Elon Musk is an enigmatic individual, to say the least. He regularly promises sci-fi greatness and amazing feats of progress from Tesla and his other holdings. However, like the Tesla Cybertruck, how often do they happen the way he says they will?

Last week, Elon Musk rolled up to the Tesla Gigafactory in Austin, TX, in the Tesla Cybertruck. This was both very exciting and a bit of a strange reminder that we still don’t seem to be all that close to a production Tesla Cybertruck. 

Elon Musk rolls into work

We haven’t seen a Cybertruck out in the world in quite some time. According to CarScoops, this marks one of the first times we’ve seen one rolling in the real world since 2019. This begs the question, which Tesla Cybertruck is Elon Musk driving here? 

In November of 2019, the Tesla Cybertruck was officially unveiled and seemingly put away until now. Elon Musk chose to take this opportunity to dust off the old Cybertruck to rally workers at the factory where they will (eventually) be made. 

How many Cybertrucks have been made?

CarScoops mentions that this is probably the same prototype Cybertruck that Tesla unveiled over 18 months ago. Apparently, this verison is still not even the production-ready version. Although it’s cool to see the Cybertruck rolling again, this feels very Elon Musk to me. 

The Cybertruck promises all these incredible specs and figures. Hell, Tesla even said it would be bulletproof. People stacked up to reserve their very own space truck, and now it’s been 18 months, and nigh another production prototype seems to exist. Classic Elon. 

Maybe instead of making it bulletproof and shoot space lasers (or whatever else Tesla nonsense), they should focus on getting the things ready for production. 

Where is the Cybertruck? 

Supposedly, Cybertruck production was supposed to start this year, but whether due to COVID-19 delays or Elon Musk wanting to give them rocket boosters or some such, that production date doesn’t seem to be happening. 

At last year’s Q3 earnings call, Musk mentioned that the Cybertruck was getting a few more tweaks to the truck’s design. These new design tweaks are said to make the production verison even better than the original prototype. I don’t know about you, but that sounds like an antigravity or cloaking device to me. 

Elon Musk actually said himself that Tesla would be “lucky” to see Cybertruck deliveries happen this year at all. Like many manufacturers, 2020 was a tough year to keep things on schedule. Musk says that specific manufacturing processes are one part of the Cybertruck’s delay. 

As with any cool Tesla product, we just have to be patient 

I like to poke fun at Tesla and Elon Musk, but I really admire the enthusiasm and creativity that goes into the vehicles. The Cybertruck is a point of frustration and ribbing because many of us are really eager to see something that absurd, bold, and ultimately super cool out amongst the Nissan Altimas and F-150s.

The complete departure from the norm is what makes the Tesla Cybertruck so cool, and if that means we have to hear some farfetched ideas from Musk from time to time, so be it.