Leading American automaker Tesla has officially built the first unit of the highly awaited Cybertruck electric pickup at Gigafactory Texas.
Tesla proudly announced the significant milestone on Twitter with the caption, “First Cybertruck built at Giga Texas!” a photograph of joyful factory workers surrounding the electric pickup. Unsurprisingly, Tesla CEO Elon Musk retweeted the announcement to congratulate the Tesla team.
The photo attached to the Tweet does not offer much visual of the newly built Cybertruck as factory workers surrounded it. It only showed the EV’s glass roof, windshield, enormous wiper at the left, side windows, and truck bed. However, it must be noted that the maiden Cybertruck appears highly similar to the recent prototypes appearing publicly in the past weeks.
Significant milestone for Tesla
The successful production of the first Cybertruck is indeed a major achievement for Tesla as it signifies the automaker’s fifth production passenger car three and a half years after the Model Y in January 2020.
Apart from that, pickup trucks are highly popular in America, guaranteeing the success of the Cybertruck if Tesla can produce as many units as possible in a short span of time.
For context, Tesla CEO Elon Musk asserted in May that the Cybertruck’s annual sales could reach 250,000 and 500,000 units when production hits full speed.
“We’ll make as many as people want and can afford.”
Tesla CEO Elon Musk said at the time
He further noted that the automaker may have difficulty reducing the cost of the Cybertruck because it is a new car that needs a new production method. For instance, its exoskeleton is built from Ultra-Hard 30X Cold-Rolled stainless steel.
It also has redefined design elements that do not resemble any Tesla or vehicle on the road today. Simply put, the Cybertruck is an extremely appealing EV that may likely be the most photographed model on the roads when Tesla began deliveries.
As for the deliveries, the Tesla boss recently announced that the automaker will launch the handover event by the “end of the third quarter.” The timeline indicates a possible start of delivery by September 2023. However, it must be noted that Tesla may just deliver a small number of Cybertrucks to customers at the event. As CEO Musk noted before, Tesla will initially produce limited Cybertruck units before gradually ramping up production the following year.
“This was a tough product to design and even tougher to build.”
Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted in May
In hindsight, Tesla initially planned to begin the Cybertruck production by the end of 2021. However, the numerous delays pushed the timeline to late 2022, with volume production starting the following year.
The Cybertruck will undoubtedly provide Tesla with an entrant in one of the highly profitable segments of the US EV market, competing with Ford and Rivian’s pickup truck models.
