Tesla will begin production of the much-awaited Cybertruck in 2023, meaning that orders of the futuristic pickup truck won't be delivered next year. There have been lots of expectations for the Cybertruck following its announcement two years ago. However, Tesla has failed to make the truck available for purchase ever since. There have been many expected delivery dates, but none were honored. In August, Tesla CEO Elon Musk claimed that the original design of the Cybertruck had changed significantly since its announcement, signaling a potential price increase.
Despite the uncertain availability date, the Cybertruck has attracted great interest, which has converted into many Cybertruck pre-orders. In 2020, there were 372,000 orders, though an alternate estimate showed that the truck had received 622,000 orders. In 2021, that number was reported to have hit 1 million. It's interesting how Tesla has been able to keep expectations for the truck on a high despite not fielding it in the market yet. Tesla continues to enjoy the majority of the EV market share, though recent releases from competitors may threaten the Musk-led company's grip soon.
After Tesla revealed that the Cybertruck had entered the tooling stage, many hoped that deliveries would commence next year. After all, it's been two years since the automaker went public on the vehicle. Unfortunately, that won't be possible according to fresh information. According to reports from Reuters, Tesla intends to commence large-scale production of the Cybertruck by the end of 2023. To this effect, it's striving to prepare its Gigafactory in Austin, Texas to handle the manufacturing process.
What This Means For Cybertruck Orders
While it’s good that the Cybertruck may soon become ready for shipping, anyone with a reservation will have to wait until 2024, perhaps, to have the truck delivered. Tesla has blamed the constant postponement of the truck's availability on the ongoing semiconductor shortage, which has made production difficult. Automakers are already struggling to fulfill orders on existing models. The challenges were so bad that Tesla said that it might stop taking orders on all of its models. It was forced to consider this given the fact that demand for EVs had shot up, but production had failed to match consumers' interest.
Although Tesla has not announced a final starting price, many expect the manufacturer to present a much higher amount than first presented. When Tesla first unveiled the Cybertruck, it estimated a starting price of $40,000, which made sense and seemed like a friendly price point. However, parts scarcity and other factors have forced many automakers to revisit their MSRP, making them more expensive. For instance, Rivian increased the MSRP for its R1T and R1S models — a move welcomed by outrage from customers.
Source: Reuters