First sly Cybertruck reference spotted in the iPhone app as Tesla warns production staff may work weekends

The first Tesla Cybertruck references have started to creep up into the company's iOS app as the electric pickup recently moved to the "tooling" phase of its life cycle. Tesla will be manufacturing the Cybertruck in its new Gigafactory in Austin, Texas, and has also started to post job listings for engineers needed to work in the Cybertruck Body Shop there.

The job posting is looking for someone with at least a Bachelor's degree in mechanical, electrical, mechatronics, or manufacturing/reliability engineering to fill a "Maintenance & Reliability Engineer - BIW, Cybertruck" position as soon as possible. Tesla is apparently preparing for a big production launch push, as it warns that the person recruited for the position will have to be able to "work flexible hours as production and maintenance needs change; this may include days, evenings, and flexible weekends for support."

While the Cybertruck will be assembled in Austin, Tesla is also retooling a second floor of its Fremont factory in California for producing its battery packs, then ship them to Texas for fitting on the electric pickups there. That's similar to what it does for the Model Y with the structural cell-to-chassis battery pack that is assembled in Texas, but the 4680 cells for it are produced in California.

The Cybertruck launch preparations have started not only on the production and hardware side, but in the software realm, too. The Tesla App iOS account which often posts nuggets of info about Tesla's plans derived from decompiling new versions of the Tesla app for the iPhone and iPad, has found the first Cybertruck references there.

Granted, Tesla has tried to mask the new entries under the letter "C" and the word "truck," but it is not hard to deduce what comes after a "modely" and before a "semitruck" references, especially if it is denoted with the letter "C" at the front.

The Tesla Cybertruck is expected to start shipping to early buyers next summer, with a full mass production ramp-up achieved by the end of 2023. The 2023 Cybertruck price, however, may be a far cry from the initial US$40,000 starting tag promise.

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