Categories: Energy Stocks
Topics: Clean Energy

Does Tesla Actually Have What It Takes to Build the Cybertruck?

After a four-year wait for its release, Tesla’s first Cybertruck has finally rolled off the production line at the Giga Texas plant in Austin. 

Sleek, angular, with a look more in common with a spaceship than a medium-duty truck, the Cybertruck has been an instant sensation since the moment it was announced. 

Some love it. Some hate it. But either way, it’s had everyone talking. And the “love it” crowd have been eager to buy.

It’s generated an intense level of buying interest since its first week, when it received 250,000 pre-orders. And as time has worn on, it’s only continued to grow in popularity. 

Those pre-orders are now up to a whopping 1.9 million, far exceeding even the wildest expectations for its release. As CEO Elon Musk said: “it’s so off the hook, you can't even see the hook.”

But despite its popularity, not one of these millions of fans have received a car. And even once production is at max capacity, it’ll still be far short of demand. Tesla plans on building only 375,000 units a year — which means that it would take more than five years at full capacity just to fill the preorders.

Customer patience has already been stretched. Will they wait for years? 

Scarcity will no doubt play a role in keeping the Cybertruck a hot item. But even Tesla will have trouble sustaining that level of excitement as the years roll by.

Tesla has also had to adapt their production plans to keep up with a rapidly changing world.

The Cybertruck was first announced way back on November 21st, 2019.

While that was just a few years ago, it was in every way the last days of a very different decade… before the pandemic, before the war in the Ukraine, and before the global supply chain crisis.

Tesla was also in a very different place as a company — back then they were still working toward their first major production goal of a million vehicles in a year.

So the Cybertruck has arrived in a very different world.

And there are still major roadblocks ahead. 

Earlier this year I drove past Austin’s Giga Texas factory, where the Cybertruck will be made. While operational, it’s missing a lot of finishing touches.

The construction trailers are still on-site, lined up next to piles of unused fill dirt.
 
And the back section of Giga Texas is still missing — panels are being added, and the paint is literally still drying.

While I haven’t visited inside, I imagine it’s in a similar state of 90% completion.

And then there’s the biggest roadblock of all: where will Tesla get the critical materials it needs to build all of these trucks?

1.9 million new Cybertrucks will require hundreds of millions of tons of critical materials.

As we’ve been talking over the past few weeks, copper is a chief concern.

The price is favorable at the moment, but that could change fast. 

The manufacturing slowdown that many economists expected never happened, and demand is already picking up.

We’ll likely be back to $4 a pound by the onset of fall, if not higher.

But what will be yet another challenge for Elon Musk and Tesla will be a windfall for US copper producers.

Tesla is locked into the US supply chain.

Tesla has kept its subsidies from Uncle Sam by agreeing to buy American. 

I’ve been following this situation closely, and I’ve positioned myself in several copper companies that’ll maximize this advantage — including one junior resource company with a new method for extracting copper that’ll make all the difference as the EV revolution rolls on.

Billions of dollars of copper will change hands over the Cybertruck alone.

Tesla also has to find enough lithium to build all of those battery packs. 

The original design of the Cybertruck called for a 100kWh battery. 

But Tesla’s ambitions have grown, and it’s expected the new production line will carry a 120kWh+ battery to increase range and keep pace with competition from Ford, Rivian, and a host of other rivals. (And let’s not forget Dodge’s massive new Ram Revolution, which will be released next year and will flex an enormous 229 kWh battery.)

Nick Hodge has been covering this looming supply deficit for months now. He’s following a junior lithium supplier run by the “kingmaker” of lithium, an expert in turning small lithium companies into major buyouts (his last lithium company sold for $6.2 billion.)

And then last but certainly not least, Gerardo Del Real has a major announcement on a new lithium opportunity. Gerardo has a proven track record for finding profitable resource opportunities (making 2,500%+), and this new “crystal lithium” exploration junior he’s discovered is in the perfect position to see similar returns.

Tesla has spent four years and billions of dollars tooling up to build this popular new Cybertruck.

Now they’re going to have to spend big to get the materials they need — and from everything we’re looking at, the price is only going up, and the producers we’re following will reap the biggest rewards.

Tesla’s 1.9 million preorders are waiting… lucky for us, it’s the resource investors who’ll be the first to get paid.

John Carl
Editor, Daily Profit Cycle