Tesla says its first production Cybertruck Electric Pickup has rolled off the assembly line, nearly two years behind schedule.
The company posted on Twitter a photo on Saturday showing dozens of workers in yellow helmets and vests surrounding the truck.
“The First Electronic Truck Was Built In Giga Texas!” Tesla tweeted, including an emoji wearing a cowboy hat. Owner Elon Musk retweeted the post.
Musk unveiled the truck in late 2019, and Tesla said production would begin in late 2021, though the company has since warned that production will start slowly and in smaller numbers than other Tesla cars.
With its wedge-shaped shape and stainless-steel body—which Tesla calls an exoskeleton—the Cybertruck doesn’t look like a traditional pickup truck. Some analysts criticized it as a niche product that would not have wide appeal.
Musk said in April that the company expects to deliver the first truck, likely in the July-September quarter. As with other new products, he said, production will start slowly and then speed up.
He said, “It takes time to get the manufacturing line going, and this is really a very radical product. It’s not made the way other cars are made. So let’s see.”
The truck’s 2019 unveiling was derailed when a window billed as unbreakable was spider-cracked when it was hit by a large metal ball, prompting an expletive for Musk.
Tesla originally said it would make three versions of the truck, ranging from about $40,000 to $70,000. Later, the company removed pricing from the page where customers can decide whether to drop $100 and place an order.
Competitors have flooded into the electric truck market, including the Ford F-150 Lightning and Rivian Automotive’s R1T. Both look like traditional pickup trucks.
Tesla is scheduled to report its second-quarter financial results on July 19.
“Beer aficionado. Gamer. Alcohol fanatic. Evil food trailblazer. Avid bacon maven.”