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Tesla’s Cybertruck has hit yet another road bump. Back in 2019, the plan was to eventually release the clunky-looking pickup for the lean price of $39,900. However, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has now suggested that the final specs and price tag of the much-hyped electric vehicle will not be the same as first announced.

Speaking at the 2022 Tesla Shareholder Meeting earlier this month, Musk told the crowd that wider economic troubles have impacted their plans to roll out the Cybertruck, adding that the price “will be different” from initial promises. 

"It was unveiled in 2019…  a lot has changed since then," Musk said during the event. "So the specs and the pricing will be different – I hate to sort of give a little bit of bad news –   but there's no way to sort of have anticipated quite the inflation that we've seen and the various issues.”

Musk gave few other details about the release of the Cybertruck other than a few vague comments, but he was keen to pump some promotion around the vehicle.

“What I can say is that the Cybertruck will be one hell of a product. It's going to be like a damn fine machine," he added.

The Tesla Cybertruck is a battery electric light-duty truck capable, in theory, of bursting from 0 to 100 kilometers (0 to 60 miles) an hour in under 3 seconds. With its “futuristic” angular design, the unusual vehicle has attracted a huge amount of attention online, but years later there's still no idea of when the vehicle will actually hit the road. 

Fans of the Cybertruck will remember its grand unveiling in 2019, when Tesla’s chief designer, Franz von Holzhausen, threw a metal ball at the "Armor Glass” window of the truck to demonstrate how tough it is. Unexpectedly, the ball bearing smashed the window amid a gasp from the audience.

“Oh my f**king god!” an astonished Musk laughed. “Maybe that was a little hard.”

More trouble lay ahead for the Cybertruck when it came to its production and release date. In 2019, Tesla planned to start producing the vehicle in the fall of 2021. This didn’t happen, and production was delayed until the following year. When 2022 came around, production was further delayed to early 2023. Speaking last month, Musk said we can expect to see the Cybertruck released by the middle of 2023.

Given the apparent hurdles the Cybertruck’s rollout is still facing, even this latest release date looks uncertain.

Tom is a writer in London with a Master's degree in Journalism whose editorial work covers anything from health and the environment to technology and archaeology.

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