Tesla Cybertruck confirmed for late 2023 – perhaps

The Tesla Cybertruck is due to enter production late in 2023, according to the EV manufacturer, which showed off a close-to-production prototype during this week’s Tesla Investor Day.

However, the Cybertruck was also due to roll down the brand’s manufacturing lines in 2021… and 2022, so when it will actually hit roads in the US – let alone Australia – remains anyone’s guess.

This time, though, it’s different, mainly because Cybertruck 2.0 has been refreshed – and we’ve got key details about the dual-cab tasked with taking on the traditional American pick-up trucks manufactured by Ford, General Motors and RAM.

Tesla also has battered shareholders desperate to add another model to the mix as the brand continues its journey towards a planned 20 million annual sales by 2030 – that’s about twice as many vehicles as Toyota builds.

Like all things Tesla, its latest investor day kicked off late and was big on bold statements and visions, but light-on for the detail many were craving.

There was no specific news of the long-mooted Tesla Model 2, for example, with the company instead referring to a “new-gen” platform that’s planned to underpin most future models.

With plans to halve manufacturing costs and previous promises of a smaller model, the expectation is it will form the basis for a family of more affordable Teslas.

The investor day also had no talk of reported updates to the Model 3 and Model Y, each of which continues to sell strongly around the world, including here in Australia.

However, the most detail was with the radical Cybertruck, which maintains its wedgy sci-fi looks and stainless steel exoskeleton.

Design boss Franz Von Holzhausen said the required sharp edges and exterior that forms the structure of the car forced a rethink of the manufacturing process, something that will flow through to future Tesla models.

Broadly speaking, it involves building the car from the ground up rather than starting with a frame and trying to stuff everything into it, as is the case with most cars.

Reports from those on the ground at the brand’s Gigafactory in Texas suggest Tesla execs confirmed the “pre-production Beta Cybertruck” was about five per cent smaller than the concept that was first shown in 2019.

There are also loads of detail changes. The Cybertruck prototype sports a triangular exterior and a huge single windscreen wiper.

There are three cameras in the top of the windscreen and another in the redesigned black front bumper.

Down each side are two cameras – one in the B-pillar and the other in the mirror housing – while there will no doubt be another looking out the rear (we didn’t see it because the tailgate was down).

Inside, it’s the usual Tesla starkness with a sizeable infotainment screen on a plain dash. The centre front seat of the concept vehicle appears to have made way for a more traditional centre console with storage and cupholders.

It has an electronic roller shutter to cover the load and there is a ribbed black base, as well as folding tie-down points.

But the big unknown is whether the Cybertruck will make its way to Australia.

Clearly there would be a market for it given the increasing acceptance of Tesla here and Aussies’ love of all things ute.

But in 2020 Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the Cybertruck was aimed predominantly at the North American market.

“We sort of made the exec decision to not make this a world truck, so it… does not comply with a lot of like the EU spec,” he said at the time.

The significance there is that Australian Design Rules closely align with European regulations, instantly throwing a question mark over the Cybertruck’s potential for Australia.

But in 2020 Musk left the door open.

“We can always build a slightly smaller truck that does comply with EU spec in future,” he said, adding that “there’s maybe some slight chance of getting… some exemptions to the EU rules, depending on how it’s classified.”

One question is whether this redesigned Cybertruck does meet Euro regulations – something that wasn’t addressed at the investor day.

Tesla is understood to be holding thousands of deposits from Australians, but in 2022 it removed the ability to place a Cybertruck order.