The Death of the Cybertruck? Was It Doomed From the Start?
Elon Musk says Tesla needs the room for its robotaxi, but the Cybertruck’s troubles started long before that.
On a stage in Los Angeles in 2019, Tesla introduced the Cybertruck by taking a sledgehammer to its steel door. Minutes later, a metal ball cracked two of its armored glass windows, and Elon Musk told the crowd there was “room for improvement.”
Seven years later, the truck’s time on the assembly line is running short. In early November, Musk posted on X that Tesla will wind down Cybertruck production at Gigafactory Texas to make room for more production of the Cybercab robotaxi. He first put the end around the middle of 2027, then started moving it the very next night. It now stands at the end of summer 2027.
So is this the death of the Cybertruck? Not yet. Tesla is still taking orders, and the engineer who led the truck says parts and service will continue. But when Tesla plans to wind down production of a pickup that drew more than a million reservations, nearly four years after the first deliveries, the bigger question is fair. Was it doomed from the start? Maybe. I think a handful of problems undid it, and in my opinion the biggest one wasn’t the truck at all. It was how many buyers came to feel about the man selling it.
One Sentence, and a Date That Moved
Musk’s announcement was a single sentence, and it left buyers with more questions than answers. It gave a rough timeline and one reason, room for the Cybercab, the two seat robotaxi with no steering wheel or pedals that Tesla began building in Texas in April, according to CBS News. It didn’t say when Tesla will take its last Cybertruck order, or how long it will keep selling trucks it has already built.
The truck’s lead engineer filled in some of the rest. Wes Morrill wrote on X that the Cybertruck was a technology development platform that lives on through the Cybercab. When an owner asked whether Cybertrucks would keep getting long term support, Morrill replied, “Yes, of course! Tesla will maintain spare parts and service will continue support.”
The timeline started moving almost at once. The next night, Musk replied on X that Tesla is “still building Cybertruck for another 8 or 9 months.” Two days later, he wrote that “the Cybertruck order rate far exceeds our production rate.” He said Tesla would build as many as possible “before shutting down the line in about 8 months,” but that it “will have to return deposits for a lot of people.” On November 11, he extended production “through the end of summer 2027” to work through more of the order backlog. In a follow up post, he said it “is not the smartest move from a profit-maximizing standpoint,” adding, “there must be some room in this world for sentimentality or what’s the point?” Tesla still hasn’t said which orders will be built and which will be refunded.
Tesla’s order page has changed too. On Tesla’s configurator, the Dual Motor All Wheel Drive and the Premium All Wheel Drive are both grayed out and can’t be ordered, so the Cyberbeast is the only version left. It now costs $109,990, up from $99,990 at the start of November. That’s a $10,000 raise in about a week, which beats a lot of annual reviews.
What Became the Flashpoint
In my opinion, the single biggest factor has nothing to do with the truck’s hardware. It’s how many car buyers came to feel about Tesla’s CEO.
The story is familiar by now. Over the last two years, Musk’s politics and his constant posting on X put him at the center of the national debate, and the Cybertruck, the vehicle most closely tied to him, got caught up in the backlash. Some were vandalized at Tesla dealerships in protest, CBS News reported, and Cox Automotive estimates US Cybertruck sales fell 48% in 2025.
A CEO’s public profile can sell a product, and for years Musk’s did exactly that for Tesla. With this truck, I think it did the opposite. No Tesla is tied more closely to him. He unveiled it himself, he champions it loudly, and nothing else on the road is so instantly recognizable as his. For many shoppers, parking one in the driveway feels like taking a side, whether they mean it that way or not. Tesla can cut a truck’s price. It can’t discount how people feel about the person behind it.
The $39,900 Truck That Never Arrived
Price comes next on my list, and that problem dates to the same night as the sledgehammer. Tesla talked about a $39,900 starting price in 2019, and it said the most powerful version would travel up to 500 miles on a charge. Reservations poured in. By October 2023, Musk was telling investors on Tesla’s earnings call that more than 1 million people had reserved one, and that he expected Tesla to build about 250,000 a year, probably by 2025. On the same call, describing how hard the truck was to manufacture, he said, “We dug our own grave with the Cybertruck.”
The truck that reached customers looked different from the 2019 pitch. When deliveries began in November 2023, the cheapest version Tesla listed was a $60,990 rear wheel drive truck that wasn’t due until 2025, launch day reports showed. The version buyers could order for 2024 cost $79,990 and had an estimated 340 miles of range.
US sales came nowhere near the reservation list. Cox Automotive estimates Tesla sold 38,965 Cybertrucks in the US in 2024, 20,237 in 2025 and 11,586 through September of this year, about 70,800 in all. Tesla hasn’t said how many reservations turned into orders. A reservation isn’t a purchase, and Musk’s 250,000 was a production goal, not a US sales forecast. Even so, the gap is hard to miss. Wall Street analyst Dan Ives told CBS News that “the writing was on the wall,” given the truck’s high price and weak demand.
The Cybertruck isn’t the only electric pickup with modest numbers. Cox estimates Ford sold 27,307 F-150 Lightnings and Rivian sold 7,416 R1Ts in the US last year. What sets the Cybertruck apart, in my opinion, is the distance between the plan and the result.
A Shape Only Some Buyers Could Love
The Cybertruck’s look made it one of the most recognizable vehicles on the road, and I’d argue it also capped the audience. In a 2023 Cox Automotive survey of people shopping for an electric pickup, taken before deliveries began, 30% rated the Cybertruck’s look and styling very good or excellent. The Ford F-150 Lightning scored 68%. The Cybertruck also drew the lowest consideration of the six trucks in the survey, at 27%.
