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Wearing a cowboy hat and a belt buckle with longhorns on it, Tesla CEO Elon Musk opened this week’s Tesla Cyber Rodeo in Texas. Musk said the company will start production of the much-anticipated Cybertruck soon at the company’s new Texas factory, as well as more Model Y sedans.

Elon Musk outside of the Cybertruck on stage.
Tesla Cybertruck | Tesla

Tesla drivers like to be connected, and some of the best insights about the Cybertruck come from, you guessed it, Twitter. The Cybertruck hashtag is trending thanks to everyone who went to the Cyber Rodeo in Texas with selfie sticks in hand. So far this week, more than 2 million have used #Tesla and about 50,000 have used #CyberTruck. Dozens of Cybertruck videos show one driving in the factory.

What was the Cyber Rodeo?

The atmosphere outside the Texas Giga Factory during the Cyber Rodeo
Atmosphere outside the Tesla Giga Factory | Getty Images

The Cyber Rodeo was the kickoff event at the new Gigafactory Texas , which is Tesla’s new factory outside of Austin, TX. It officially opened on April 7. For many it was their first chance to see the new Cybertruck in person

One of the most watched videos on Twitter shows a Cybertruck rolling around the giant factory with a gaggle of guys protecting it. Each has a yellow microfiber cloth and bottles of polish at the ready to remove fingerprints from the Cybertruck’s stainless steel body. The truck is followed by a group of Tesla fans as it parks by several Tesla cars that look like toys in comparison.

Twitter is littered with selfies of people with the #Cybertruck. But, several of them are from people who say they have placed an order for one. That’s not a surprise. More than 3 million people have placed an order for a Cybertruck to date. It’s possible, but highly unlikely, that Tesla could build and deliver that many trucks in 2023. In 2021, for example, Ford sold about 726,000 F-150 trucks – and that’s the world’s best-selling truck.

Some on Twitter were critical of the quality of the prototypes, and pointed out large panel gaps on the Cybertruck. The Cybertruck is supposed to have stainless steel panels, like a DeLorean, and glass that is (nearly) bulletproof. That’s a lot to package in a door, and is a likely reason that the panel gaps look unfinished.

We get a bunch of tiny details from fans and Elon Musk

While many of us are familiar with the Cybertruck’s shape, we haven’t seen details like this yet of the truck. It seems like Cybertruck fans stuck their selfie sticks in, under, and around the prototypes like we’ve never seen before.

We learned that the charge port is under the back fender, behind a little hidden door. Also, the first prototypes didn’t originally have windshield wipers, but the new ones do, and it is huge. The truck looks to have one giant wiper mounted on the A-pillar to swipe mud and rain off the giant flat glass.

From Tesla CEO Elon Musk we learned about the new Gigafactory. Musk, in his remarks, said that he looks at the new factory like he does a computer chip where everything is done in one place.

“Raw materials go in one side and a finished car comes out the other side,” he said.

He also said the company will be manufacturing Cybertrucks at the Texas plant next year. And there is certainly demand. So far, according to various sites, the company has between 1 million and 3 million pre-orders for Cybertrucks.

Musk also said that Tesla is aiming at producing 500,000 Model Y cars soon at the new Texas factory.

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Tesla Cyber Rodeo: Giga Texas Can Hold ‘194 billion hamsters’ and Cybertruck News

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Dan Mayfield

Dan joined MotorBiscuit in 2022 with over 20 years of experience in journalism and a lifelong passion for anything related to the automotive industry. He grew up wrenching a 1949 Ford pickup truck and an MGB with his dad, learning how not to wire a fuel pump (he inadvertently set the MGB on fire).

After earning a bachelor’s degree in photojournalism from the University of New Mexico, Dan has contributed his expertise to a range of local outlets, including the City of Albuquerque, US Eagle, and the Alliance for Local Economic Prosperity.

On weekends, Dan spends Saturdays enjoying “cars and coffee” chats and, on Sundays, he’s watching the Route 66 Cruise roll through town. He also races motorcycles, and it’s not unusual to find him elbows-deep in his latest cafe racer build.

Taking advantage of the local desert terrain, Dan also enjoys exploring and driving off-road in his trusty Ram Rebel pickup truck, which provides personal insights into his contributions to our Trucks, SUVs, & Crossovers coverage. Dan strives to give our readers unique information about the dynamic automotive market, reading anything that has to do with cars, trucks, bikes, 4X4s, and, in his words, “everything with a motor.”

Dan has earned a number of accolades from the Public Relations Society of America, and is a University of Southern California, Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism Fellow.