Tesla Cybertruck Won’t be Ready Until 2022

The controversial Tesla Cybertruck made its global debut a little over a year ago with the promise of entering production in late 2021, but just like they’ve done a few times in the past, Elon Musk and his team are now delaying plans.

While production is still on track for the end of next year (at a brand new Gigafactory in Texas), the futuristic EV pickup will not be delivered until 2022. And that goes for the dual- and tri-motor variants. The single-motor Cybertruck with rear-wheel drive will come in 2023.

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Customers who have pre-ordered a copy (an estimated 650,000 and counting) were recently informed of the bad news via email. Tesla is proposing to lease another model to fill the gap—be it the S, 3, X or Y—even though many of them already own a Tesla.

That’s because the automaker has previously set a goal of delivering at least half a million vehicles in 2020 (it was about 180,000 units short on October 1) to keep the momentum going in spite of the pandemic. Tesla posted a profit in each of the last five quarters, its stock value is mind-bogglingly high, and Elon Musk is now the second richest man in the world.

In case you forgot, here some numbers that illustrate the Cybertruck’s impressive capabilities: 3,500 pounds of payload, 7,500-14,000 pounds of towing, 0-60 mph (97 km/h) in as little as 2.9 seconds, and a range of 400-800 kilometres depending on the model.

Pricing in the U.S. starts at $39,900 and goes up to $69,900, but we have yet to hear details for the Canadian market. All we know thus far is the amount of the deposit required to pre-order a copy ($150) and the cost of the Full Self-Driving option ($10,600).