During yesterday’s Q3 2023 earnings call, Elon Musk revealed that some of the approximately 1 million customers who placed a reservation deposit for the upcoming Cybertruck will receive vehicles in November.
The all-electric Cybertruck, which represents Tesla’s first foray into the pickup market, has been marred by delays as the company 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 for it to make a significant, positive cash flow contribution. I wish there was a way to be different, but that’s just my best guess.”
Tesla has not made it easy for itself with Cybertruck. Musk even stated later at the conference that “we’ve dug our own grave” regarding the manufacturing techniques required to work with the stainless steel exterior – a material that has a reputation for being difficult to scale to mass production levels.
It’s highly 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 producing “a quarter of a million Cybertrucks per year,” but added that he didn’t think that he would do that. reach that lofty mark next year. “I think we’ll probably get to this sometime in 2025,” he said.
Despite revealing an estimated initial delivery time, official pricing for Cybertruck has yet to be determined, and another event on the subject is expected to take place at the Texas factory on November 30.
The vehicle is now almost two years behind schedule and the first customer deliveries will take place no less than six years after the Cybertruck was first announced to the public. Despite this, it manages to be one of the most highly anticipated vehicles of recent times.
Tesla does it differently
There’s no denying that future Cybertruck owners will be excited about the news that deliveries will finally happen this year, because despite the many delays and setbacks, the appetite for news surrounding Musk’s crazy electric pickup shows no signs of waning.
Tesla has a reputation for experimenting with production until it gets right, with the Model 3 suffering a number of setbacks during its early life. It was even said that Tesla workers were hand-making batteries in an attempt to cope with that vehicle’s growing demand gap as it tried to meet customer demand.
That said, Cybertruck’s delays could prove costly, as some of the ‘more established’ rivals are about to launch their own electric pickups, or increase production of the already announced models.
Moreover, Rivian is already starting to gain a strong position in the electric pickup market, while Chinese manufacturers are also ready to increase the pressure. By the time Cybertruck reaches full production capacity, the electric pickup truck landscape could look very crowded.