Long-delayed futuristic looking electric vehicle will be in production by the middle of 2023
Long-suffering fans of the Tesla (TSLA) – Get Tesla Inc. Report cybertruck, which was first announced in 2019, may have to wait another year for deliveries to start, and that’s not the only disappointment.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk told shareholders at the company’s annual meeting on Aug. 4 that the truck’s “specs and pricing will be different, I hate to sort of give a little bit of bad news.”
Tesla first began taking $99 reservations for the truck in 2019. A base model was set to cost $39,900. “A lot has changed since then,” Musk told the lively audience attending the meeting at Tesla’s recently opened gigafactory in Austin, Texas.
“I think there’s no way to have sort of anticipated quite the inflation that we’ve seen,” Musk said. “But what I can say is that the cybertruck will be one helluva product. It’s going to be like a damn fine machine.”
Musk, who spoke for about 90 minutes including an extensive question and answer period, added that “we are tracking to to be in production middle of next year from this factory.”
He said Tesla will be “installing the production equipment, the tooling and all starting in the next couple of months.”
Since Tesla announced plans to make an electric truck, competitors have beaten it to market with their own models.
Ford (F) – Get Ford Motor Company Report has seen strong demand for its F-150 lightning model, based on its very popular F-150 truck design. Base models start around $40,000.
Rivian (RIVN) – Get Rivian Automotive Inc. Report, a more recent EV startup, has begun to deliver its Rivian R1T pickup as well. That vehicle carries a base price of $67,000 with tricked out versions listing for as much as $85,000.
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This story was originally published August 4, 2022 8:19 PM.
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