Tesla has announced that the Cybertruck will not go into production this year, as originally planned. The electric truck will not be available for sale until 2022, and the company’s online configurator confirms the delay.
During the second-quarter 2021 financial results conference, a Tesla spokesperson stated, “We are progressing with the industrialization of Cybertruck, which is currently planned for Austin production after Model Y.” However, the company executives did not provide a specific date for the start of Cybertruck production.
Shortly after the event, the brand updated its online Cybertruck configurator to confirm that the vehicle would go into production at some point in 2022.
However, the delay is unlikely to impact European customers as it remains doubtful that the Cybertruck will make it across the Atlantic. This is partly due to the market’s preference for six-meter-long pickup trucks and partly due to the strict EU type approval regulations. The Cybertruck’s size and angular profile may pose challenges in passing pedestrian impact assessments in particular.
Speaking during a Q&A session at the company’s annual Battery Day conference last year, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that while Cybertruck orders are “gigantic,” numbering over half a million, the vehicle might not clear regulators outside the United States. Despite this, he still predicted a production capacity of “at least 250,000 to 300,000 per year, maybe more.”
“We are designing the Cybertruck to meet U.S. specs,” Musk said. “Because if you try to design a car to meet the super set of all global requirements, basically, you can’t make the Cybertruck. It’s impossible.”
It increasingly seems likely that the full-size Cybertruck will be a U.S.-exclusive model, which may not be a hurdle to its commercial viability, given that the U.S. is the largest market in the world for large trucks. However, Musk mentioned that Tesla is also considering building a smaller version of the Cybertruck to suit countries with smaller roads.
“We’ll probably make an international version of Cybertruck that will be a little bit smaller, kind of like a tight Wolverine package,” Musk said. However, he did not provide further details on what he meant by “Wolverine,” which was a reference to one of the heavy-duty robots at Tesla’s factory in Fremont, California, named after the X-Men character.
Musk promised that any international Cybertruck that might emerge “will still be great,” adding, “But it will be smaller because you just can’t make a giant truck like that for most markets.”
Tesla Cybertruck: Prices, Specifications, and Release Date
The new Tesla Cybertruck is an angular utility vehicle with a stainless steel body, bulletproof glass, and a maximum towing capacity of over six tons. Prices will start from $39,900 when it goes on sale in 2022 in the U.S.
Following the truck’s launch, Musk announced on Twitter that over 250,000 customers had placed orders for the new model. He then released a video showing the Tesla Cybertruck towing a Ford F150, the best-selling pickup truck in the United States, which stirred some controversy online.
Despite its appearance resembling a prop from a sci-fi movie, Musk claims that the Cybertruck will do everything the most popular pickups in the U.S. market can do. He claimed it can carry a payload of up to 1,587 kg and tow up to 6,350 kg. It also comes with a lockable 2,832-liter cargo bed that can carry items up to 1,981 mm long.
Musk promises that the truck will also be useful off-road. It has 406 mm of ground clearance, a 35-degree approach angle, and a 28-degree departure angle, which is better than the current Ford F-150. A range of new traction control settings is also promised, designed to simulate mechanical lock differentials.
Tesla Cybertruck: Chassis, Platform, and Strength
Like the Tesla Model X, the Cybertruck has air suspension that allows lowering the rear of the truck for easier loading and unloading. The truck is also equipped with a retractable ramp, demonstrated with a modified and remodelled Yamaha off-road vehicle driving across the stage and onto the platform.
There is still considerable speculation about the angular design of the Cybertruck, and many publications remain doubtful about whether it will pass the pedestrian safety appearance of U.S. crash regulations.
However, Musk claims that the Cybertruck will be the toughest truck on the market, thanks to a body made of ultra-hard 30X cold-rolled stainless steel. Tesla’s chief designer, Franz von Holzhausen, demonstrated the strength of the truck’s body by attempting to dent one of its doors with a sledgehammer.
The Cybertruck will also be equipped with Tesla Armor Glass, an ultra-resistant compound with layers of polymer that Elon Musk described as “transparent metal.” Its on-stage demonstration wasn’t as smooth as the body’s, as when Holzhausen threw a heavy metal ball at the front and rear door glass of the truck, both windows cracked. Musk admitted to the crowd that there was “room for improvement.”
And, like all pickup trucks in the U.S. market, the Tesla Cybertruck is large. It measures 5,885 mm in length, 2,027 mm in width, and 1,905 mm in height, making it roughly the same size as the Supercab version of the current North American bestseller, the Ford F-150.
Tesla Cybertruck: Interior Design
Inside, there are two rows of three seats, with the central front seat folding down flat to form an armrest. As is customary in Tesla models, the dashboard features only a 17-inch horizontal touchscreen, located at the top of a marble-effect panel that extends across the width of the truck, with no other visible controls.
Instead of a steering wheel in the Cybertruck, there is a Yoke, also seen in the upcoming Tesla Roadster and the current Tesla Model S Plaid. The truck’s rearview mirror is a screen, rather than a conventional glass unit, using the signal from a high-definition camera on the rear tailgate. The glass roof extends backward over the rear passengers, who can view the steel cargo bed lining.
