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Tesla’s Cybertruck delay may have been caused by design finalization

Tesla CEO Elon Musk unveils futuristic Cybertruck in Los Angeles, Nov. 21, 2019 (Photo: Teslarati)

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Tesla’s production of the all-electric Cybertruck may have been pushed back due to design finalization by company engineers who have been modifying the vehicle’s dimensions and look.

On Saturday, Tesla’s online configurator for the Cybertruck was officially updated to state that production was starting in 2022. This was a slight change, as previously the configurator, which outlines the variants of each vehicle, when their expected delivery dates are, and pricing, stated that the Tri-Motor variant of the truck would be produced as early as December 2021.

However, this has been pushed back to 2022, as the Model Y is taking priority at Giga Texas, Tesla’s newest facility. Construction is still ongoing, but production nears and could start within the coming weeks, according to some reports. The Cybertruck and Model Y are both slotted to be produced at the plant among other vehicles as well, but it remained unclear what vehicle would take priority. This was until the Q2 2021 Earnings Call where Tesla confirmed the Model Y would be the first vehicle built at the facility, which is located just miles outside of Austin.

Credit: u/X5AT_1/Reddit

It appears that Tesla may have been working on finalizing the design of the Cybertruck, and this instance may have caused the delay. Tesla insider @SawyerMerritt stated earlier today that a company source said Tesla finalized the design of the Cybertruck just recently.

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Teslarati reached out to Merritt for more context, but no more information was able to be shared at the request of the individual who shared it. Merritt said the source was within Tesla.

Earlier this year, Elon Musk stated that Cybertruck engineering was “almost finished” during the Q4 2020 Earnings Call in January. “So we’re no longer iterating at the design center level or design level. We’ve got the designs fixed,” he stated. However, there was some movement on this statement when Musk appeared on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast just a few weeks later.

During the February podcast, Musk stated that the Cybertruck was still going through some minor design modifications related to size. He stated that the Cybertruck unveiled at the Hawthorne Design Studio in November 2019 was “pretty much what it will look like,” but there would be some small differences between that vehicle and the final design. Most of the changes were related to the dimensions of the car. “You know, we adjusted the size a few percent. Like around 3% or smaller. You don’t want it to be a couple of inches too big for the tunnel,” Musk added.

Tesla Cybertruck makes a tight squeeze through Boring Company tunnel

Musk stated during the podcast that the Cybertruck would enter production at Giga Texas late this year and that “if we’re lucky,” some deliveries might be completed by the end of 2021.

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Tesla is known to take its time with designing vehicles, making sure the engineering and software of a vehicle are just right. This is most evident with the recent Model S Plaid deliveries, which were slated to begin in February. Tesla didn’t give the Model S Plaid to customers until June 10th, as software and design challenges held up the delivery process. Musk was transparent when announcing the delays, stating that minor tweaks needed to be made for the car to be acceptable.

The Cybertruck is still undergoing many design finalizations, and nothing is set in stone. Recently, Teslarati uncovered the possibility of Tesla installing solar panels on the Cybertruck’s tonneau for increased range. This idea has not been confirmed by Tesla yet, but the patents point toward the potential usage of solar cells to increase traveling distance between charges.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments below, or be sure to email me at joey@teslarati.com or on Twitter @KlenderJoey.

Joey has been a journalist covering electric mobility at TESLARATI since August 2019. In his spare time, Joey is playing golf, watching MMA, or cheering on any of his favorite sports teams, including the Baltimore Ravens and Orioles, Miami Heat, Washington Capitals, and Penn State Nittany Lions. You can get in touch with joey at joey@teslarati.com. He is also on X @KlenderJoey. If you're looking for great Tesla accessories, check out shop.teslarati.com

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Neuralink’s first human patient reflects on 21 months with brain implant “Eve”

He credited Neuralink and Elon Musk for giving him “the opportunity to be the first,” as the experience has been life-changing.

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Credit: Neuralink

Nolan Arbaugh, the first person to receive Neuralink’s brain implant, shared his 21-month update this week, reflecting on how far he’s come since his groundbreaking surgery. 

Arbaugh, who became paralyzed after a diving accident, stated that his Neuralink implant, which he fondly calls “Eve,” continues to transform his daily life.

Arbaugh celebrates Neuralink’s progress

In his post on X, Arbaugh revealed that his hands-on involvement with Neuralink has decreased as more participants have joined the program. “The team might call me to test something once in a blue moon,” he wrote, adding that he’s happy to see others experience the technology’s full potential, from operating robotic arms to typing on keyboards with thought alone.

He credited Neuralink and Elon Musk for giving him “the opportunity to be the first,” as the experience has been life-changing. Despite a recent pressure sore that temporarily kept him bedridden, Arbaugh noted that he is still very optimistic, describing his journey as one of resilience, faith, and gratitude. He also teased “big news” coming for his two-year update in early 2026.

