Tesla CEO Elon Musk makes shocking statement in third-quarter earnings call: ‘We dug our own grave’

Tesla’s third-quarter earnings call revealed some interesting information, most notably regarding the company’s much-anticipated Cybertruck.

CEO Elon Musk told listeners that one million of the all-electric pickups have been reserved, and he noted deliveries will finally start to reach customers by November 30 — a delay from the previously estimated rollout at the end of the third quarter.

Musk suggested that these delays are due to the complex nature of the Cybertruck’s construction. Despite having the capacity to deliver 125,000 trucks a year, it’s unlikely the company’s Texas Gigafactory will hit such lofty totals because of how difficult they are to build.

While Musk described the Cybertruck as the company’s “best product ever,” he also noted that Tesla’s attention to detail is perhaps a hindrance.

“We dug our own grave with Cybertruck,” he said, per The Verge. “Cybertruck’s one of those special products that comes along only once in a long while. And special products that come along once in a long while are just incredibly difficult to bring to market to reach volume, to be prosperous.”

Despite being announced more than four years ago, the Cybertruck has been a bit of a riddle. Tesla has provided some details, such as the vehicle’s potential to achieve 500 miles of range on a single charge, but many other specifications haven’t been made clear.

In fact, most people have had to take advantage of sightings of the truck posted to social media to determine what they can expect when it eventually hits the road.

While those million reservation holders might not be receiving their orders quite as soon as they had hoped, the Cybertruck still has a significant level of excitement attached to it — despite its polarizing appearance.

According to research from The University of Michigan, the lifetime pollution of electric SUVs, sedans, and pickup trucks is 64% lower than dirty-fuel equivalents in the United States, with the study also observing that greater reductions are achieved as vehicle size increases.

With the study noting that 58% of planet-warming pollution caused by vehicles in the U.S. are from this category, having high-performance trucks and large vehicles running on electric power will provide huge dividends for the environment — and the Cybertruck has the potential to eat into the internal-combustion-engine market.

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