Elon Musk’s Latest Tesla Cybertruck Video Suggests the EV Pickup Might Actually Arrive This Year

While every piece of news about how Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter is going still seems to be worse than the last, the billionaire has turned his attention in recent days to new developments at one of his other companies, Tesla. Yesterday, Musk announced alongside California Governor Gavin Newsom that Tesla will open its new global engineering headquarters in Palo Alto. And then, later in the day, he shared a brief video sneak peek at the highly anticipated Tesla Cybertruck.

Musk shared the clip on—where else?—Twitter, and it’s already racked up nearly 30 million views as of press time. It’s just eight seconds long and only shows the EV parked in a room full of flashing laser lights. Nonetheless, the video has generated a lot of excitement among those who’ve been looking forward to the brand’s first battery-powered pickup since it was unveiled in late 2019.

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Back then, the plan was for the vehicle into production by 2021, but that date has been pushed back repeatedly since. First, the pickup was delayed until 2022 because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Then, last year, Musk said Tesla was “in the final lap for the Cybertruck” and would finally begin production in 2023. Two months into the year, that still appears to be the case, though the executive has said mass production won’t start in earnest until 2024.

While the Cybertruck will be Tesla’s first electric pickup, there is already a trio on the market right now in the US: the GMC Hummer EV, Ford F-150 Lightning and Rivian R1T. Others on the horizon include the Chevrolet Silverado, the GMC Sierra EV, the Ram 1500 Revolution, as well as rumored models from Volkswagen and Toyota.

Thanks in no small part to its unorthodox look and outlandish performance claims, the Tesla Cybertruck has generated hundreds of thousands of pre-orders since it was announced. Musk has described the truck’s design as being inspired by the 1976 Lotus Esprit featured in the James Bond movie The Spy Who Loved Me, as well as the futuristic vehicles from Bladerunner. The EV maker has said the vehicle will be “nearly impenetrable” thanks to its stainless-steel exoskeleton and armored glass, though it’s worth noting that its driver-side windows were smashed during the unveiling.

Musk has also claimed that the wild-looking Cybertruck will be able to tow 14,000 pounds, go zero-to-60 mph in less than three seconds and travel 500 miles on a single charge (although last year, he said some initial specs may change). Originally, the base single-motor version of the EV was set to start at $39,000 and the range-topping tri-motor variant at $69,000. Those prices have long since disappeared from the Tesla website, so it will be interesting to see how much the vehicle ends up costing when it finally is released.

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