Drone footage above Tesla’s Texas factory sparks mix of excitement and controversy: ‘Anything to keep the hype rolling’
Tesla fans are getting excited as it appears the Cybertruck may finally be ready for production. Drone footage taken by Joe Tegtmeyer (@JoeTegtmeyer) outside Gigafactory Texas in Austin seems to show what Tegtmeyer claims to be Cybertruck Master Candidates, the final stage before production.
Tesla reached Release Candidate production this past summer, which is supposed to be the final testing phase.
The factory experienced various stages of shutdown over the last several weeks to conduct factory upgrades. Rumors suggest the shutdowns were linked to the start of production of Cybertrucks.
On Sept. 25, Tegtmeyer posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, “Giga Texas NEWS! All employees back to work today, training, final prep, test production of Model Y bodies & at least 2 Master Candidate Cybertrucks produced & imaged today outside! This [week] will be to get everything back into operational status to resume full production by next week!”
The post is accompanied by multiple photos, including two of the Cybertrucks.
Giga Texas NEWS! All employees back at work today, training, final prep, test production of Model Y bodies & at least 2 Master Candidate Cybertrucks produced & imaged today outside! This wee will be to get everything back into operational status to resume full production by next… pic.twitter.com/zgXGzVWmnh
— Joe Tegtmeyer
(@JoeTegtmeyer) September 25, 2023
The video shot by Tegtmeyer confirmed that employees were returning to the factory.
On top of that, Cybertrucks have reportedly been seen at employees’ homes, which signals that Tesla has expanded internal testing of the long-awaited pickup.
If everything goes to plan, Tesla should be ready to begin production of the Cybertruck in October or November, with production expected to accelerate into overdrive in 2024.
Once Cybertruck production ramps up to full capacity, according to the director of manufacturing at Giga Texas, Jason Shawhan, Tesla will have about 60,000 workers on site, which would make the facility the largest auto manufacturing plant in North America.
Once production is underway, the number of Cybertrucks coming out of Giga Texas remains unknown, and Tesla has sent mixed signals to investors. But if reservations are any indication, the facility will be busy for years pumping out Cybertrucks. There are already over two million reservations pledged, and that number continues to grow every day.
Commenters on the Electrek article had plenty to say.
“These pics look a lot more refined than previous ones,” one pointed out.
Others, however, weren’t so sure. “Anything to keep the hype rolling,” said another. “After all this time……we’ll see it when we see it.”
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