Tesla has begun delivering the Cybertruck, four years after Elon Musk first unveiled the angular stainless-steel electric pickup and nearly two years after the company’s original production target. At a Thursday event in Austin, Texas, Tesla handed vehicles to an initial group of customers and disclosed pricing that places the truck well above the entry figures advertised when it was introduced in 2019.

The rear-wheel-drive Cybertruck is listed at $60,990 with an estimated 250 miles of range, but Tesla says that version is not expected until 2025. The all-wheel-drive model, expected sooner, is priced at $79,990 with an estimated 340 miles of range. The top Cyberbeast starts at $99,990, with an estimated 320-mile range and a claimed 0-to-60 mph time of 2.6 seconds. The prices exclude options, taxes and other charges.

Delivery begins after years of delay

The first handovers close one phase of a long development cycle. Tesla unveiled the Cybertruck in November 2019 with a starting price of $39,900 and projected production beginning in 2021. The timetable slipped repeatedly as the company revised engineering, manufacturing and supply plans. In October, Tesla finally set Nov. 30 as the delivery date.

The delay mattered because the electric-truck market changed while Tesla developed the vehicle. Ford launched the F-150 Lightning, Rivian expanded production of the R1T and General Motors brought the GMC Hummer EV pickup to market. Tesla arrives with a product that is visually unlike those competitors and uses an unconventional body structure built around large stainless-steel panels.

The Cybertruck is also Tesla’s first major new passenger-vehicle line since the Model Y began deliveries in 2020. The company’s most recent quarterly production report showed more than 430,000 vehicle deliveries in the third quarter, overwhelmingly Model 3 and Model Y vehicles. Cybertruck therefore represents both a new market segment and a test of whether Tesla can broaden its product mix without sacrificing manufacturing efficiency.

Specifications reveal a more expensive product

The launch specifications clarify how far the production vehicle has moved from the original proposal. Contemporary coverage from Ars Technica noted that the promised $39,900 entry model is absent from the current lineup and that the least expensive announced configuration is more than $20,000 higher. For customers seeking a truck in the near term, the practical starting point is the $79,990 all-wheel-drive version.

Tesla says the all-wheel-drive truck can tow up to 11,000 pounds and carry a payload exceeding 2,000 pounds. The vehicle uses a stainless-steel exterior, steer-by-wire controls and a 48-volt low-voltage electrical architecture. Tesla also advertises an optional range-extender battery that would occupy part of the bed and increase the all-wheel-drive model’s range above 470 miles. The launch coverage emphasizes that some of those features make the truck a manufacturing experiment as much as a new consumer product.

The vehicle’s design is intended to reduce the need for conventional stamped body panels and paint, but stainless steel presents different challenges in forming, finishing and maintaining tight dimensional tolerances. Musk has acknowledged those difficulties publicly, telling investors in October that Tesla had “dug our own grave” with Cybertruck complexity and cautioning that reaching high-volume production and positive cash flow would take time.

Production, not demand, is the central near-term question

Tesla says more than one million people placed refundable reservations after the 2019 unveiling, but reservation counts are not equivalent to firm orders. The combination of higher prices, changed interest rates and a four-year wait means conversion rates are uncertain. More important in the immediate term is how quickly Tesla can manufacture the vehicle at acceptable cost and quality.

The Reuters account of Thursday’s launch noted Musk’s own warning that Cybertruck will require an unusually difficult production ramp. Tesla has said it expects the Austin plant ultimately to reach capacity for about 250,000 Cybertrucks annually, but Musk has suggested that level is unlikely before 2025.

The company’s approach places near-term emphasis on the expensive versions. TechCrunch reported that the rear-wheel-drive model will not arrive until 2025, while the all-wheel-drive and Cyberbeast variants are targeted for 2024. That sequencing can support higher average selling prices while production remains constrained, but it also narrows the initial market to buyers willing to pay luxury-vehicle prices.

A highly visible test of Tesla’s next phase

The Cybertruck launch comes as Tesla is balancing growth ambitions with a series of price reductions across its existing lineup. Those reductions have helped support vehicle demand but have pressured automotive margins. A successful truck program could add a new revenue stream and deepen Tesla’s presence in the North American market, where pickups are among the industry’s most important vehicle categories.

It could also expose the limits of Tesla’s willingness to pursue radically different engineering. The company has spent years designing specialized manufacturing processes around the Cybertruck’s structure, electrical system and dimensions. Unlike a conventional model refresh, those investments cannot easily be shared across the rest of Tesla’s current lineup.

Bloomberg described the handover as the end of a long wait but the beginning of the more consequential phase: proving the truck can be manufactured in large numbers. Thursday establishes that Cybertruck is finally a commercial vehicle. It does not yet establish what its steady-state production cost, delivery volume or customer base will be.

The launch therefore carries significance beyond the first owners. Tesla has built its scale around a small number of high-volume models. Cybertruck tests whether the company can add a distinctly different platform while maintaining the cost discipline and production speed that have defined its recent growth. With deliveries now underway, that question moves from presentation stage to factory floor.