Elon Musk said each Cybertruck would 'literally cost a million dollars a piece or more' if Tesla started producing the futuristic vehicle now, adding that production is now being delayed to sometime in 2022.
The statement was made during Tesla's second-quarter earnings call Monday, which highlights the firm's struggle to ramp up production of its next-generation 4680 battery cell that will be used in the Cybertruck.
As of right now, Tesla could only produce the Cybertruck at extremely low volumes.
'There's a reason why you do things at volume production, which is to get the economies of scale that get the cost down,' said Musk, who also shared Tesla's suppliers are calling him at midnight and 1am to resolve battery cell shortages.
Drew Baglino, senior vice president of powertrain and energy engineering, noted during the call that the Cybertruck is still in alpha stages and only the basic engineering architecture is finished, but Tesla plans to move into the beta phases later this year.
Baglino also said that Tesla's 'cells suppliers are tracking to double their production in 2022.'
Musk's announcement leaves some 1 million pre-orders, each of which put a $100 down deposit, waiting in limbo, as Tesla said the Cybertruck would hit the market this year when it was first unveiled in 2019.
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Elon Musk said each Cybertruck would 'literally cost a million dollars a piece or more' if Tesla would start producing the futuristic vehicle now, noting production is being delayed to sometime in 2022
Tesla's Cybertruck, Semi and Model Y are all set to feature the new 4680 battery cell, which was revealed last September at the firm's Battery Day.
And although the firm has 'successfully validated performance and lifetime of the battery,' it still has more work to do in order to ramp up production.
'It is difficult to say when the last of the
