Elon Musk says ‘we dug our personal grave’ with the Cybertruck as he warns Tesla faces huge manufacturing challenges

• Tesla CEO Elon Musk mentioned the Cybertruck’s distinctive design has made scaling up manufacturing a problem.

• He additionally mentioned that it is going to be a while earlier than the Cybertruck is money stream optimistic.

• The pickup has confronted quite a few delays and manufacturing challenges because it was introduced in 2019.

Elon Musk mentioned that Tesla “dug its personal grave” with the Cybertruck, as he warned that it could take years for the corporate to ramp up manufacturing of the electrical pickup.

Talking on Tesla’s Q3 earnings name on Wednesday, the Tesla CEO mentioned that the Cybertruck’s distinctive design meant the corporate faces immense challenges in scaling manufacturing, with Tesla aiming to supply 1 / 4 of one million vehicles a yr by 2025.

“We dug our personal grave with the Cybertruck,” Musk mentioned.

It is “a kind of particular merchandise that comes alongside solely as soon as in a protracted whereas. And particular merchandise that come alongside as soon as in a protracted whereas are simply extremely troublesome to convey to market to succeed in quantity, to be affluent,” he added.

Musk mentioned that he needed to “mood expectations” for the electrical truck’s imminent launch, which Tesla announced would be on November 30.

He warned that the challenges of scaling up manufacturing meant that it could possible be round 18 months earlier than the Cybertruck is money stream optimistic.

“I do need to emphasize that there can be huge challenges in reaching quantity manufacturing with the Cybertruck after which making the Cybertruck cashflow optimistic — that is merely regular,” he mentioned.

“Once you’ve acquired a product with numerous new know-how or any model new automobile program, particularly one that’s as completely different and superior because the Cybertruck, you should have issues proportionate to what number of new stuff you’re attempting to resolve at scale,” he added.

The launch of the Cybertruck comes at an important time for Tesla. Though the corporate dominates the EV market, its market share has slipped in recent years as rivals like Ford and Rivian increase their operations.

The Cybertruck is seen as important for Tesla to fend off this burgeoning competitors. First announced in 2019, the futuristic pickup truck was anticipated to ship in 2021, however has skilled several delays as Tesla grappled with the automobile’s distinctive design and the complexity of manufacturing it at scale.

In response to CNBC, Elon Musk sent an email to Tesla employees in August saying that the Cybertruck ought to be as exactly designed as a Lego brick, with measurements that might not range by greater than 10 microns. A micron is equal to one-thousandth of a millimeter.

Earlier variations of the pickup seen within the wild have been known as out for scratching and finish issues by prospective buyers, in addition to being fingerprint magnets due to their stainless-steel physique.

Regardless of this, demand for the Cybertruck is thru the roof, in keeping with Musk, who mentioned on Wednesday that over a million folks have reserved the truck.

Tesla didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark from Insider made exterior regular working hours.

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