Tesla is reportedly planning to start mass production of the Cybertruck at the end of 2023, two years after the initial target of late 2021. Reuters claims the information comes from two people with knowledge of the plans, but no other details are offered and Tesla did not respond to a request to comment.
The company said last month during the Q3 2022 earnings call that it was working on preparing the Austin, Texas plant to build the new model, with "early production" set to start in the middle of 2023. Elon Musk said during the conference call that the company is "in the final lap for Cybertruck," and the Q3 2022 Shareholder Deck listed the Cybertruck's production status as "tooling," meaning it's preparing for production.
This seems to tie in with the fact that IDRA Group, the Italian company making the 9,000-ton Giga Press that will be used for die casting parts for the Cybertruck, said in a LinkedIn post last week that the machine was packed and ready to be shipped.
These things seem to point out that low-volume production will indeed start in mid-2023, but it remains to be seen whether Tesla will be able to ramp to mass production before the end of the year.
Gallery: Tesla Cybertruck
Reuters points out that a gradual ramp in the second half of next year to full output would mean that Tesla would not be recording revenue until early 2024 for a full quarter of production on a model considered key to its growth. For the million or so reservation holders, it would also mean a wait of at least another year before deliveries start.
Since the Cybertruck prototype was unveiled in late 2019, Tesla has pushed back production timing three times: from late 2021 to late 2022, then to early 2023, and most recently to the mid-2023 target for initial production.
In May 2022, Tesla stopped taking orders for the Cybertruck outside North America, with Musk arguing that the company had more orders "than we could possibly fulfill for three years after the start of production."
Most details are still missing about the Cybertruck production model, including pricing and specifications—initial prices and specs announced in 2019 were pulled from Tesla's website in October 2021. Elon Musk said earlier this year the production model would have different prices and specifications than those initially announced in 2019. At the time, Tesla listed the Cybertruck with a base price just under $40,000.
