The Tesla Cybertruck has faced so many delays that some were starting to wonder whether we would ever see the electric behemoth on the road. But finally, two years behind schedule, Tesla says it's produced its first Cybertruck at its plant in Austin, Texas.
The company announced the news with a tweet containing a team photograph from the plant. But more than the vehicle itself, which we can't see much of in the photo, most of the response has involved analysis of the teams' poses. The Cybertruck appears to be the first vehicle with its own hand signal – and fans want an emoji (see our pick of the best car logo redesigns for more inspiration).
First Cybertruck built at Giga Texas! 🤠 pic.twitter.com/ODRhHVsd0tJuly 15, 2023
The Cybertruck looks like how AI might imagine a car from the future, with sharp, angular looks (see how every car would look given the Cybertruck treatment). However, its development has faced hiccups from the outset. When Tesla founder Elon Musk first presented the electric pickup truck in 2019, the unbreakable armoured glass windows cracked (twice) during a demonstration (it's since been claimed that's because the windows were slightly open.
Production targets have since been pushed several times due to a host of quite serious-sounding Cybertruck design flaws and shortages in components at suppliers. In the last update at a shareholder meeting in May, Musk said Tesla hoped to produce a quarter-million Cybertrucks a year, depending on demand, with mass production due to start this year to compete with electric pickups from Ford and Rivian Automotive.
But what's with the hand signal? People have been commenting on Tesla's Twitter post to ask why several members of staff are making the same gesture. It appears that the symbol is inspired by the shape of the Cybertruck's pointed roof. And several fans are already saying they want to see an emoji and merchandise featuring the sign.
Not a single wu tang fan in the crowd? Missed opportunity to throw up the W. 🤣July 15, 2023
We need some t-shirts, bumper stickers and other paraphernalia with this symbolJuly 15, 2023
In the meantime, Musk has just launched a new company, xAI. All we know about it so far is that its objective is to "understand reality" and that many people think the xAI logo contains a glaring mistake.
