Entry into series production?
The first Cybertruck rolls off the assembly line at Tesla
07/15/2023 5:09 p.m
With a considerable delay, Tesla reports the first finished Cybertruck. The carmaker is thus entering the lucrative US pickup market. When the futuristic-looking vehicle was presented in 2019, there was not only applause.
The car manufacturer Tesla produced the first Cybertruck four years after it was introduced. The company announced on Twitter that the first model was built in the US plant in Texas. Production was originally supposed to start at the end of 2021, but had been postponed several times. The plant in the US state was inaugurated in April 2022. Since then, the compact SUV Model Y has been built in it. The Cybertruck is considered an important model for the US market, where pickups are the most popular vehicles.
Tesla introduced the battery-powered pickup in November 2019. Tesla boss Elon Musk presented the Cybertruck in Los Angeles. With its unusual triangular shape, the vehicle is more reminiscent of a fighter jet than a classic pickup. According to Musk, the design was inspired by Ridley Scott’s 1982 film Blade Runner.
At that time it was said that the Cybertruck should be able to transport more than 1.7 tons of weight on the loading area and go from 0 to 60 miles per hour (almost 100 km/h) in 2.9 seconds. In a video, Tesla demonstrated how the pickup accelerates faster than a Porsche 911. The cybertruck also easily won a tug-of-war with Ford’s current best-selling pickup F-150 in the video.
However, the idea turned out to be a breakdown show: In the Tesla development center, designer Franz von Holzhausen hit the vehicle with a hammer to prove the breakage resistance of the windows. Contrary to what was planned, his attacks left deep cracks in the armored glass. In addition, the form was not well received by analysts in an initial reaction. Because of its angular design, the Cybertruck is not serious competition for conventional vehicles from Ford or General Motors, according to Bank Credit Suisse. Tesla stock fell sharply immediately afterwards.