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Tesla Cybertruck delayed until 2022 due to semiconductor shortages

Tesla’s US pick-up needs a lot of battery power, and component shortages have slowed its rollout. Australian plans remain unclear, although you can still order one online.


The Tesla Cybertruck looks like it won’t be ready for customer deliveries until 2022 – rather than late 2021 as most recently forecast – due to ongoing component shortages in the global automotive industry.

The radical-looking Tesla Cybertruck remains listed as available to order on the company’s Australian website, which as of today is still giving local buyers the option to leave a fully refundable $150 deposit for the vehicle (pictured below).

Above: The Tesla website in Australia is still accepting fully refundable deposits for the Cybertruck, although timing and a right-hand-drive version are yet to be confirmed. 

In its latest report to investors, Tesla did not give an estimate on the arrival of the Cybertruck in US showrooms, however its latest financial report said: 

“We believe we remain on track to build our first Model Y vehicles in Berlin (Germany) and Austin (Texas) in 2021. 

“The pace of the respective production (rollouts) will be influenced by the successful introduction of many new product and manufacturing technologies, ongoing supply chain related challenges, and regional (permits). 

“To better focus on these factories, and due to the limited availability of battery cells and global supply chain challenges, we have shifted the launch of the Semi truck program to 2022. 

“We are also making progress on the industrialisation of Cybertruck, which is currently planned for Austin production subsequent to Model Y.”

US journalists who were on the call with Tesla interpreted this to mean the ramp up and rollout out of Cybertruck in significant numbers would be pushed back to 2022, after the Model Y SUV expansion plans.

The Reuters news agency reported that Tesla boss Elon Musk did not provide an estimate for when mass production of the Cybertruck will start.

“It is difficult to say when the last of the technical challenges will be solved,” Reuters quoted Elon Musk as saying, in a reference to securing 4680 battery cells for each Cybertruck vehicle.

Above: This is the closest Tesla has come to confirming the Cybertruck will come to Australia. But there have also been reports speculating a smaller version might be developed for global markets.

Tesla also told investors and media analysts it planned to increase total vehicle production by 50 per cent in the coming year, pending ongoing parts shortages.

Musk told the conference the company has “many calls at midnight, 1am, just with suppliers about resolving a lot of the shortages.”

When asked why Tesla did not build its own semiconductor laboratory, Musk said: “That would take us, even moving like lightning, 12 to 18 months.”

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Joshua Dowling

Joshua Dowling has been a motoring journalist for more than 20 years, spending most of that time working for The Sydney Morning Herald (as motoring editor and one of the early members of the Drive team) and News Corp Australia. He joined CarAdvice / Drive in 2018, and has been a World Car of the Year judge for more than 10 years.

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