Why has Tesla pushed the Cybertruck launch back to 2022?

Tesla has changed the dates it expects to start producing its Cybertruck electric utility truck, pushing back first delivery dates from late 2021 to 2022.

The Cybertruck, which will be available in three formats – single, dual and tri-motor, will be made at the company’s gigafactory in Austin, Texas, alongside the Tesla Model Y which has now reportedly gone intro pre-production there.

It is available to pre-order in all Tesla’s markets with a refundable deposit ($A150 in Australia) and it is thought that some 1.27 million drivers have put their money down for it, according to a crowd-sourced reservation tracker.

According to that data, some 45% of people have reserved the tri-motor version, while 48% have pre-ordered the dual motor.

Some 73.2% have also ordered Tesla’s Full-Self Driving package, its semi-autonomous driving software that is currently in beta phase testing as a full-featured autonomous product.

For Australia, where utes are the highest-selling segment in the auto industry, the introduction of the Cybertruck along with other electric utes could be a game-changer for those who want the versatility of a large vehicle without the damaging emissions.

With so many people waiting for Cybertruck production to commence, there is a lot of speculation on why the delay is happening. Tesla has made no official comment regarding the change in production dates.

Some media reports are claiming that the delay is because “designs were just recently finalised for Cybertruck,” as reportedly told to a Tesla investor by an undisclosed source.

However at the company’s earnings in January, Tesla CEO and co-founder Elon Musk said that the Cybertruck designs were “fixed”, and almost all of the engineering had been completed.

“So we finished almost all of the Cybertrack engineering. So we’re no longer iterating at the design center level or design level. We’ve got the designs fixed,” Musk said.

He added: “If we get lucky, we’ll be able to do a few deliveries toward the end of this year, but I expect volume production to be in 2022.”

At the Q2 2021 earnings call in July, VP for engineering Lars Moravy updated the Cybertruck progress saying, “the Cybertruck is currently in its alpha stages. We finished basic engineering the architecture of the vehicle.”

Musk also pointed to the global chip shortage and battery supply chain issues that have been challenging many sectors and the fact that to make the Cybertruck affordable it must be produced in high volume.

“So in order for Cybertruck and Semi to scale to volume that’s meaningful for customer deliveries, we’ve got to solve the chip shortage working with our suppliers,” he said.

He added that, along with the Tesla Semi, the Cybertruck is a “heavy user(s) of cell capacity so we’ve got to make sure we have the cell capacity for those two vehicles, or it’s kind of pointless.”

“We can make a small number of vehicles, but the effect of cost if you make a small number of vehicles is insane, like they would literally cost $1 million apiece or more,” he said.