The first Tesla Cybertruck deliveries will take place during a dedicated handover event later this year, CEO Elon Musk announced during the Q1 2023 earnings call.
Musk estimated that the event will be held toward "the end of the third quarter," which likely means the first Cybertruck deliveries will take place around September 2023.
That's the most precise Cybertruck delivery start date that Tesla has provided so far, not to mention it's the announcement fans have been waiting for since November 2019, when the original Cybertruck prototype made its first appearance.
Interestingly, Musk also said Cybertruck reservation holders are likely to get an update on the truck's specifications and pricing at the handover event expected to take place by the end of Q3.
Before you get your hopes up too high, let us remind you that Tesla's recent handover events – such as those for the Model Y in Berlin and Austin last year – saw only a small number of vehicles being delivered, mostly to Tesla insiders.
The same is likely to happen at the Tesla Cybertruck handover event, and we can expect months between the event and the start of deliveries to customers.
Gallery: Tesla Cybertruck
The Cybertruck was a main talking point in Tesla's Q1 2023 Update Letter, with the EV maker providing several photos of the pickup truck's production line at Gigafactory Texas. During the conference call, Elon Musk noted that Tesla is currently preparing the plant for mass production of the Cybertruck.
"Regarding the Cybertruck, we continue to build Alpha versions of the Cybertruck on our pilot line for testing purposes. It's a great product, and we're completing the installation of the volume production line at Giga Texas, and we're anticipating a great delivery event, probably in Q3," Musk said.
While Tesla previously said initial production of the Cybertruck will start this summer, the wording used in the Q1 2023 Update Letter was "later this year." That may be a precaution Tesla is taking in case it won't be able to start production in the summer because of unforeseen reasons.
Elon Musk also commented on the Cybertruck's production ramp, which won't be an easy one, as you might expect considering we're talking about a vehicle that features a stainless steel exoskeleton and an angular, futuristic design.
"As with all new products, it will follow an S-curve, so production starts out slow and then accelerates. The Cybertruck is no different [...] But as with all new products, it takes time to get the manufacturing line going. And this is really a very radical product. It's not made in the way that other cars are made," Tesla's head honcho said.
