Tesla celebrates late arrival of first electric Cybertruck off assembly line

Tesla celebrated the arrival of its first electric pickup truck, Cybertruck, after it rolled off the assembly line Saturday, years after the first prototype was revealed in 2019.

The EV company originally said production would begin in late 2021, but encountered delays. Now, nearly two-years later, the first Cybertruck has officially been built.

The company celebrated the milestone on Twitter with a photo of workers in hats and yellow vests surrounding the truck at its facility, Gigafactory Texas, near Austin.

Tesla owner Elon Musk retweeted the photo, saying “Congrats Tesla Team!”

The truck’s journey did not get off to a great start, after a window, that was billed as unbreakable, cracked after being hit by a big metal ball during it’s initial unveiling in 2019.

Tesla was largely silent about its plans for the vehicle after that, but in late 2021, said that an updated version was coming. In January 2022, Tesla announced a delay in production until 2023 and then in November of that year, Musk said production would begin “in the middle of 2023” on a call with financial analysts, according to Reuters.

The truck, which has a wedge shape and stainless steel body, allows Musk’s company to compete in the electric pickup market.

The Ford F-150 Lightning and Rivian Automotive’s R1T are two of Tesla’s competitors, but Ford and Rivian’s versions look more like traditional pickups.