Tesla is currently building release candidate Cybertruck units at its Texas Gigafactory that are being tested all over the world for final certification and validation, the company said during the Q2 2023 Earnings Call yesterday.
The news comes after an image of a finished Cybertruck was posted on the firm’s official Twitter account last week, signaling what was thought to be the beginning of low-scale production for the all-electric pickup, after two years of delays.
However, now we’re learning that this isn’t the case and instead, the Texas factory is in the pre-production phase, with Tesla saying that initial production is on track to begin later this year, as well as making progress on its next-generation platform which will reportedly underpin a more affordable, yet-to-be-released model.
“Cybertruck remains on track to begin initial production later this year at Gigafactory Texas. In addition, we continue to make progress on our next-generation platform.”
The EV marque also claims that the much-anticipated pickup is the first sub-19 feet truck with 4 doors and a bed that’s longer than 6 feet. Exact dimensions weren’t provided, but even so, it’s clear that the Cybertruck has the upper hand on both the Ford F-150 Lightning and the Rivian R1T when it comes to bed length. The one on Ford’s truck measures 5.5 ft long, while the R1T’s is 4.5 ft long.
“We are now testing Cybertruck vehicles around the world for final certification and validation. This might be the most unique vehicle product in decades; with that comes trialing and testing new technologies.
As far as we know, Cybertruck will be the first sub-19 ft. truck (fitting into a garage) that has both four doors and a 6+ ft. bed. Both technologically and architecturally, this vehicle will break a lot of boundaries – very much in line with how we think about vehicle engineering and manufacturing.”
New images have also been published, showing the electric pickup during different testing phases, as well as on the assembly line in Texas. One thing that stands out in the mud pit photo is the single wiper’s marginal coverage for the front passenger, which may become frustrating on long, rainy road trips.
As always, we’d like to know what you think about this, so head over to the comments section below to give us your thoughts.
