Elon Musk says Cybertruck will happen in 2023 at Texas plant opening

Enlarge / Tesla's Cybertruck at its 2019 unveiling in California. (credit: FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images)

Tesla opened its massive new factory in Texas on Thursday night. The event was suitably supersized for a building "as large as three Pentagons," with 15,000 fans on-site to see Tesla CEO Elon Musk hold a "Cyber Rodeo," a theme evident in the sheer number of cowboy hats visible on the livestream.

Musk's biggest news of the night was that the long-delayed Cybertruck will go on sale in 2023. First shown in 2019, the angular stainless steel pickup was supposed to go into production in 2021. With previous vehicles, Tesla has mostly been conquering fresh territory-there was no serious competition for the Model S for many years, nor the Model 3, and the Model X remains the only EV with six or seven seats.

But now there's the buzzy upstart Rivian, with its well-reviewed R1T adventure truck. The Hummer EV made its comeback as an electric super truck. And next month you'll read first drives of the Ford F-150 Lightning, arguably the most important new vehicle of the year.

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