AUSTIN, TX – Tesla has finally completed its first ever-production model of its highly touted Cybertruck at its Austin, Texas facility, four years after CEO Elon Musk unveiled the company’s ambitious debut light-duty pickup in November of 2019.
The Tesla Cybertruck is a battery electric light-duty truck, with three models announced with EPA range estimates of 250–500 miles and an estimated 0–60 mph time of 2.9–6.5 seconds, depending on the model. Musk’s stated goal of Tesla in developing the Cybertruck is to provide a “sustainable energy substitute” for the roughly 6,500 fossil-fuel-powered trucks sold per day in the United States.
Tesla announced the successful completion of the first model of their metallic, wedge-shaped Cybertruck on Saturday on Musk’s Twitter social media platform. However, the announcement was tempered by the fact that when Musk first showed off a prototype of the vehicle in 2019 – which included an infamously botched demonstration of its “bulletproof” glass windows – he initially claimed that production was due to start in 2021.
Despite the fact that the Cybertruck is now in full-on production mode, Musk told shareholders at Tesla’s annual meeting in May that the unconventional design of the vehicle may result in challenges in terms of how quickly the company can churn them out. Chief among the issues facing the Cybertruck, Musk said, is the fact that its body is constructed out of stainless steel, which can be costly and hard to work with.
It’s going to be hard to make it cost affordable because it is a new car, new manufacturing method,” he said. “In the grand scheme of things, relative to the production rate of all the other cars we make, it will be small. But it’s still very cool.”
Three versions of the Cybertruck are slated to include a single-motor version starting at $39,900 with a range of over 250 miles; a dual-motor version starting at $49,900 with over 300 miles of range; and a tri-motor version starting at $69,900 with over 500 miles of range.
As impressive as the specs of the Cybertruck are, the delays in its production means that it is now facing stiff competition in the form of the all-electric version of Ford’s F-150, the General Motors GMC Hummer EV pickup, and the Rivian R1T EV truck.
Christopher Boyle is an investigative journalist, videographer, reporter and writer for SEARCHEN NETWORKS® as well as other independent news and media organizations in the United States. Christopher works on a wide variety of topics and fields, has been featured in print and online in a variety of publications, from local to national, and helps keep a keen-eye on what’s happening in the automotive world for Auto Buyers Market.