Tesla’s Elon Musk: ‘We dug our own grave with the Cybertruck’

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has warned investors of the challenges facing the company as it finally pushes the Tesla Cybertruck into production next month, admitting it will “require immense work” to become profitable without the all-electric pick-up becoming prohibitively expensive.

During a call to investors after the US electric car-maker posted its 16th consecutive profitable quarterly earnings result, Musk moved to temper the huge expectations surrounding the forthcoming Cybertruck, despite pent-up demand worldwide.

“I just want to temper expectations for Cybertruck,” he said.

“It’s a great product but financially it will take a year to 18 months before it is a significant, positive cash flow contributor.”

Admitting “we dug our own grave with the Cybertruck”, Musk blamed the “novel” production technique used to build the truck, plus the fact that it’s an all-new vehicle.

“This is simply normal for when you’ve got a product with a lot of new technology, or any brand-new vehicle program, but especially one that is as different and advanced as the Cybertruck,” he said.

“You will have problems proportionate to how many new things you’re trying to solve at scale.

“So I just want to emphasise that, one, I think this is potentially our best product ever ... [but] it’s going to require immense work to reach value production and be cash flow positive at a price that people can afford.”

During the call, Musk said Tesla was holding more than one million reservations for the Cybertruck, but declined to release either pricing for the all-electric Ford F-150 Lightning alternative – despite first deliveries expected in the US on November 30.

He did say that Tesla was still on track to build around 250,000 Cybertrucks a year, however that annual figure wouldn’t be achieved until 2025.

Issues that have hit the Cybertruck since it was first revealed four years ago include inventing a new process to form its stainless-steel body that is claimed to be able to protect occupants from 9mm bullets.

Some of the innovative production techniques that are still being refined include a 9000-tonne gigapress that moulds large sections of the truck’s underbody.

The Cybertruck will also benefit from what is claimed to be the world’s largest hot stamping facility.

Back in 2019, Tesla said on its website that the Cybertruck would be available from launch with four powertrain options: single-motor rear-wheel drive with 250 miles (402km) of range; dual-motor all-wheel drive with 300 miles (483km); tri-motor AWD with 500 miles (804km); and quad-motor AWD with 620 miles (998km).

Before Tesla removed all Cybertruck pricing and specs from its US website in 2021, pricing had been set at $US39,900 ($A63,000) for the base RWD variant and $US49,900 ($79,000) for the dual-motor AWD version.

Many Australians laid down deposits to secure the Cybertruck before Tesla stopped taking reservations in May last year.

It’s still not clear if and when the vehicle will be built in right-hand drive.

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