Tesla will build its Cybertruck pickup truck at a new plant to be constructed near Austin, Texas, CEO Elon Musk said Wednesday during an earnings call outlining the company's second quarter results.
Construction of the plant is expected to start later this year, and when ready it will build the Cybertruck alongside the Semi semi-trailer truck, and Model 3 sedans and Model Y crossover SUVs for delivery in the eastern half of the United States. Tesla said at the Cybertruck's reveal last November that production would start around late 2021.
Tesla Semi
Tesla's current vehicle plant in Fremont, California, will continue to build Model 3s and Model Ys for the western half of the country, as well as the Model S sedan and Model X SUV for worldwide delivery. The Fremont plant will also build the second-generation Roadster should that model ever make it to production.
Musk in March first announced Tesla would add a second vehicle plant in the U.S. in one of the flyover states. Tulsa, Oklahoma, was among the locations Tesla had visited in its search for a site for the plant.
Tesla celebrates building its one-millionth car - Photo credit: Elon Musk/Twitter
Tesla's U.S. footprint also includes a plant in Las Vegas, Nevada, where it builds batteries and components, and a plant in Buffalo, New York, where it builds solar equipment.
Outside the country, Tesla has a plant in Shanghai, China, for the Model 3 and soon the Model Y, and over in Europe it's constructing a plant near Berlin, Germany, for the Model 3 and Model Y.
Tesla starts delivery of Chinese-made Model 3 sedans on December 30, 2019
The news comes as Tesla reported a net profit of $104 million on $6.036 billion of revenues for the second quarter of 2020, despite the slowdown caused by the ongoing Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic. The profit was made possible by $428 million generated from the sale of regulatory credits—more than any other recent quarter—as well as growing sales of the Model 3 in China where local production started in the months before the pandemic hit.
This represents the first time Tesla has reported four consecutive quarters of profit. There are some headwinds, though. Deliveries of the more profitable Model S and Model X were down 40% from the same period a year ago, compared to deliveries of the Model 3 and Model Y which increased 3% in the quarter. Tesla has also started cutting prices, even for the Model Y which was launched just months ago. And then there's the onslaught of EVs that established automakers are planning to launch this decade. VW Group alone plans to launch more than 70 EVs over the period.
