The Electric Pickup Dream Is Fading — Cybertruck Is the Segment’s Latest Casualty

Tesla’s move to discontinue its Cybertruck next year is perhaps the highest-profile flameout in a category that automakers had once hyped: huge electric pickups. Tesla CEO Elon Musk said in a social media post on Saturday that the automaker would ramp up Cybertruck production at its Austin, Texas, factory to meet an order backlog before dismantling the assembly line around June or July 2027.

Sales of Tesla’s stainless-steel, angular truck — once described by MotorTrend as having a “stealth-bomber-refrigerator design theme” — sagged 28% this year through September, to about 11,600 trucks, according to an estimate from research firm Motor Intelligence. That sales pace is far off the 250,000-truck annual level Musk once predicted. Even SpaceX, Musk’s other big company, bought Cybertrucks worth $131 million from Tesla at list price last year, according to a federal regulatory filing — a sale that flattered the numbers.

The wind-down would allow Tesla to produce more Cybercab robotaxis, which have yet to be sold commercially. The Cybertruck also carries a troubled record: 11 recalls since customer deliveries began in late 2023, according to NHTSA, and a November 5 price rise that pushed the Premium AWD to $92,490 while pausing orders for the entry Dual Motor version.

The rest of the industry is reading the same numbers and going smaller. Ford’s focus is now on a smaller electric pickup, the Fathom, which it plans to roll out late next year. The lesson of the electric pickup boom is becoming clear: buyers want trucks that are affordable and practical, not enormous and expensive — and the segment’s future is smaller, cheaper, and more like a regular truck.