Tesla Cybertruck crash prank leads to frustration as delays mount
‘Just like the truck! It never arrives’
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Tesla has teased a crash test video of its long-awaited Cybertruck, leaving some buyers frustrated at the delays that have blighted the all-electric vehicle.
The 36-second video, which was posted to the firm’s Twitter account on April Fool’s Day, shows crash test dummies sitting in a Cybertruck heading towards a wall, but never actually hitting it.
“Just like the truck! It never arrives,” wrote one Twitter user in a comment below the video, which has received more than 12 million views .
Another wrote: “Yeah, if you could stop teasing the Tesla community and I, that’d be great.”
Tesla first unveiled the “bulletproof truck” in 2019, offering customers the chance to be among the first to buy one by placing a $100 reservation fee.
An estimated 1.5 million people paid the deposit, with the electric car maker initially targeting production in 2021.
Various delays have blighted the Cybertruck’s release, including shortages in sourcing components and issues with fitting Tesla’s 4680 batteries to a larger vehicle.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been spotted in public driving a prototype of the vehicle, which he describes as an “armoured personnel carrier from the future”.
The futuristic-looking vehicle comes with six seats, ultra-strong panels and 3,400kg of towing capacity. Tesla claims it will also be capable of accelerating from 0-100kph in less than 3 seconds.
Production is taking place at Tesla’s Texas factory, where the company is attempting to meet the vast amount of pre-orders.
Mr Musk previously said that there had been “more orders of the first Cybertrucks than we could possibly fulfil for three years after the start of production”.
None have yet been shipped to customers, with exact details of the final production still to be confirmed.
“Walked whole Cybertruck production line at Giga Texas for several hours earlier today – gonna be awesome,” Mr Musk tweeted on Sunday. “Feels like the future.”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments