The crazy design of the Tesla Cybertruck is still raising eyebrows more than three years after it was revealed to the world.
Now, Tesla boss Elon Musk has confirmed what experts have long suggested: that wild, angular design makes the Cybertruck “just incredibly difficult to bring to market, to reach volume, to be prosperous”.
Speaking at Tesla’s latest earnings call, Mr Musk said “we dug our own grave with Cybertruck”. He also warned investors to temper their expectations about the ute’s impact on the bottom line, as Tesla battles to ramp up production.
In July 2023, Tesla produced its first Cybertruck at its Texas plant. At that point, the brand was planning to deliver the first examples in September.
Now, it expects to deliver the first cars on November 30, 2023. It plans to build 125,000 examples in 2024, before ramping to 250,000 in 2025.
Tesla claims the electric ute will boast up to 804km of range and be able to achieve a 0-60mph (96km/h) time of 2.9 seconds.
According to the carmaker’s US website, the Cybertruck will feature a 1587kg payload, towing capacity of over 6300kg, and 2831 litres of storage space spread out through the ute including its tub, interior, and frunk.
The latter appears to offer customers less space than the Ford F-150 Lightning, Chevrolet Silverado EV, GMC Hummer EV, and Rivian R1T.
It’s unclear what the frunk space for the ute will be, however the Cybertruck’s tub is expected to measure around 2.0 metres long.
Due to repeated delays, the Cybertruck is now going on sale after rivals like the R1T and F-150 Lightning.
