Delayed Again, Elon Musk Schedules Cybertruck Electric Pickup Sale In Late 2023

JAKARTA - Tesla is now targeting to start mass production of the Cybertruck by the end of 2023. This schedule is two years behind the original target for the long-awaited pickup truck. Previously, Tesla CEO Elon Musk stated that this product was launched in 2019.

Tesla said last month that it was preparing a factory in Austin, Texas to build a new model with “early production” that will begin in mid-2023. “We are in the final lap for the Cybertruck,” Musk told a news conference.

This slow production target means that Tesla will only be able to harvest revenue from the product in mid-2024. It also means that hundreds of thousands of customers will have to be patient and have to wait another year when they have already paid $100 to order the Cybertruck. The order has even been made since the launch of electric vehicles last year.

Tesla itself did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the report. Moreover, the electric vehicle manufacturer has yet to announce the price for their Cybertruck product. Because each version of the vehicle, the price is different with different capabilities, and the battery mileage is definitely different.

In 2019, Tesla had projected a starting price of just under $40,000, but prices for new vehicles have shot higher since then and Tesla has raised prices across its lineup.

Musk introduced the Cybertruck in a 2019 launch in which the vehicle designer broke the vehicle's supposedly unbreakable "protective glass" window. The company has pushed back production times three times since. First from late 2021 to late 2022, then to early 2023 and most recently until the mid-2023 target for early production.

The launch of the Cybertruck will give Tesla an EV player in one of the most profitable segments of the US market and a competitor to electric pickups from Ford Motor Co and Rivian Automotive. Both have launched models in a limited number.

In January, Musk cited a shortage in component sourcing as a reason to push the Cybertruck launch into 2023.

In May, Tesla stopped taking orders for the Cybertruck outside North America. Musk said at the time the company had "more first Cybertruck orders than it could possibly fill in the three years following the start of production." Tesla often ramps up production slowly for new models like the Cybertruck.

Analysts also warned that a weakening global economy would start to weigh on sales of Tesla, which has so far been able to sell every car it makes. Musk said he expects the impending recession to last "probably until the spring of 2024."

IDRA Group, the Italian company that makes the Giga Press that will be used for die-casting parts for the Cybertruck, said in a LinkedIn post last week that the 9,000-ton machine for the production of truck parts was packaged and ready to ship.

The post did not mention Tesla's name. But Tesla has used the Giga Press to cut the cost and complexity of producing its Model Y, an innovation that other automakers, including Toyota, have studied.