RIP Cybertruck. You Were Unloved, Unwanted, and Utterly Absurd

Tesla plans to wind down Cybertruck production at its Texas factory around the middle of next year, freeing capacity for the Cybercab, the autonomous vehicle at the center of Elon Musk’s robotaxi ambitions. The announcement closes a short, contentious run for a pickup that drew more than a million claimed reservations but sold fewer than 50,000 vehicles in total by March last year. US sales fell 28 percent year over year in the first three quarters of this year, to 11,586. The shutdown announcement followed a price increase and a pause in orders for the entry-level model, though Tesla has not clarified whether production will end altogether.

The case against the Cybertruck is a mix of weak demand, safety problems, and a design that made it difficult to build. A leaked 2022 report flagged issues with suspension, sealing, noise, handling, and braking; later recalls addressed an accelerator pedal that could jam, loose body trim, potentially detached wheels, and cracked brake-rotor components. Its stainless-steel body required specialized machinery at one factory and reportedly rusted in some cases. The truck’s failures began publicly with its shattered “unbreakable” windows at its 2019 unveiling, and recalls eventually made it rank worse than most 2024 vehicles. Despite a devoted minority of owners, the piece portrays the Cybertruck as an overhyped, unreliable misfire. Musk instead frames it as a technology platform whose legacy will continue in the Cybercab, itself still at an early stage of deployment.