What appears to be either new Tesla Cybertruck bodies or prototypes were spotted at Gigafactory Texas ahead of the start of production.
The Cybertruck is one of the most highly anticipated electric vehicles to launch ever. Tesla is estimated to have a backlog of over 1 million reservations for the electric pickup truck, which means that there are a lot of eyes on the vehicle program and people are trying to track progress toward production.
The current official timeline for production is not exactly clear. CEO Elon Musk mentioned both a “start of production in mid-2023” and “volume production in mid-2023,” with the latter indicating a start of production sooner in 2023.
We don’t have a lot of ways to track progress with Cybertruck production, but several people are often flying drones over Gigafactory Texas, where the Cybertruck is going to be built. Now one of them, Joe Tegtmeyer, has spotted what appears to be two new Cybertruck bodies:
Tegtmeyer refers to them as “prototypes,” but that’s hard to confirm. There are for sure at least Cybertruck bodies since the proportions are perfect.
As noted by the drone pilot, it appears that the Cybertrucks were delivered to the plant rather than made there. They are likely validation units.
Tesla was only known to have a few Cybertruck prototypes until recently. These two units could double the number of electric pickup trucks in Tesla’s fleet.
The automaker is expected to take delivery of the new world’s largest casting machine soon. Over the last few years, Tesla has been heavily investing in casting and alloy technology to enable larger casted parts, which then can greatly simplify manufacturing.
The company acquired several units of the biggest casting machine in the world. These giant multimillion-dollar machines are developed by Idra. Tesla’s first Giga Press, which was installed at the Fremont factory, was put into operation in 2020. The machine was the first of its kind at the time and has a clamping force of 55,000 to 61,000 kilonewtons (5,600 to 6,200 tf).
Tesla has already been producing the Model Y with a single rear body piece that replaced 70 different parts in the vehicle. Now, Idra has been working on a new 9,000-pound Giga press that will produce the Cybertruck’s body.
The company recently completed the machine, and the fact that Tesla is taking delivery is expected to be a significant step toward production.
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