Almost four years after Elon Musk first unveiled Tesla Inc.’s debut pickup, the automaker has built its first Cybertruck.
Tesla shared the development on Twitter, posting a photo of workers in safety vests and helmets obscuring much of the vehicle. When Musk first showed a prototype of the wedge-shaped truck in November 2019, the plan was for production to start two years later.
First Cybertruck built at Giga Texas! 🤠 pic.twitter.com/ODRhHVsd0t
— Tesla (@Tesla) July 15, 2023
Musk has tempered expectations for how quickly Tesla will ramp up production, telling shareholders at the company’s annual meeting in May that the Cybertruck’s radical design poses challenges. He’s said the body will be stainless steel, which can be expensive and difficult to shape and weld.
“It’s going to be hard to make the cost affordable because it is a new car, new manufacturing method,” Musk said. “In the grand scheme of things, relative to the production rate of all the other cars we make, it will be small. But it’s still very cool.”
Tesla initially said it would sell the Cybertruck in three configurations:
- A single-motor version with more than 250 miles of range, starting at $39,900
- A dual-motor model with more than 300 miles of range, starting at $49,900
- And a tri-motor iteration with more than 500 miles of range, starting at $69,900
But in October 2021, the company removed pricing and specifications from its Cybertruck order page, without explanation.
When asked in April of this year for updated specs and pricing, Musk demurred, saying Tesla would save that information for a Cybertruck handover event he hoped to stage around the end of the third quarter.
Since Tesla unveiled the vehicle at an event marred by the botched demonstration of supposedly bulletproof glass, Ford Motor Co. introduced an electric version of its best-selling F-150, General Motors Co. began selling its GMC Hummer EV pickup, and Rivian Automotive Inc. launched its R1T truck.
On Monday, Ford said it will lower the sticker price on Ford’s F-150 Lightning electric pickup by thousands of dollars due to increased plant capacity, falling costs for battery raw materials and internal efforts to scale production by the Detroit automaker.
Completion of final upgrades at a Ford facility in Michigan will lead to greater availability of a built-to-order truck as early as October at a manufacturer’s suggested retail price closer to initial Lightning pricing, according to the company.
The updated MSRP for the Pro model, its lowest-priced electric pickup, will be $49,995, down from $59,974. The Lariat 510A’s MSRP will decline to $69,995 from $76,974.
“Shortly after launching the F-150 Lightning, rapidly rising material costs, supply constraints and other factors drove up the cost of the EV truck for Ford and our customers,” said Ford executive Marin Gjaja. “We’ve continued to work in the background to improve accessibility and affordability to help to lower prices for our customers and shorten the wait times for their new F-150 Lightning.”
Deutsche Bank analyst Emmanuel Rosner expects Tesla to deliver 2,000 Cybertrucks this year, a fraction of the 1.78 million vehicles he’s projecting in total. In a June 26 report, he questioned whether the product will boost the company’s profitability, citing the difficulty of optimizing production and need for larger battery packs to enable towing.
“This could layer on an additional headwind to margin in the back half” of the year, wrote Rosner, who rates Tesla stock a buy with a $260 price target. Shares closed Friday at $281.38 and have soared 128% this year.
Tesla releases second-quarter earnings results Wednesday.
Craig Trudell, Bloomberg News
