Tesla has “dug its own grave” with the Cybertruck, CEO Elon Musk said, as the EV maker struggles to ramp up production of the angular pick-up.
The firm is a long way behind schedule with the Cybertruck, having promised 2021 deliveries at its 2019 unveiling. It started production in July, but customers still can’t order the vehicle, with Tesla only taking reservation deposits.
“There will be enormous challenges in reaching volume production with the Cybertruck and then in making a Cybertruck cashflow-positive,” Musk told analysts and investors on the company’s third-quarter earnings call on Wednesday.
Tesla is using innovative production techniques to build the uniquely styled truck, which is made from an ultra-hard stainless steel that the company said it had to invent. It's also using 9000-tonne gigapresses to mold large sections of the underbody at in its factory in Texas, as well as installing what it calls the largest hot-stamping facility in the world.
Musk said Tesla would reach its target volume production of 250,000 units per year starting in 2025, once it has solved the issues it's facing.
The Cybertruck is an outlier for a company that has focused its attention on producing high volumes of popular global models as efficiently as possible, including the Tesla Model 3 saloon and Tesla Model Y SUV.
“We dug our own grave with Cybertruck”, Musk said on the call. “Cybertruck is one of those special products that comes along only once in a long while. And special products that come along once in a long while are just incredibly difficult to bring to market, to reach volume, to be prosperous.”
Musk spoke about the problems of bringing the truck to market in way that would be both profitable for Tesla and “at a price people can afford”.
He also decried high interest rates that were pushing up prices and making cars less affordable.
Tesla claims it has a million reservations for Cybertruck but has yet to price the vehicle. It's likely to cost much more than the launch prediction of $39,900 for the entry-level model, which was said to have a range of 250 miles.
The first production Cybertruck was pictured on Tesla’s social-media channels recently, surrounded by factory workers. This prompted speculation that a customer handover event was approaching, but Tesla has yet to confirm a first delivery date.
The Ford F-150 Lightning rival is the same length (5.87 metres) as traditional trucks but features a vastly different look both inside and out. For starters, it sports a radical wedge-shape design, no front grille, angular window frames and almost no bodywork curvature.
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Thankfully it is not coming to Europe so at least there is that. It would be far too big and too dangerous on European roads.
"an ultra-hard stainless steel that the company said it had to invent" - didn't SpaceX do that? As if SpaceX wanting their own proprietary alloy, and the smelter having a minimum order quantity, left Elon needing something else to make with it?