Studies and a growing public speaking career 

These days, Arbaugh stated that he is focused on his studies in neuroscience, taking full-semester courses in chemistry, biology, and pre-calculus while earning top grades. He credited “Eve” for making school possible again, as his current academic workload would have been “impossible without Neuralink.” Arbaugh stated that he has also begun building a speaking business after delivering a paid talk at Fortune’s Brainstorm Tech conference.

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“At the beginning of September I attended the Fortune Brainstorm Tech conference in Park City, Utah, as a paid speaker. That sentence seemed like an impossibility two years ago. But it’s just the beginning. My business is built, my legal is near complete, I’m surrounding myself with a team of amazing folks, and I plan on speaking once or twice a month in the same fashion beginning as soon as January. 

“Conferences, interviews, podcasts—you name it, and I want to be there spreading the word about how amazing this technology is, the growth it’s experiencing, the possibilities of the future, and how it has so deeply affected my life,” Arbaugh stated.

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Rivian and Amazon announce huge milestone with EDV

The companies announced today that they had officially launched the EDV in Canada for Amazon, as the first 50 units are out and about in Vancouver, and the company said it was “marking an exciting milestone in our five-year history of operations in Canada.”

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Credit: Rivian

Rivian and Amazon have announced a huge milestone with their Electric Delivery Vehicle (EDV), the van that the two companies developed for the e-commerce giant to sustainably deliver packages to customers.

The EDV was first unveiled back in September 2019, when Amazon announced a massive investment in Rivian and placed an order for 100,000 electric vans, aiming to deploy them by 2030 as part of the company’s sustainability goals.

Production started in 2021 in Normal, Illinois, and entered Amazon’s fleet of active delivery vehicles over the Summer of 2022. Amazon kept the initial vehicles in major metropolitan areas and eventually started rolling them out to more delivery hubs across the United States.

In December 2024, the companies announced they had successfully deployed 20,000 EDVs across the U.S. In the first half of this year, 10,000 additional vans were delivered, and Amazon’s fleet had grown to 30,000 EDVs by mid-2025.

Amazon’s fleet of EDVs continues to grow rapidly and has expanded to over 100 cities in the United States. However, it has just reached a new milestone, and it has nothing to do with the size of its fleet.

The companies announced today that they had officially launched the EDV in Canada for Amazon, as the first 50 units are out and about in Vancouver, and the company said it was “marking an exciting milestone in our five-year history of operations in Canada.”

The EDV is a model that is exclusive to Amazon, but Rivian sells the RCV, or Rivian Commercial Van, openly. It detailed some of the pricing and trim options back in January when it confirmed it had secured orders from various companies, including AT&T.

The RCV starts at $83,000, and is one of the few electric vans on the market that is suitable for package delivery in a commercial setting because of its build and interior features.

Rivian prepares to launch the EDV outside of Amazon as the RCV – Here’s when

However, it also seems to be a great option as a service vehicle for companies, which is likely why AT&T is going to utilize it.

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Tesla’s biggest rival in China reported a big profit decline once again

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(Credit: BYD)

Tesla’s biggest rival in China reported a big decline in its profitability for the second straight quarter, and a loss of one-third compared to the same quarter last year.

BYD overtook Tesla as the best-selling EV maker in China in the fourth quarter of 2023, finally surpassing the company in terms of sales in the region.

Is Tesla really losing to BYD, or just playing a different game?

The Chinese market is one of the most competitive in the world, especially for EVs, as the industry is healthy with young and scrappy companies looking to sell the best possible tech in their vehicles.

BYD reported its earnings on Thursday and said that its profit had slumped by 33 percent compared to the same quarter last year. For this year’s third quarter, BYD reported a net profit of 7.8 billion yuan ($1.1 billion), a 32.6 percent decrease compared to the same period in 2024.

Its revenue was 195 billion yuan ($27.4 billion), which was only a 3 percent decrease compared to Q3 2024.

The drop in profits and revenue can mostly be attributed to the ongoing growth of competition in the Chinese market. The increased competition in China has pushed companies to turn to overseas markets in response, according to CnEVPost.

BYD is one of those companies, and it is attempting to push sales upward by entering new markets, especially in Europe, where the company sold more than 13,000 units in EU countries in September alone.

This was a 272 percent increase year over year, a major piece of evidence that it has a lot of potential in foreign markets.

The drop in financial figures is likely a short-term issue for BYD, as it has already established itself as a formidable competitor to many companies in many markets. In Q1, it reported an increase in profit by 100 percent compared to the same time span the year prior.

As it works to expand to even more markets in the world, it will continue to build upon its already-solid reputation.

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