Comments made by Tesla boss Elon Musk and other company execs on an earnings call seem to suggest that Tesla Cybertruck production may be delayed.
That doesn’t necessarily mean the truck will be a flop, as I’ve predicted, but it’s not great news for Tesla, either.
According to Electrek*, the relevant quote is this one: “We are also making progress on the industrialization of Cybertruck, which is currently planned for Austin production subsequent to Model Y.” It’s relevant because Model Y production is set to begin by the end of 2021.
Furthermore, a chart showing production capacity lists the Cybertruck as “in development.”
*Ed. note — We’ve had our, um, tangles with Electrek before, but other sources, such as TechCrunch, are reporting the same thing.
Lars Moravy, the vice president of vehicle engineering at Tesla, danced around a concrete answer about when Cybertruck production might begin:
“Cybertruck is at a stage where we finished basic engineering of the architecture of the vehicle. With the Cybertruck, we are redefining how a vehicle is being made. As Elon said, it carries much of the structural pack and large casting design of the Model Y being built in Berlin and Austin. Obviously, those take priority over the Cybertruck, but we are moving into the beta phases of Cybertruck later this year and we will be looking to ramp up production at Giga Texas after Model Y is up and running,” he said.
Moravy wouldn’t say that production would begin this year, and he also wouldn’t say it would start in 2022, but it seems reasonable that if the Cybertruck is after the Model Y in queue, production won’t start until 2022.
Again, that doesn’t mean we were right and the truck will be a flop — a production delay doesn’t necessarily mean the truck won’t be an overall success once it’s launched. That said, a delay, or a series of delays, could scare some potential buyers away, or cause impatient customers to cancel reservations.
I can’t yet say I told you so. But it’s trending in that direction.
[Image: Tesla]
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