Tesla Shows Updated Cybertruck Promising 2023 Launch And New Robotaxi At Cyber Rodeo

Tesla celebrated the opening of its Austin, Texas Gigafactory with a “Cyber Rodeo” event, at which CEO Elon Musk teased an updated Cybertruck as well as a new Robotaxi.

The event was heavily geared towards Texas, with many attendees dressing up in cowboy attire. Musk himself arrived at the event in a first-generation Tesla Roadster wearing a cowboy hat and introduced the first examples of the Model Y built in Texas.

The Gigafactory in Texas is the brand’s largest facility with 10 million square feet of floor space, and also incorporates its new corporate headquarters. The Model Y will make up the majority of the models built in the factory, with production estimated to reach 500,000 units annually.

According to Musk: “This year is all about scaling up, and then next year there’s going to be a massive wave of new products”.

Musk Promises Cybertruck Is Coming In 2023

The first of those new products will be the Cybertruck, which was brought up on stage at the end of the event. Musk even joked that he would “smash the window” again, in reference to the last time the truck was shown in public.

The electric pickup has received a few updates since the last time we saw it, most notably the deletion of door handles, with Musk stating “just knows that it needs to open the doors.” The Cybertruck is slated to begin production at the Texas Gigafactory in 2023, ending almost three years of waiting for those who pre-ordered the truck early.

The Cybertruck is within spec 😅 pic.twitter.com/tVhBW2mn8g

— Ryan Zohoury (@RyanZohoury) April 7, 2022

Finally, a completely new product called the Robotaxi was teased, a dedicated robotic taxi that will look “quite futuristic”. A timeline or any more details about the project was not provided. Tesla’s Full Self Driving technology will also reach all North American customers in 2023, leaving its closed beta state.

Musk also said that the Texas factory could eventually produce 1 million vehicles annually, which would raise total global production to over 2 million in 2023. The Tesla Roadster and Semi are also planned to enter production next year, although Musk did not say in which factory they would be built.

New Cybertruck prototypes on display at the #Tesla Cyber Rodeo pic.twitter.com/3b5dTSEsbs

— Ryan Zohoury (@RyanZohoury) April 7, 2022

The event also featured an incredible drone light show, a mechanical bull, and even an array of Tesla Model Ys arranged in the shape of the Texas flag.

Some fans managed to grab a few snaps of the Cybertruck while it was being brought to the stage, giving us an up-close and personal look: