Tesla has given an update on the Cybertruck – confirming that it has new prototypes and giving some hope on the timeline to production.
Cybertruck is Tesla’s most anticipated product, and buyers have been disappointed after the automaker delayed production to “late 2022”.
During Tesla’s Q3 2021 earnings release, the automaker was asked to give an update on the electric pickup truck.
Lars Moravy, Vice President of Vehicle Engineering at Tesla, confirmed that the automaker has produced “a number of alpha Cybertruck prototypes”:
“As you may have seen recently in social media, we’ve built a number of alphas and are currently testing those to further mature the design.”
Moravy is referring to the new Cybertruck prototype that was spotted in California earlier this week.
The engineering executive confirmed that it featured rear steering and teased some “less visible improvements”:
“And while those point out a few key additions, like rear steering, there are also a number of smaller or less visible improvements though the product is largely true to the initial vision. We’ll continue to work through the product in the beta stages that we’re in now and look to launch that by next year.”
Note that Moravy said that the vehicle would launch “next year”.
Tesla has moved away from mentioning that the electric pickup truck would come “late” next year and instead, it now reverted to talking about the truck coming after Model Y at Gigafactory Texas.
The automaker wrote in its shareholders letter yesterday:
“We are making progress on the industrialization of Cybertruck, which is currently planned for Austin production subsequent to Model Y.”
Tesla aims to start production of the Model Y at Gigafactory Texas by the end of the year. However, Elon Musk, who wasn’t on the call yesterday, has previously indicated that Tesla wouldn’t move to Cybertruck production until it manages to ramp up Model Y production at the new factory.
As the CEO admits himself, it’s hard to predict a production ramp, and therefore, late 2022 could still be the timeline for the Cybertruck.
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