Tesla Inc. will launch production of the long-awaited Cybertruck pickup out of its new Austin, Texas, factory sometime next year and is working on a dedicated "robotaxi" model using the company's autonomous vehicle software, CEO Elon Musk said at an opening day ceremony for the plant.
Musk, wearing a cowboy hat and sunglasses, delivered the first batch of Model Y crossovers out of the massive Austin facility late Thursday and said the factory would scale to 500,000 Model Y's per year before adding Cybertruck production. The plant could eventually reach 1 million vehicles per year, Musk said.
On a January earnings call, Musk had hedged on a 2023 rollout for the Cybertruck, which originally was targeted for launch last year. Musk was more definitive this week about the Tesla product road map.
"We're aiming, just with the Model Y program alone, to get to half-a-million units a year, and then we're going to start manufacturing Cybertruck here next year," Musk said to thousands of cheering Tesla fans who were invited to opening day events.