Tesla will finally start selling the Cybertruck next year, Elon Musk has announced at the opening party for the company's Giga Texas factory. During his presentation on stage, Musk showed off the production Cybertruck vehicle, which still looks like the previous versions, except its doors no longer have handles. The car will be able to tell that you're there and will know that it's supposed to open the doors. He also apologized for the delay on releasing the Cybertruck that was first announced back in 2019. Tesla's original (and highly optimistic) target release date was 2021, but it delayed the vehicle's launch to 2022, and now to 2023.
The automaker will manufacture the Cybertruck at its Texas Gigafactory, which it expects to become the "highest volume" car factory in America. Musk touched upon its other planned Gigactories around the world, as well, and how manufacturing vehicles near where they're going to be shipped is much more environmentally friendly. This year is all about scaling up production — a scale that "no company has ever achieved in the history of humanity," Musk said during the presentation — while next year is all about releasing a "massive wave of new products."
In addition to the Cybertruck, the company also plans to release the Tesla Semi EV next year, as well as other products it hasn't revealed yet. The electric big rig that's designed to haul cargo across long distances was supposed to be released in 2019, but its launch also got pushed back a few times. Tesla's Optimus humanoid robot will also start production in 2023, Musk said, and will be designed to accomplish any task humans don't want to do. Another future product we can apparently look forward is a dedicated robotaxi that will be designed to look quite futuristic. Before all those, however, Tesla will be launching a wide beta of its Full Self-driving Technology in North America this year.
You can watch Musk announce Cybertruck's new launch date below: