Just days after announcing the Cybertruck's production would end in mid-2027, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has extended the timeline, giving the polarising electric pickup a few more months of life to clear a growing order backlog.
A Timeline in Flux
In a rapid series of announcements,
Elon Musk confirmed that Tesla will now continue building the Cybertruck 'through the end of summer 2027'. This news comes shortly after his initial statement that production at the Giga Texas factory would wind down around the middle of the year. That first announcement triggered a surge in orders, prompting Musk to warn that demand was far exceeding the production rate and that Tesla would 'have to return deposits for a lot of people'. The new, slightly extended deadline is an attempt to work through more of that backlog, though it is not yet clear if all orders will be fulfilled. Musk framed the extension as a decision based on feeling, stating, 'there must be some room in this world for sentimentality or what's the point?'.
Pivoting to the Cybercab
The primary reason for ending the Cybertruck's run is strategic: Tesla is pivoting to prioritize its next major project, the autonomous Cybercab robotaxi. Musk has stated that while the Cybertruck is not unprofitable, the 'opportunity cost' of its complexity is 'vastly outweighed by the value of incremental Cybercab production'. The company plans to repurpose the Cybertruck assembly space in Texas to ramp up output of the two-seater autonomous vehicle, which is central to Tesla's future as a 'transportation-as-a-service' provider. This shift leaves Tesla's consumer vehicle lineup, by late 2027, focused on the Model 3 and Model Y, which launched in 2017 and 2020, respectively.
The Manufacturing Challenge
From its inception, the Cybertruck has been a manufacturing anomaly. Its body is not stamped from conventional automotive steel but is a structural exoskeleton made of 'ultra-hard 30X cold-rolled stainless steel'. This material, while resistant to dents and corrosion, is notoriously difficult to work with. Its hardness and thickness—about 3mm compared to the typical 0.7mm of car panels—makes it extremely difficult to form into complex curves. This limitation is the direct reason for the Cybertruck's angular, flat-planed design; the material simply cannot be deeply stamped without cracking or breaking the machinery. These production challenges have plagued the vehicle since its four-year journey from its 2019 reveal to its first deliveries in late 2023.
A History of Production Woes
The path to production has been anything but smooth. The infamous 2019 reveal, where the truck's 'unbreakable' windows shattered on stage, was a sign of the difficulties to come. Since its 2023 launch, the vehicle has been subject to an unusually high number of recalls, with issues including stainless-steel body panels detaching due to failing adhesive. Sales have also fallen well short of initial projections. Musk once predicted annual volumes of 250,000 trucks, but total deliveries since launch are estimated to be around 63,000. To simplify the final production run, Tesla has stopped taking orders for lower-priced trims, leaving only the top-tier 'Cyberbeast' available for a starting price of over $100,000.
