”
Tesla established new milestones for its fourth quarter and full-year financial results, but fell short of analysts’ expectations for the periods.
The EV manufacturer from Texas recorded online sales of $12.6 billion on income of $81.5 billion. Despite a 51% rise in income and a 128% increase in online sales, the company fell short of analysts’ expectations. The company was expected to announce profits per share of $3.62, but experts predicted more, starting with an EPS of $4.01.
To be honest, Tesla didn’t miss by much, with analysts’ average projections for FY 22 profits arriving in at $81.7 billion, and it topped the $24.2 billion income estimate for the fourth quarter, while it missed the $1.13 EPS expected for this autumn. These figures came in at $24.3 billion and $1.07, respectively.
The company delivered a record 1.31 million vehicles in 2022, but this fell short of the 1.34 million projected by experts.
