Key details about Elon Musk’s Cybertruck remain unknown this week even as Tesla prepares to host a splashy event celebrating the first round of deliveries of the long-delayed pickup.
Musk has yet to reveal how much the Cybertruck costs or its final performance specs ahead of a debut party at Tesla’s Gigafactory in Austin, Texas on Thursday — a shindig that follows three years of delays and production setbacks for the difficult-to-manufacture vehicle.
A lack of specifics has defined Tesla’s buildup of the Cybertruck, which features a stainless-steel exterior that is purported to be bulletproof and a bizarre angular design that has drawn mocking comparisons to a stealth bomber, a refrigerator on wheels and even a Lego block.
Ahead of the event, Bloomberg labeled the Cybertruck a “production nightmare” for Tesla, citing its use of an expensive stainless steel alloy that is difficult to shape into a vehicle frame and its reliance on “in-house battery cells that are years behind schedule.”
Elsewhere, the Wall Street Journal reported that Tesla has struggled to prevent the appearance of gaps in the vehicle frame while bolding the stainless steel, which is purportedly “produced in coils that resemble giant rolls of toilet paper, and even when unrolled, it has a tendency to spring back into its earlier, curved form.”
Details on the event itself are also scant.
Tesla has not said how many Cybertrucks will be delivered during the initial rollout.
Musk admitted during an October earnings call that he doesn’t expected annualized production to hit 250,000 vehicles until 2025.
Tesla held a drawing and accepted a limited number of shareholders to attend in person.
The company also said it will make a live stream of the event available to the public.
Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said he expects Tesla to release updated pricing information for the Cybertruck at the event.
Cybertruck “does not significantly move the financial needle for Tesla in fiscal year 2024,” but was nevertheless a “historic moment” for the company, he added.
“Launching Cybertruck is important for the broader Tesla growth story over the coming years and also will prove to the doubters that Musk can successfully expand the Tesla halo effect as more consumers head down the EV path over the coming years.
Early “whisper numbers” for a potential price point are approximately $50,000 for the single-motor version and between $60,000 and $80,000 for the dual and tri-motor versions, added Ives.
As The Post reported in August, analysts have muted expectations for the Cybertruck — with one expert stating that he didn’t see it as a “material driver of the stock price.”
Earlier this month, Jefferies analyst Philippe Houchois even called on Tesla to cancel the Cybertruck, arguing doing so could boost the company’s stock.
Meanwhile, Musk has tantalized Tesla fans with a series of social media posts about the vehicle this fall.
Tesla also gained a viral marketing boost earlier this month after Musk discussed the Cybertruck during his stop on the “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast.
During the appearance, Musk bet Rogan that he couldn’t fire an arrow through the Cybertruck’s bulletproof exterior — and was proven correct.
“Joe Rohan [sic] shatters an arrow on Cybertruck that would easily go through a normal car,” Musk said alongside a photo that showed Rogan’s arrow bouncing off the vehicle.