Elon Musk says he’s confident the Tesla Cybertruck will hit volume production in 2023 alongside the Semi and Roadster – so long as debilitating supply chain shortages are fixed.
The ubiquitous head of Tesla was asked about the EV pickup’s future at a recent annual shareholder meeting, with a transcript of the Q&A available.
Musk was asked about when the world’s strangest pickup – which premiered as a concept in late 2019, which we know will be tweaked to meet regulations as well as expectations – would actually sit in people’s driveways.
The answer seems as opaque as ever, but the rationale does check out. After all, a Cybertruck needs a lot of battery cells and a lot of semiconductors.
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“This year has been just a constant struggle with parts supply. So just to be clear, if we had five extra products, we would not change our vehicle output at all because we were just basically limited by multiple supply chain shortages, so many times, not just chips,” Musk said.
“… We’ve got to have enough otherwise, it’s pointless. So I think most likely what we will see is Cybertruck stock production in the next year and then reach volume production in 2023.”
Tesla’s new mega factory in Austin, Texas will be the home of production.
Of course, that doesn’t mean Australia will get it from 2023. We’re still waiting on the Model Y, after all.
But with Tesla this country’s clear EV leader and 4×4 utes the nation’s top-selling vehicles, there’s clearly some sort of market.
You can in fact plonk down a $150 deposit on your Cybertruck via the Tesla Australia site, without any solid indication of when you’ll get yours.
For once Tesla may not have the early march on its rivals, with a plethora of electric pickups further along the production pipeline including the Rivian R1T, the Ford F-150 Lightning, and the reborn GMC Hummer EV.
