Tesla appears to be making steady progress in the development and upcoming production of the Cybertruck, as CEO Elon Musk said he recently reviewed the all-electric pickup truck’s production beta.
Musk’s comment was a response to a Twitter post from a user who said the truck will be his personal vehicle once it’s released. Musk replied the Cybertruck is indeed worth the wait.
“I was just reviewing the production beta Cybertruck. It is incredible,” Musk posted.
Musk's comment about a production beta Cybertruck bodes well for the upcoming EV. So far, most of the sightings were of either the initial prototype unveiled in 2019 or an alpha prototype with no door handles, different wheels and a large windshield wiper.
Generally, alpha prototypes are designed to validate the fundamental technologies a product is based on. Beta prototypes are more mature, as they are mostly representative of the final product that’s going to enter production. It would seem Tesla has all but finalized the Cybertruck and is now just preparing to start of production.
It would not be surprising if sightings of production beta Cybertrucks and, later, release candidate units are reported in the coming weeks and months. This happened when Tesla was building up to the release of the Model Y, whose release candidates were spotted multiple times by EV enthusiasts before deliveries started.
Musk set expectations for Cybertruck production during the Q4 and FY 2022 earnings call, saying the pickup would only be in initial production this year, with its ramp happening in 2024 instead.
“We do expect (Cybertruck) production to start maybe sometime this summer. But I always try to downplay the start of production because the start of production is always very slow. It increases exponentially, but it’s always very slow at first. So I wouldn’t put too much thought in start of production. It’s kind of when does volume production actually happen, and that’s next year,” Musk said.
Abby Andrews