Lucas Bell 
The Tesla Cybertruck made its official debut back on November 21, 2019. It is currently more than halfway through 2021, and the truck has yet to enter production. Tesla Motors had stated that they intended to get the truck to customers in the latter half of this year, but that is no longer the case. During an investors call earlier this week, Technoking Elon Musk announced that the Tesla Cybetruck has been delayed. Again.
Tesla Cybertruck: A Long Wait Ahead
The news came Tuesday during a call in which Elon Musk confirmed that Tesla Motors had made $1.1 billion from April to June of this year. An impressive feat for the ever-growing automaker, but one that feels somewhat overshadowed by continued under-delivering. Executives confirmed Tuesday that the Tesla Cybertruck will not begin production until after the Model Y SUV, which will also be built at the Gigafactory in Austin, Texas. That factory by the way, remains under construction at this time.
Unfinished facility aside, the main issue plaguing the Tesla Cybertruck is a familiar one. Musk noted that the company is struggling with the supply chain, a trait shared with the entire industry as of late. Semiconductor chips are a problem, but another culprit is the Tesla Cybertruck’s batteries. More specifically, Tesla’s upcoming 4680 battery cells. Musk was unclear as to when production of the batteries will begin, noting that ramp up could happen in between 12 to 18 months. They aren’t entirely banking on the new tech though, as Tesla could use their existing 2170 batteries if needed. As for the chips, Elon has had enough of folk’s suggestions:
“So in order for Cybertruck and Semi to scale to volume that’s meaningful for customer deliveries, we’ve got to solve the chip shortage, or working with our suppliers,” said Musk. “People sometimes say, why don’t you just build a chip vat? Okay. Well, okay. That would take us, even moving like lightning, 12 to 18 months. So it’s not like you can just whip up a chip vat. It’s just like, yeah, just make a quick chip vat.”
“Semi”-Finished
The Semi has been impacted too, with Tesla Motors confirming that the program debut has now been kicked back to 2022. For those keeping score at home, the Semi was unveiled on November 16, 2017. Tesla initially announced the EV would enter production in 2019. Musk then said it was in limited production in June 2020. It certainly wasn’t. The Semi was then slated to arrive in 2021, but who could have guessed what came next. Don’t forget the Roadster either, folks.
So for everyone hoping that the Tesla Cybertruck would enter production this year, this sucks. But Tesla has made a habit of this sort of thing over the years, and it certainly seems weird. That is, considering it’s the most valuable automaker on the planet. For now, we’re left waiting yet again for another update from the EV automaker. Because they’ve been quite accurate thus far, right?
