During yesterday’s Q3 2023 earnings call, Elon Musk revealed that some of the 1 million or so customers that have placed a reservation deposit for the upcoming Cybertruck will start to receive vehicles in November.
The all-electric Cybertruck, which represents Tesla's first foray into the pick-up truck market, has been marred by delays as the firm works out how to reliably mass produce the futuristic machine.
"I just want to temper expectations for Cybertruck," Musk told reporters and shareholders at the event.
"It's a great product, but financially, it will take a year to 18 months before it is a significant, positive cash flow contributor. I wish there was some way to be different but that's just my best guess."
Tesla hasn’t made it easy for itself with Cybertruck. In fact, Musk later stated in the conference that "we dug our own grave" in reference to the production techniques required to work with the stainless steel exterior – a material that has a reputation for being troublesome to scale up to mass production levels.
It is most likely that only a handful of very early customers will receive their vehicles next month, as Musk stated that he believes the company is capable of "a quarter-million Cybertrucks a year" but added that he didn’t think he'd reach that lofty figure next year. "I think we'll probably reach it sometime in 2025," he said.
Despite revealing an estimated initial delivery time, official pricing is yet to be set for Cybertruck, with another event covering that topic expected to be held at its Texas factory on November 30.
The vehicle is now almost two years behind schedule and those first customer deliveries are going to happen a staggering six years after the Cybertruck was first announced to the public. Despite this, it manages to be one of the most eagerly anticipated vehicles of recent times.
Tesla does things differently
There is no denying that future Cybertruck owners are going to be enthused by the news that deliveries will finally start happening this year, as despite the numerous delays and setbacks, appetite for any nuggets of news surrounding Musk's madcap electric pick-up shows no signs of abating.
Tesla has a reputation for experimenting with production until it gets it right, with the Model 3 facing a number of setbacks during its early life. In fact, Tesla employees were said to be making batteries by hand in a bid to face a growing demand backlog of that vehicle as it attempted to meet customer demand.
That said, the delays to Cybertruck could prove costly, as a number of the "more established" rivals are poised to launch their own electric pick-ups, or increase output of those models already announced.
What's more, Rivian is already starting to gain a strong foothold in the electric pick-up market, while Chinese manufacturers are also ready to pile on the pressure. By the time Cybertruck reaches its full production output, the electric pick-up landscape could look very congested.
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