Tesla’s first Cybertruck has rolled off the assembly line, four years after the concept was first revealed.
Revealed in a tweet, the inaugural production Cybertruck was built at its gigafactory near Austin, Texas.
The futuristic Cybertruck was first revealed in 2019, with the electric car company saying it would enter production in 2021 but then citing shortages in sourcing components for the delays.
The radical slab-sided pickup brings a rival to the Ford F-150 Lightning and is billed as “better utility than a truck with more performance than a sports car”.
Tesla says it’s made for “ultimate durability and passenger protection”, featuring a “nearly impenetrable exoskeleton” made from ultra-hard 30x cold-rolled stainless steel.
It’s also able to “perform in almost any extreme situation with ease” thanks to a towing capability of up to 14,000 pounds (6,350kg), up to 3,500 pounds of payload capacity (1,588kg) plus some 2,832 litres of exterior, lockable storage – including the under-bed ‘vault’, frunk and sail pillars and with a tonneau cover said to be strong enough to stand on. Other practical features include on-board power and compressed air.
It also comes with adjustable air suspension that can be raised and lowered four inches in either direction for easy access to the cabin or the vault and with self-levelling capabilities.
Three powertrains will be on offer: an entry-level single-motor, rear-wheel drive model, a mid-range dual-motor, all-wheel drive version and the range-topping tri-motor all-wheel drive variant, able to accelerate from 0-60mph in as little as 2.9 seconds and with an expected electric range of up to 500 miles.
The cabin is able to seat six with additional storage under the second-row seats. Equipment includes a 17-inch touchscreen with an all-new customised user interface.
In the US, it’s been available to pre-order since 2019 with a $100 (£76) fully refundable deposit and the promise that “you will be able to complete your configuration as production nears”. However, future plans to bring the Cybertruck to Europe and the UK are still unknown.
