Wearing a black cowboy hat and sunglasses, Tesla CEO Elon Musk took the stage at his company’s Cyber Rodeo event in Austin on Thursday and announced that production of the long-awaited Cybertruck will begin next year.
“Sorry for the delay,” Musk said. “But you’re going to have this next year, and it’s really going to be great.”
Tesla introduced its Cybertruck in 2019, initially saying that production would begin in 2021. But since then, the fully electric pickup truck has been delayed. Last year, pandemic-induced supply-chain issues prompted Musk to push the launch back to the end of 2022. Now, he’s promising yet again that the Cybertruck is on its way.
“This year’s all about scaling up, then next year there’s going to be a massive wave of new products,” Musk said during the event, which also served to celebrate the opening of Tesla’s newest gigafactory, in Austin.
Tesla opened its Berlin manufacturing site—its first in Europe—less than two weeks ago, bumping the company’s total number of factories to six. Other plants are in California, Nevada, New York, and Shanghai.
At Thursday’s event, Musk also pledged a full self-driving car, a dedicated robotaxi, and the launch of Tesla’s humanoid robot, Optimus, as part of a series of new products to come out of the Austin factory.
It’s not the first time Musk has failed to keep his promises about delivering on those products either. Musk first introduced the concept of a full self-driving car in 2015, saying at the time that Tesla would have it ready by 2018. But after many delays, Musk now says he would be “shocked” if his team didn’t achieve full self-driving technology by the end of this year.
Then, in 2019, Musk promised that Tesla robotaxis would be ready sometime in 2020. That, too, has since been pushed back to 2023, just like the Cybertruck.
“We can’t wait to build this here,” Musk said of the company’s plans to ramp up production of the Cybertruck in Austin.
In the nearly three years since Tesla introduced its futuristic-looking pickup truck, rival companies have been able to come to market with their own versions of an electric pickup. Ford’s battery-powered F-150, dubbed the Lightning, is expected to begin deliveries this summer, and Rivian’s electric pickup has been on the salesroom floor since late last year.
Still, the Cybertruck announcement was welcome news for fans. As of January 2022, demand for the vehicle has been estimated at over 1 million units worth potentially more than $80 billion.
“I think this will be our magnum opus,” Musk said Thursday of the Cybertruck.
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