Tesla to start delivering its long-awaited Cybertruck TODAY – how YOU can watch the live event marking the milestone

After nearly four years of delay, Tesla will finally begin deliveries of the Cybertruck, but investors believe the company has “missed the moment.”

Elon Musk first revealed the futuristic four-door electric truck in 2019, promising a launch in late 2021 — a time frame delayed by pandemic-related disruptions and numerous design issues.

While Tesla is holding a live event at 3pm ET from the Texas Gigafactory to celebrate the first shipments, industry experts believe it’s too late for a market full of electric trucks — with Ford’s F-150 Lightning dominating the space.

It’s unclear how many Cybertrucks are in the first shipment, but Musk said production should reach about 250,000 per year by 2025.

Andrew Hawkins, head of equity analysis at RBC Capital Markets, said: Yahoo Finance“If Tesla had already launched the truck and started delivering it to customers shortly after this event, they could have really captured that market, but now we’ve seen there the F150 LightningRivian R1TThere’s a Hummer truck, and there’s more to come.

“So I think there’s an argument that Tesla missed the moment here.”

However, more than two million Cybertruck vehicles have been reserved since Tesla opened pre-orders.

The price of the car is expected to be revealed at an event, although Tesla has long said it will be priced at $40,000, but Musk has not provided an updated price despite rising raw material costs.

Musk said in a recent statement that Tesla faced “enormous challenges in reaching volume production” with the Cybertruck due to its new technology and design.

“We dug our own grave with the Cybertruck,” Musk said last month, warning that making the vehicle a significant contributor to cash flow would take a year to 18 months.

The Cybertruck’s new body material and unconventional, futuristic design add complexity and costs to production and threaten to alienate traditional, utility-focused pickup truck buyers, experts said.

A few years ago, Musk floated the idea that if people didn’t like the Cybertruck’s futuristic design, Tesla could “build a regular-looking truck.”

“The biggest problem facing the Cybertruck is that the Cybertruck wasn’t really designed for pickup truck users,” said Eric Noble, president of automotive consulting firm The CARLAB.

“It will have a much narrower appeal than the Ram or F-series,” he said of the popular Dodge and Ford trucks.

Telsa’s Cybertruck caused quite a stir when it was unveiled to the world in November 2019.

This famous event quickly became a nightmare for Musk after the windows of his new electric car, the Cybertruck, shattered after he boasted that it was “shatterproof.”

While advertising the truck — which looks like an armored vehicle with angular sides — Tesla design chief Franz von Holshausen attempted to prove that glass was “shatterproof” by throwing a heavy metal ball at close range.

Musk was heard muttering “Oh my God” as the glass shattered.

Since this prototype, design modifications have been made to the Cybertruck, primarily to ensure that it is more durable and resistant to impacts from rocks and debris that may fly as it moves across rough terrain at high speeds.

The Cybertruck’s exterior is now made of a new type of stainless steel that’s strong enough to withstand the impact of a 9mm handgun, according to Musk.

The CEO previously blamed battery supply issues for the delay, saying each Cybertruck would “literally cost $1 million a piece or more” if Tesla begins production of the future vehicle in 2021.

It wasn’t until July of this year when the world saw a photo of the first Cyber ​​Truck rolling off the assembly line at the Austin facility.