Tesla (TSLA 0.01%) shares dropped on Thursday. Investors were spooked by CEO Elon Musk's pessimistic tone during the company's third-quarter earnings call about the current high-interest-rate environment's impact on demand for auto loans. Further, Musk tried to temper expectations about how quickly the company can ramp up production of its new all-electric truck.

But not all news in Tesla's Thursday update was bad. The company's war chest of cash continued to grow and it reaffirmed its guidance to build around 1.8 million vehicles this year. Tesla also said its fast-growing energy business is becoming its highest-margin segment.

Though Musk warned that the production ramp up for Cybertruck will be difficult, the electric-car company finally put a date to an event in which it will deliver the first units.

Tesla's Cybertruck delivery event

The first Cybertruck units are scheduled for delivery at an event at its Gigafactory in Texas on Nov. 30, Tesla announced on Wednesday. 

Of course, it takes time for Tesla to ramp up production. New-vehicle launches follow S-curves, in which production ramps up slowly and gradually at first before beginning to grow exponentially. Further, for more complex vehicles, production could spend more time in the slow growth phase.

Apparently, the Cybertruck will be one of those complex vehicles. So investors should keep their expectations in check.

"I do want to emphasize that there will be enormous challenges in reaching volume production with the Cybertruck and then in making a Cybertruck cash flow positive," explained Musk during the company's third-quarter earnings call.

Just how long could it take for production volume to ramp up to meaningful volumes? Around 18 months, Musk predicted.

A big opportunity

While investors' patience may be tested next year, they can at least look forward to a good product. "Cybertruck's one of those special products that comes along only once in a long while," Musk said.

Indeed, this is why ramping up production will be so difficult. "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," Musk continued. "It's fundamental to the nature of the newness."

It's no secret that pickup trucks are popular in the U.S. Ford's F-series trucks have been America's best-selling vehicle for 41 years straight. Even more, U.S. auto companies use pickup trucks as profit centers because their high average selling prices mean they boast higher profit margins than most other vehicles.

The addressable market shows how significant the opportunity for Tesla is. In total, the global pickup-truck market is estimated to command more than $200 billion in annual sales -- far in excess of Tesla's current annual automotive revenue of about $82 billion. 

Once the Cybertruck's production ramps up, investors can look forward to robust sales. The CEO emphasized that demand for the pickup truck is "off the charts." Indeed, he said there are "over 1 million people who have reserved the car."

But investors will have to wait a while before the needle begins to move.