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1.2 Million Orders, Yet No Production in Sight. The Story of Tesla’s Cybertruck
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1.2 Million Orders, Yet No Production in Sight. The Story of Tesla’s Cybertruck

Two years since it was unveiled Tesla's Cybertruck is not on the production line yet. Time may be running out for Musk to get this right.

Science & Tech

Electric vehicle maker Tesla now has a backlog of over 1.2 million Cybertrucks, worth over $80 billion, even as the production of the pickup truck appears nowhere in sight, Electrek reported. The numbers, however, are crowdsourced from a Cybertruck forum, and not confirmed by the company yet.

Amidst the soaring values of Tesla stock and its CEO, Elon Musk, becoming the richest person on the planet by a mile now, little attention has been paid to the Cybertruck. Plans for its production have constantly been pushed further. In July, Musk lamented about "thousands of parts and processes" that had to work to get the production done at the right scale. Four months later, the issues do not seem to have been sorted yet. However, the interest in the truck has not waned.

Musk himself had confirmed 250,000 reservations in the week following the truck's unveiling in 2019. Although Tesla did not reveal further numbers post the tweet, a Cybertruck forum has been crowdsourcing reservation numbers and its latest update pegs it at 1.27 million. The publicly visible information also provides additional details about which versions people have opted for while booking their pickup.

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Most reservations (47 percent) have been seen for the dual-motor version followed closely by the tri-motor option (45 percent). A whopping 70 percent of people seem to have opted for full-self driving (FSD) which comes at an add-on price. Compiling the revenues this would generate for Tesla when it rolls out the Cybertruck, the number turns out to be around $80.7 billion. That's about the GDP of Ethiopia.

One possible reason why the interest remains high is that electric vehicles have just started rolling out. People are curious about them and the Cybertruck ticks all the boxes in terms of a sci-fi-inspired or reliable pickup one would want to own. Plus, it does not hurt to say that you have booked your Cybertruck, when all you need to do is put down a $100 deposit that is fully refundable!

Cybertruck's real customers will show up only when the production begins and people have to put down money to get their deliveries. Time is definitely running out for Musk and Tesla as newcomers like Rivian have picked up the pace and begun deliveries.

Unless Musk and Tesla investors are happy walking away from $80 billion, the Cybertruck better roll out in 2022.