Tesla Cybertruck here at last: First ‘cyberpunk’ electric ute rolls off the production line

July 17, 2023July 17, 2023 Stephen Corby 2396 Views australia, Cybertruck, Price, Tesla

It’s a case of better late than never for the Tesla Cybertruck, with the first example of the brand’s electric ute finally rolling of the production line at Tesla’s Texas factory.

Yes, that’s four years after Elon Musk first revealed his armageddon-ready pickup truck – and around two years after he said it would begin production – but with fears mounting that the Cybertruck would never make production, the site of the first example will no doubt spark hope for fans around the world.

The moment comes just ahead of Tesla’s upcoming earnings call, with full-scale production seemingly scheduled for the end of this year.

Musk says that, when production ramps up, Tesla will be able to produce as many as 500,000 examples of the Cybertruck per year – and it will need to, with reports that orders for the vehicle are now in excess of a staggering 1.5 million. Customers have been able to put down a US$100 deposit since 2019, meaning Tesla is holding in excess of US$150m in preorders.

There has been no word on Australian specifics yet, but in the US, the Cybertruck was expected to start at US$39,900 for the single-motor version, and then step up to US$49,900 for the dual-motor truck, and US$69,900 for the tri-motor setup.

But those prices have since been removed from Tesla’s sites, leading US analysts to suspect prices could now increase by around US$10,000 for each model.

“There is a lot of new technology in the Cybertruck that will take some time to work through,” Musk has said previously. “And then there is the question of what is the average cost of Cybertruck and to what degree is that affordable.

“You can make something infinitely desirable but if it’s not affordable that will constrain peoples’ ability to buy it.”

Stephen Corby

Stephen is a former editor of both Wheels and Top Gear Australia magazines and has been writing about cars since Henry Ford was a boy. Initially an EV sceptic, he has performed a 180-degree handbrake turn and is now a keen advocate for electrification and may even buy a Porsche Taycan one day, if he wins the lottery. Twice.