Tesla Will Have To Refund Cybertruck Deposits, Musk Says

The automaker has more orders for the truck than it can build before production ends in mid-2027.

By: Anthony Alaniz

Nov 9, at 1:04pm ET

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Tesla announced last week that it plans to end Cybertruck production in mid-2027. While the electric truck never achieved Tesla’s sales promise, the automaker will likely have to return deposits to customers who never got their truck.

In a post on X, Tesla CEO Elon Musk wrote that the Cybertruck’s order rate exceeds the automaker’s production rate. He wrote:

‘We will try to make as many as possible before shutting down the line in about 8 months, but [sic] will have to return deposits for a lot of people.’

According to the executive, Tesla is not ending Cybertruck production because it’s "not profitable." Musk wrote in his post that the "opportunity cost of the complexity of Cybertruck is vastly outweighed by the value of incremental Cybercab production."

Big Promises, Big Letdown

Over three years ago, Musk said Tesla would make about 250,000 Cybertrucks a year in 2025, but the automaker never got close. Since deliveries began in late 2023, two years later than expected, Tesla has sold about 71,000 Cybertrucks.

Musk had also promised that the electric truck would have a $40,000 starting price, but that version never materialized. The cheapest Cybertruck you can buy today starts at over $80,000, but the price did briefly get as low as $60,000 earlier this year.

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What Will Tesla Produce Instead?

Tesla Cybercab

Photo by: Tesla

Tesla has already confirmed that it is shifting Cybertruck resources toward the Cybercab, the company’s two-seat autonomous taxi. The Cybertruck is the third model Tesla has canceled this year, following the Model S and Model X, which end production this year.

Tesla introduced the Cybercab in October 2024: a three-door, two-seat liftback with no driving controls. The Tesla lacks a steering wheel and pedals. The car's computer handles driving, with humans monitoring it.