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Tesla‘s long-delayed, wildly styled Cybertruck pickup will finally reach production in pickup-crazy Texas next year, CEO Elon Musk promised while inaugurating the electric automaker’s massive Austin factory last week.
Musk, who had previously hedged over Cybertruck timing due to supply-chain shortages, expressed far greater certainty last week in front of thousands of cheering fans who are looking for their next Tesla product to love. The angular Cybertruck was first shown in 2019 and slated for launch two years later.
“We’re going to have an incredible Cybertruck product for you next year,” Musk said at the event, which featured colored lights, electronic music and the latest Cybertruck prototype. “It’s going to blow your mind.”
In a new announcement, the billionaire CEO said the automaker is also working on a dedicated robotaxi model using the company’s autonomous vehicle software.
Tesla is also trying to make current models fully autonomous, but is likely years away, according to experts.
Musk, wearing a cowboy hat and sunglasses, delivered the first Model Y crossovers out of the massive Austin facility in a party-like atmosphere that was streamed live on the Tesla website.
“We’re aiming, just with the Model Y program alone, to get to half a million units a year and then we’re going to start manufacturing Cybertruck here next year,” Musk said.
Two weeks earlier, Musk headlined a similar event in Berlin to inaugurate the automaker’s first European plant, which also began production with the Model Y.
Musk, 50, said last week that Tesla is working on other products that would remain secret. He also said there will be a broader rollout of driver-assistance software that Tesla calls Full Self-Driving. A limited number of customers have been given access to the full beta version for testing.
“I’m not going to spill all the beans right now, but what I can say is we’re going to move to truly massive scale,” Musk said on a stage inside the Texas factory.
“Massive scale, Full Self-Driving, there’s going to be a dedicated robotaxi that’s going to look quite futuristic.”
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