Tesla built the first Cybertruck at its factory in Texas, rolling out the futuristic electric pickup nearly four years after the prototype was introduced.
The company celebrated the production kickoff in a Saturday morning tweet that showed a photo of the vehicle surrounded by hundreds of employees in hard hats at Tesla's plant in the Austin area, where the company is now based.
Musk unveiled the Cybertruck in 2019 at an event outside of Los Angeles, and suggested at the time that it would be in production within a couple of years.
More competitors have brought their electric pickups to market since Tesla shared plans to enter the segment. Ford's F-150 Lightning pickup began rolling off assembly lines in Michigan early last year. Startup Rivian Automotive has increased deliveries of its R1T pickup to customers in recent months.
The gasoline pickup truck segment has become one of the more lucrative sides of the business for legacy automakers, and many companies have hoped to lure in new buyers with similar EV offerings.
Some of these vehicles, such as the F-150 Lightning, bear a resemblance to their gas-powered counterparts, a tactic meant to woo traditionalists. Musk has slammed those designs as boring, and opted for a different look with the Cybertruck, which sports a triangular stainless-steel exterior and science-fiction appeal.
Musk is facing an uncertain EV market as he scales production of the battery-powered pickup. Sales of electric vehicles have slowed in the first half of the year, and inventory has begun to pile up at dealerships across the U.S., according to research firm Cox Automotive. There were 92 days of unsold EV inventory at the end of June, a measure of stock availability based on recent sales trends, compared with a 51-day supply across all types of vehicles, according to Cox.
Tesla, along with other automakers, has tried to spur demand for its electric models by slashing prices across its lineup.
The Tesla boss said earlier this year that he didn't expect the electric pickup to be a meaningful part of the auto maker's portfolio until 2024. Musk said in April that he expects the company to start delivering Cybertrucks to customers in the third quarter of this year.
"I wouldn't put too much stock in start of production. It's kind of when does volume production actually happen, and that's next year," Musk said at the start of the year.
Aside from the delays, the company also ran into snags when the truck was introduced in late 2019. Musk claimed the Cybertruck was bulletproof, asking his head of design to throw a small metal ball at its side window to demonstrate its toughness.
Then, the window cracked.
"Oh my f-ing god," Musk said. "Maybe that was a little too hard."
Musk has warned that producing new vehicles, such as the Cybertruck, would dent the company's growth. Several plans have been put on hold, he said, as Tesla focuses on scaling output. Some of these shelved programs include building a semitrailer truck and an affordable, $25,000 EV, Musk has said.