Tesla to begin Cybertruck mass production next year, report says

Elon Musk describes electric truck as an ‘armoured personel carrier from the future’

Tesla first unveiled the Cybertruck in 2019 alongside an all-electric quad bike (Tesla)

Tesla plans to begin mass production of its long-awaited Cybertruck in 2023, according to reports.

The electric car maker first unveiled the “bulletproof truck” in 2019 with an initial production target of 2021, however delays have pushed this date back three times.

The latest setback relates to shortages in sourcing components and difficulties with adapting Tesla’s 4680 batteries for use in a larger vehicle, according to Reuters, who first reported the new production date target.

Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Tesla boss Elon Musk described the Cybertruck as an “armoured personel carrier from the future” during the truck’s unveiling, which made headlines after the windows smashed during a test designed to demonstrate their toughness.

The Cybertruck comes with the tagline “Better utility than a truck with more performance than a sports car”, with videos showing the electric pickup ou-accelerating a Porsche 911 and out-towing a Ford F-150 truck.

Pre-orders opened at $39,900 for the most basic model, though Tesla has since raised the prices of its vehicle range in line with market trends.

Customers where required to pay a $100 deposit in order to pre-order the vehicle, with hundreds of thousands of people reportedly signing up.

Tesla was forced to stop pre-orders outside of North America earlier this year after Mr Musk said there had been “more orders of the first Cybertrucks than we could possibly fulfill for three years after the start of production”.

The truck comes with six seats and ultra-strong panels made from the same materials found on spacecraft.

It also features an exoskeleton design that is made possible by not needing to be built around a conventional fuel engine.

The futuristic-looking vehicle is also expected to come with a 400 kilometre (250 mile) range, 3,400kg of towing capacity and 0-100kph acceleration of 2.9 seconds.