That’s the catch with a design this bold. It gets attention like nothing else on the road, and attention isn’t the same as orders. A shape that polarizing can work for a low volume halo car. In my opinion, it was always going to be a harder sell for a truck Tesla expected to build by the hundreds of thousands.
It Tows 11,000 Pounds, Just Not Very Far
On paper, the Cybertruck is a real work truck. Tesla rates the Premium and Cyberbeast to tow 11,000 pounds, lists a total payload of up to 2,500 pounds depending on the version and tires, and gives the bed as 6 by 4 feet. Range with a trailer attached is another matter. When The Fast Lane Truck towed a 7,500 pound travel trailer in an early, informal test, it estimated a realistic towing range closer to 115 miles.
That can work for a contractor pulling equipment around town and charging overnight. It’s a tougher fit for the family hauling a camper across three states, which is the kind of trip many truck owners expect to make without planning every stop. A tow rating tells you how much a truck can pull. It doesn’t tell you how far.
The Warning Signs Kept Coming
Some of the trucks were going to Musk’s own companies. SpaceX accounted for 1,279 of the 7,071 Cybertrucks registered in the US in the fourth quarter of 2025, according to S&P Global Mobility data reported by Bloomberg in April. Without sales to Musk’s other companies, the report said, registrations that quarter would have fallen 51%.
The price kept moving too. A stripped down $59,990 dual motor version arrived in February and rose to $69,990 within days, then to $74,990 in August and $82,490 in November, when Tesla also stopped taking orders for it.
Then, in October, Tesla told reservation holders in Australia and New Zealand that “plans to produce Cybertruck for Australia and New Zealand have been discontinued,” EV Central reported. Tesla didn’t give a reason.
Should You Still Buy One?
If you already own a Cybertruck, the news changes less than the headlines suggest. Tesla’s lead engineer says parts and service will continue. Tesla hasn’t said how long that support will last, and it’s too early to know what the announcement does to resale values.
If you want a new one, only the Cyberbeast is still open for orders, at $109,990, and Tesla hasn’t given a last day to order. Musk has also said Tesla will have to return deposits for a lot of people, so an order isn’t a promise of a truck. My advice is not to let the clock rush you. At $109,990, this is a truck you buy because you love it, not because it’s about to go away.
If you’re shopping electric pickups in general, the other choices cost less. Rivian lists the R1T from $79,990, and Chevrolet lists the Silverado EV LT from $61,900. Ford has already ended production of the current F-150 Lightning. Our Cybertruck vs Rivian R1T comparison and our R1T review cover that choice in detail. And if a used Cybertruck is the plan, check the service history and the condition of the stainless panels first. Our used Tesla buying guide and full Cybertruck review cover what to look for.
My Take
Was the Cybertruck doomed from the start? In my opinion, maybe. On paper, the hardware delivered. It’s quick, it tows 11,000 pounds, and more than a million people were interested enough to reserve one. But the $39,900 price Tesla pitched in 2019 was optimistic, to put it kindly. The shape was always going to split buyers, and its CEO’s public controversies followed it from the first day. All three problems trace back to the start.
Musk says Tesla needs the room for the Cybercab. I don’t think the robotaxi has much to do with it. In my opinion, the largest factor is the dislike many buyers developed for Tesla’s CEO, and no vehicle carries his image the way this one does. Next comes the price, which landed at double what Tesla first talked about, and then the design, which drew attention far more easily than it drew orders. As the controversies grew, those three together turned a hard sell into a much harder one. I don’t believe Tesla would give up that line if the truck were selling anywhere near the way Musk once predicted. Musk now says orders far outpace production. In my opinion, a last call will do that for almost anything, and a few months of farewell orders don’t erase the years of sales that came before them.
Tesla hit it with a sledgehammer on day one. The blows that counted never landed on the steel.
Frequently Asked Questions
When will Tesla wind down Cybertruck production?
Elon Musk now says production at Gigafactory Texas will continue through the end of summer 2027. He first said it would wind down around the middle of 2027. The next night, he said 8 or 9 more months, and on November 11 he extended production to work through more of the order backlog.
Is the Cybertruck dead?
Not yet. Tesla is still taking orders for the Cyberbeast, and Musk says production will continue through the end of summer 2027.
Can I still order a new Cybertruck?
Yes, but only the Cyberbeast. As of November 11, 2026, Tesla’s configurator lists it at $109,990. The Dual Motor All Wheel Drive, at $82,490, and the Premium All Wheel Drive, at $92,490, are still listed but can’t be ordered. Musk has said Tesla will have to return deposits for a lot of people, so not every order may turn into a truck.
Will my Cybertruck order be filled?
Not necessarily. Musk said on X that Tesla will build as many as possible but will have to return deposits for a lot of people. Tesla hasn’t said how it will decide which orders get built, so if you have one in, check your Tesla account for the latest delivery estimate.
Why is Tesla winding down Cybertruck production?
Musk says it’s to make room for more Cybercab production at Gigafactory Texas. In my opinion, weak sales are the real reason, and the largest factor behind them is the dislike many buyers have for Tesla’s CEO.
What happens to people who already own one?
Wes Morrill, Tesla’s Cybertruck lead engineer, said on X that Tesla will maintain spare parts and continue service support. Tesla hasn’t said for how long.
