According to reports, Tesla is reportedly delaying the initial production of the Cybertruck until the end of the first quarter of 2023, as per a Thursday night report from Reuters.
This would mean that deliveries, likely to occur in very small quantities initially due to the innovative stainless steel body of the Cybertruck, probably won’t commence until the spring of 2023.
The report, citing “a person familiar with the matter,” suggests that the delay is due, at least in part, to a modification of the truck’s features and functions.
This wouldn’t be much later than previous reports suggesting a late 2022 production start for the electric truck, nearly the same time CEO Elon Musk confirmed that the Roadster wouldn’t be shipped until 2023.
In fact, this may be due to increased competition from more traditionally-styled electric trucks, including Rivian, which had already delivered 920 of its R1T electric trucks by the end of 2021. Ford says it will begin deliveries of the F-150 Lightning in May 2022. Ahead of a production ramp-up, GM made a delivery of the GMC Hummer EV truck in late 2021, and earlier this month revealed the 2024 Chevy Silverado EV, set to arrive in spring 2023. Stellantis will also launch a fully electric version of the Ram 1500 truck in 2024.
Musk has already revealed that there will be some changes and some general details. He tweeted on December 3 that the initial production would be of a four-motor variant, “with ultra-fast response torque control to each wheel independently.”
Musk added to that same thread in December that the Cybertruck will offer some form of four-wheel steering, allowing it to turn within its own length, like a tank, or “drive diagonally like a crab.”
The company’s factory in Austin, Texas, is expected to build the Cybertruck. That facility is first ramping up production of the Model Y, starting in a few weeks, with the original “Giga Texas” plan calling for Model 3 and Y production for the eastern U.S. to come from that factory.
