Tesla and Elon Musk held an event tonight called “Cyber Rodeo” to celebrate the opening of its new factory and headquarters near Austin, Texas. There was plenty of pomp and circumstance in the form of a pre-event drone show, but Musk made a few noteworthy comments, too.
Take these promises with a grain of salt given past production date promises, but Musk claimed Tesla would begin producing the Cybertruck, Roadster and Semi in 2023. At the end of the show, Tesla chief designer Franz von Holzhausen rolled up in a Cybertruck prototype in what looked like a familiar scene. There were no broken windows this time around, but we did get a decent glimpse of what the Cybertruck looks like these days. In short, it appeared very similar to recent sightings, massive front wiper blade and all.
Musk also claimed that eventually Tesla would make a dedicated robotaxi.
“It’s gonna look quite futuristic,” Musk said.
Note that this appears to be separate from Musk’s previous claims that Teslas will be able to be turned into robotaxis once the company sorts out its “Full-Self Driving” technology.
In addition to the robotaxi, Musk says the previously mentioned Tesla robot might be ready for production next year.
Lastly, Musk said that the Austin production facility will be the highest production facility in the country. However, he gave no time period for when it might become so. Musk set a market share goal of approximately 20% in his comments around increasing production. Currently, Tesla approximated its market share of new cars sold in the U.S. at 1%.
Right before the show came to a close with the Cybertruck, Tesla showed off the first cars built at the Austin factory by driving a number of freshly-assembled Model Y SUVs across the stage.
Source: www.autoblog.com