No other vehicle has generated so much excitement in many years.
To say that Tesla's Cybertruck is one of the most anticipated vehicles by both car fans and competitors of the electric vehicle manufacturer is an understatement.
Due to its futuristic look of the prototypes, the Cybertruck is supposed to be a game changer for pickup trucks.
Tesla (TSLA) and its whimsical and charismatic CEO Elon Musk have already warned that this won't be the vehicle for people who don't like attention.
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"We've pulled people away from their kind of normal comfort zone and brought them something that's just radically different and will be on the street radically different and, you know, if you're not used to attention might be a little tough in the beginning," said, last month, Franz von Holzhausen, chief vehicle designer.
Musk first unveiled the electric pickup prototype in November 2019 at a promotional event in Los Angeles. The vehicle has been described as something out of the films "Mad Max" and "Blade Runner."
The billionaire himself said that the Cybertruck had been "influenced partly by 'The Spy Who Loved Me,'" a reference to the amphibious Lotus Esprit S1 featured in the 1977 James Bond film.
'Ramping Production'
A video shared on Feb. 23 by the billionaire confirmed that the latest prototypes, which are pretty much the vehicle that will be mass-produced, have lost nothing of the original design.
The video focused on the front of the car and its distinctive headlight. The very short video shows what appears to be the Cybertruck bombarded by lasers from all sides. None of the vehicle's features are depicted in detail, but the lasers and the headlight reinforce the idea that the vehicle is futuristic.
"It’s gonna change the look of the roads,” the billionaire said that day, calling the Cybertruck "epic".
The video went viral: it was viewed more than 94 million times in two days. This success clearly demonstrates the expectations surrounding the Cybertruck, whose order book is full. Tesla is no longer accepting orders outside of North America. Basically, all is well for the Cybertruck, whose production will start later this year according to Tesla.
Not so fast, because Musk has just revealed that the vehicle has a problem. That problem is production rate increases. Basically, Tesla could encounter difficulties when the manufacturer seeks to reduce the time between order and delivery, in order to satisfy customers.
He made this revelation in a thread on Twitter.
"I can’t wait to see people’s stunned reactions as Cybertruck climbs the sales charts," an account of Tesla fans posted on Feb. 24.
"Ramping production (as always) will be the challenge, not demand," Musk commented.
"Of course, I would imagine it’s very challenging with the larger battery pack and so many new technologies & manufacturing processes being used," the user added.
Musk didn't provide further details.
Bad Memories
In the past, Tesla has had serious difficulties with another equally important vehicle. This was the entry-level Model 3 sedan, which was to transform the company into an automaker capable of mass-producing cars.
"My credibility, the credibility of the whole team," was at stake, the billionaire told Bloomberg Businessweek in 2018 about the Model 3.
Tesla was "close to death" during the troubled ramp-up of the mass market Model 3, Musk said back at the time in interviews. He indicated that he was sleeping in the factory.
"No one should put this many hours into work," the serial entrepreneur declared then. "This is not good. It was very painful. It hurts my brain and my heart."
The production of the Model 3 was described by the billionaire himself as hell: "The Model 3 ramp was extreme stress & pain for a long time — from mid 2017 to mid 2019. Production & logistics hell," the techno king tweeted in November 2020.
Cybertruck is said to have a low center of gravity, which provides good traction control and torque, enabling acceleration from 0-60 mph in just 2.9 seconds and up to 500 miles of range.
In addition, Tesla said the pickup truck has up to 3,500 pounds (1,587 kg) of payload capacity and 100 cubic feet of exterior, lockable storage.
The carmaker also claimed that the car has towing capability of over 14,000 pounds (6,350 kg).
This vehicle is set to become the cash cow of the carmaker, which already manufactures the Model 3, the Model S luxury sedan, the Model Y SUV and the luxury Model X SUV as well as the Tesla Semi.
Pricing for the Cybertruck has yet to be announced by Musk and Tesla. But the base price could be as low as $40,000.
