Photo: Drive Tesla via Twitter
As the Cybertruck production nears, more and more rumors emerge about the upcoming electric pickup truck. Despite all this, we’re yet to see the final production model, although it should not be much different from the prototypes Tesla has shown so far. Elon Musk, on the other hand, has seen the production version and says that “it’s incredible.”
Following a headline-grabbing 2022 earnings call in January, everyone is optimistic about Tesla’s plans for 2023. There are many things to be excited about, from the new Li-Ion battery manufacturing line at the Giga Texas to the details of a new, “mass-market” EV platform Tesla is expected to unveil during the Investor Day on March 1. Nevertheless, one Tesla product is now driving anyone nuts, and that’s not the Full Self-Driving software. We’re talking about the Cybertruck.
Tesla’s pickup truck seemed as elusive as the horizon line, getting further away the more Tesla tried to reach it. That’s because the EV maker made repeated changes to the project, although the design remained mostly unchanged. Then other carmakers introduced electric pickups in the market, with innovative features that sent the Cybertruck back to the drawing board. And it wasn’t only Elon Musk’s whims that delayed the production, but the market and economy too.
With Tesla barely quenching demand for the Model Y and the other models in production, there wasn’t enough capacity to enter a new model into production. However, the situation changed at the end of 2022, and slowing demand prompted Musk to reconsider the strategy. Suddenly, the affordable EV that Tesla promised years ago and abandoned because it had “enough on its plate” got back on the menu. And, of course, Tesla started to think seriously about the Cybertruck production.
Tesla moved the Cybertruck development into the tooling phase in Q3 2022. Only then Tesla started erecting the production line to build the truck. IDRA’s Giga Presses were first, and around Christmas, Tesla installed the 66 Kuka robots needed to assemble the Cybertruck at Giga Texas. In January, the molds for the Giga Presses were brought in, and recently we’ve found out about the machines that would help Tesla produce the 4680 cells for the Cybertruck’s battery packs.
We still don’t know what the final version of the Cybertruck might look like. Tesla’s chief designer Frank von Holzhausen said it would look exactly like previous prototypes, only a tad smaller. But other than that, radio silence. The prototype body spotted at Giga Texas was analyzed by the teardown veteran Sandy Munro, who said it was just an early prototype with little resemblance to the final version. We don’t know yet if the gigantic wiper is still coming to the final product or did Tesla found a more elegant solution.
Nevertheless, Elon Musk jumped on Twitter to announce that he reviewed the production version of the Cybertruck and seemed very excited about it. “I was just reviewing the production beta Cybertruck. It is incredible,” wrote Musk.
We thought he had reviewed the final version of the Tesla Cybertruck much earlier, but, alas, it is what it is. The timing suggests that Tesla will finally unveil the production version during the Investor Day on March 1. The event would be streamed live from the Gigafactory Texas, and investors would likely get a factory tour and a glimpse of the Cybertruck production line.
Tesla’s pickup truck seemed as elusive as the horizon line, getting further away the more Tesla tried to reach it. That’s because the EV maker made repeated changes to the project, although the design remained mostly unchanged. Then other carmakers introduced electric pickups in the market, with innovative features that sent the Cybertruck back to the drawing board. And it wasn’t only Elon Musk’s whims that delayed the production, but the market and economy too.
With Tesla barely quenching demand for the Model Y and the other models in production, there wasn’t enough capacity to enter a new model into production. However, the situation changed at the end of 2022, and slowing demand prompted Musk to reconsider the strategy. Suddenly, the affordable EV that Tesla promised years ago and abandoned because it had “enough on its plate” got back on the menu. And, of course, Tesla started to think seriously about the Cybertruck production.
Tesla moved the Cybertruck development into the tooling phase in Q3 2022. Only then Tesla started erecting the production line to build the truck. IDRA’s Giga Presses were first, and around Christmas, Tesla installed the 66 Kuka robots needed to assemble the Cybertruck at Giga Texas. In January, the molds for the Giga Presses were brought in, and recently we’ve found out about the machines that would help Tesla produce the 4680 cells for the Cybertruck’s battery packs.
We still don’t know what the final version of the Cybertruck might look like. Tesla’s chief designer Frank von Holzhausen said it would look exactly like previous prototypes, only a tad smaller. But other than that, radio silence. The prototype body spotted at Giga Texas was analyzed by the teardown veteran Sandy Munro, who said it was just an early prototype with little resemblance to the final version. We don’t know yet if the gigantic wiper is still coming to the final product or did Tesla found a more elegant solution.
Nevertheless, Elon Musk jumped on Twitter to announce that he reviewed the production version of the Cybertruck and seemed very excited about it. “I was just reviewing the production beta Cybertruck. It is incredible,” wrote Musk.
We thought he had reviewed the final version of the Tesla Cybertruck much earlier, but, alas, it is what it is. The timing suggests that Tesla will finally unveil the production version during the Investor Day on March 1. The event would be streamed live from the Gigafactory Texas, and investors would likely get a factory tour and a glimpse of the Cybertruck production line.
I was just reviewing the production beta Cybertruck. It is incredible.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 1, 2023
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