A couple of Tesla Cybertruck bodies-in-white have been spotted at Gigafactory Texas ahead of the start of production.
We have been closely tracking the Cybertruck program since it is arguably the most anticipated electric vehicle program to launch this year, with an estimated 1.5 million reservations.
Tesla’s latest official comment on the timeline is a planned delivery event “around the end of Q3,” which would mean around the end of September 2023.
Electrek recently reported that Tesla told suppliers to be ready for Cybertruck release candidates in late August and production in early October.
There have been many signs of Tesla progressing toward production, including some images of the production in Gigafactory Texas.
We have also seen Tesla ship a Cybertruck to New Zealand for winter testing recently.
Now an image of a couple of Tesla Cybertruck bodies-in-white has leaked. It was first posted on social media, but has since been deleted. Someone on the Cybertruck Owners Club forum got the picture before it was removed:
We can see Tesla taking advantage of its world’s largest casting presses with both front and back featuring massive cast parts.
Top comment by Zzyzx
Looks like a unibody construction for the cab section with bolted on castings front and rear. This makes sense as the stainless panels can simply be bolted on to the structure like most vehicles produced today. This would also make repair faster and cheaper. An exoskeleton would be a costly item to manufacturer and even worse from a repair standpoint.
The apparent use of individual body panels will also allow thickness differences between the doors (protecting the occupants while driving through St Louis, Memphis, Chicago, New Orleans, Detroit, DC, Baltimore, etc.) and the rest of the vehicle (thinner for weight savings).
But another thing is less clear from the image – the exoskeleton.
Tesla originally talked about the Cybertruck being equipped with an exoskeleton, although some dispute Tesla’s use of the word “exoskeleton” since it’s not clear that parts of the external body are structural.
Here’s how Tesla describes it on its website:
Cybertruck is built with an exterior shell made for ultimate durability and passenger protection. Starting with a nearly impenetrable exoskeleton, every component is designed for superior strength and endurance, from Ultra-Hard 30X Cold-Rolled stainless-steel structural skin to Tesla armor glass.
It’s not clear if there are any external structural parts in the bodies seen in those pictures. They look more like traditional vehicle bodies with larger cast parts.
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