Tesla has produced its first Cybertruck at its Texas factory. The news comes after months of multiple sightings of the utilitarian vehicle being spotted in California, Texas and more recently a lot closer, in New Zealand.
The leading all-electric brand announced the milestone on its Twitter page over the weekend. The announcement tweet itself had over 40 million views in under 24 hours.Ā
An accompanying photo shows Teslaās GigaTexas team around the first Cybertruck.
First Cybertruck built at Giga Texas! š¤ pic.twitter.com/ODRhHVsd0t
— Tesla (@Tesla) July 15, 2023
The news of the first Cyberturck production unit comes just over a year after the Cyber Rodeo in Texas, marking the opening of the Texas plant.
This first production unit retains the massive single windscreen wiper as well as the triangular mirrors seen in various recent sightings of the Cybertruck.
It’s unclear at this stage of the pricing and specifications of this particular build, but more news could appear later this week at Teslaās Q2 earnings call, including a potential date of Cybertruckās first delivery event.
We would be keen to see its tow rating as previously itās stated to be 7,500 – 14,000 pounds. That’s equivalent to 3.4 – 6.5 tonnes of towing capacity.
Timing-wise, its been nearly four years since the Cybertruck was first announced back in late 2019. At that time, the production was estimated to commence by 2022 for most configurations.Ā
Tesla has faced several difficulties getting to this stage including supply chain and logistics issues caused by the pandemic. In light of that, 2023 production doesnāt seem too far stretched out.
In April 2023, at the Q1 earnings call, Teslaās CEO, Elon Musk, touched on the delivery timeframe at Giga Texas.Ā
In response to an investor question for an update on the specs and pricing for the Cybertruck and any new features to production, Musk said: āWell, I think we will save that for the Cybetruck handover which will hopefully be at the end of Q3 this year.
āOne thing I can confidently say is that it is an incredible product, itās a hall of famer, I think. And a product like this only comes along once, once in a long while. People will not be disappointed in it at all, Itās amazing.”
In more recent times, Musk has been test-driving the truck around Texas. One of these sightings was as recent as earlier this month.
Just drove Cybertruck around Austin! pic.twitter.com/QN19Agqa7R
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 8, 2023
Meanwhile, closer to home, the Cybertruck is currently undergoing winter testing with footage revealing the performance of the truck in snow and icy conditions.
This is exciting news for hundreds of thousands of order holders worldwide as we wait to hear details on the actual first delivery event.Ā
We look forward to tracking these updates as some of these vehicles are delivered in the coming months and beyond that on public roads. One thing is for sure, very few will miss spotting the Cybertruck if it drives past them.
But the question remains, will the Cybertruck make it to Australian shores, and if so, when? Australia is already missing out on the Model Y and Model X, because it is considered a small, right hand market. But given Australia’s love of utes, and more recently, oversized utes, then it would seem that the Cybertruck would be a coveted vehicle.
RizĀ is the founder of carloop based in Melbourne, specialising in Australian EV data, insight reports and trends. He is a mechanical engineer who spent the first 7 years of his career building transport infrastructure before starting carloop. He has a passion for cars, particularly EVs and wants to help reduce transport emissions in Australia. He currently drives a red Tesla Model 3.