Tesla Cybertruck limited production is set to begin this summer, CEO Elon Musk said during the company’s Q4 2022 earnings call Jan. 25.
During the call, Musk and company were asked whether the all-electric Cybertruck was still slated for production by early 2023.
“We do expect production to start sometime this summer, but I always kind of downplay the start of production because the start of production is always very slow,” Musk said.
Tesla also said in its Shareholder Deck for the call that Cybertruck production “remains on track to begin” later this year.
Musk noted the start of a vehicle’s production is relatively unimportant because a manufacturing ramp increases volume over time. The start is always slow, and as a company refines its manufacturing processes for the vehicle, things pick up.
Volume production is what matters, as this is where Tesla will begin to make a serious dent in the 1.5 million Cybertruck orders it has received since the truck's unveiling in 2019. Musk said volume production would begin in 2024; previous expectations had it slated for late 2023.
Tesla began the installation of the equipment that will be used in the production of the Cybertruck, such as the castings and general assembly body shops, but the ramp will come in 2024.
In January, drone flyovers of Tesla’s Gigafactory Texas revealed the IDRA 9,000-ton Giga Press, which will be used for the body of the Cybertruck, was quickly being assembled. IDRA also supplies the Giga Press machines used to form the Model Y’s front and rear underbody castings.
On Jan. 22, casting molds for the Cybertrucks evidently arrived at Gigafactory Texas. A bill of lading showed the molds arrived in the U.S. on Jan. 16 and were picked up two days later and delivered to the facility. All of the sightings of casting equipment point in the direction of the Cybertruck nearing production.
Abby Andrews