It's been another week of self-inflicted wounds for Elon Musk on a multitude of fronts. But one ostensible silver lining for his businesses is the fact that Tesla is about one week away from the Cybertruck Delivery Event in Austin, where we'll see the debut of perhaps the most-anticipated electric vehicle of the decade. But just how many trucks are due to be delivered?
At an event this week in Mexico, Tesla's global product design director Javier Verdura may have dropped a major hint about what to expect at that event—and it may mean that the possibly 2 million Cybertruck reservation holders might have to temper their expectations a bit.
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As reported by the Mexican national newspaper Milenio on Friday, Verdura gave a keynote speech in Monterrey where he touted Tesla's success over the years and predicted EVs will begin to surpass gasoline-powered cars around 2026. But he also said that only the first 10 Cybertrucks will be delivered at the Nov. 30 Cybertruck Delivery Day event in Texas.
From that story, and via Google Translate:
Finally, he concluded, sales of the Tesla Model 3 “surpassed all the big brands.”
While he announced, on November 30, as previously noted, the Tesla Cybertruck will go on the market, "We are going to deliver the first 10."
It's just one line at the end of a story recapping Verdura's remarks, but it's a major detail. And while it probably should be taken with a grain of salt like nearly every piece of Tesla news, Verdura is a high-ranking executive, so it's safe to assume he knows what he's talking about here.
It's also worth noting that Tesla has followed a similar pattern with past events. The Model 3's delivery day event way back in 2017, for example, saw just 30 car deliveries to company employees. And although countless stainless steel bodies have been seen at the Texas factory, it's currently unknown how many Cybertrucks are being built each week.
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Musk himself has warned prospective owners to temper their expectations with the Cybetruck. At a recent earnings call, he told investors that "we dug our own grave" with the vehicle, and that "it will take a year to 18 months before it is a significant, positive cash flow contributor" for the company. Besides Tesla's typical challenges with launching any new vehicle—especially an all-new one like the Cybertruck—the vehicle's stainless-steel body is a notoriously difficult one to produce at scale.
If any automaker can figure this out, it's Tesla. But if only 10 trucks are set to be delivered on Nov. 30, fans everywhere may do well to take Musk's advice about their expectations. At least for now.
Are you attending the Cybertruck Delivery Day Event? Do you have any details about the truck, production or pricing? Get in touch.