It looks like it is finally happening, the Tesla Cybertruck has entered production after four years of delays, missed deadlines, and broken promises. Construction of the truck was originally meant to kick off in 2021 and then 2022, but according to a Tweet from the EV maker, July 2023 was when the first Tesla Cybertruck finally rolled off the production line.
Now, I’m sure you’re excited to see what the final form of this angular behemoth will be. After all, Elon Musk himself has commented on the complexities of constructing this stainless steel polygon. But unfortunately, the official photo shared to mark this momentous occasion almost entirely obscures the finished car.
In the photo, the first production Cybertruck is surrounded by workers from the Texas plant who helped build the truck. It’s a cute photo, but shows almost nothing of the finished truck. The only surface you can clearly see is the peak of its roof.
This means there’s no clear view of the bed, the wing mirrors, or that angular front end to see what kind of pedestrian safety measures the finished truck might have. Heck, there’s not really a clear shot of the windscreen so we can see Tesla’s final wiper solution. Really, it leaves a lot of questions unanswered.
Probably the biggest question of all remains, when will mass production of the truck actually kick off so that customer deliveries can begin? Because sure, some people will argue that it’s great that Tesla finally built a Cybertruck. But building one is a totally different challenge to building enough for the 200,000 people waiting on delivery. Automotive News reports:
Musk has tempered expectations for how quickly Tesla will ramp up production, telling shareholders at the company’s annual meeting in May that the Cybertruck’s radical design poses challenges. He’s said the body will be stainless steel, which can be expensive and difficult to shape and weld.
‘It’s going to be hard to make the cost affordable because it is a new car, new manufacturing method,’ Musk said. ‘In the grand scheme of things, relative to the production rate of all the other cars we make, it will be small. But it’s still very cool.’
Interestingly, in the time it has taken Tesla to finally build a Cybertruck, the competition has caught up and sped past the EV maker. Rivian has its R1T truck out on the road, the Ford F-150 Lightning has been selling well, and GMC has managed to deliver its Hummer EV across America.
So by the time customer deliveries finally do roll ‘round at the end of this year, will the Cybertruck still be the revolutionary truck it was hailed as on its launch? Or, will it be as useful as a fork in a world of soup? We’ll have to wait and see.