Tesla delays Cybertruck by a year to late 2022, report says

Tesla Inc.’s Cybertruck pickup truck has fallen about a year behind schedule, the blog Electrek reported, citing remarks CEO Elon Musk made on a companywide call with employees.

The Tesla Cybertruck looks like it was dropped off by an alien race, but it has the capabilities to challenge all of the top-selling pickup trucks. With a sharp-edged exterior that is made of scratch- and dent-resistant stainless steel, Tesla’s all-electric truck is seriously tough. Along with available all-wheel drive, the Cybertruck can tow up to 14,000 pounds and has an estimated driving range of 500-plus miles. While that applies only to the most expensive model, the cheapest one starts at $39,900. Of course, there’s still a lot we don’t know about the Cybertruck, including when it will officially go on sale. Right now, it looks as if the first versions will go into production in late 2022.

The truck is expected to begin production at the end of 2022 and won’t be made in volume until late 2023, Electrek said, citing unidentified sources who were on the call with Musk. The CEO told employees that ramping up output will be complicated by the amount of new technology the company will put into the pickup.

Tesla has dropped several hints that its wedge-shaped pickup will be delayed. In April, Musk said both the Cybertruck and the Semi will run on new, larger battery cells that the carmaker is making on a pilot line in California. The CEO cautioned that volume manufacturing of those cells appeared to be roughly 12 to 18 months away. Tesla also recently updated its online configurator where customers can reserve their pickup to refer to production nearing 2022 rather than late this year.

Musk first showed the Cybertruck in November 2019. A demonstration of the truck’s supposedly shatter-proof “armour glass” famously went awry when Tesla’s design chief smashed the prototype’s driver’s-side windows with a metal ball.

Tesla shares slipped 0.5 per cent to $728.91 as of 9:55 a.m. Friday in New York.