Tesla was on top of the world in November of 2019 when the Cybertruck was first unveiled. It promised otherworldly aesthetics, best-in-class everything, and a bargain-basement price tag that seemed impossible. As it turns out, five years later when the vehicle finally hit regular production, almost all of that was, in fact, impossible. The specs didn’t align with what people were promised, and the price was almost double what had been promoted.
In spite of the company getting allegedly over a million deposits for potential Cybertruck owners, Tesla admitted that it has basically delivered a Cybertruck to everyone who wanted one less than a year after the first truck left the factory. Only about 27,000 trucks were delivered in the first three quarters of 2024, and just like that demand is sated. Tesla is slowing production and freezing the assembly line for hours or days at a time. Yes, the Cybertruck has outsold all of the other electric pickups on the market, but that’s probably a sign that pickup buyers don’t want EVs and EV buyers don’t want pickups.
In part, Elon and his heel-turn jabroni followers have turned the Cybertruck into the token sculpture of the current culture war. It’s difficult to get excited about this poorly assembled monstrosity that looks like a dorky dumpster.
