It’s time to say goodbye to the ol’ “Incel Camino,” aka the “Deplorean,” aka the Tesla Cybertruck. Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced on X Thursday night that the company would wind down production of the electric sort-of-truck, with production ending in 2027.
The Cybertruck has proven highly polarizing since its debut in Los Angeles in 2019, and has never been a big seller for Tesla since it entered production in 2023. Musk claims the production capacity currently going to the Cybertruck will be redirected to the Tesla Cybercab.
Why It’s Going
Before Cybertruck production began, Musk claimed Tesla would sell 250,000 a year and that it would become a critical part of the brand’s business going forward. Like many of his claims, that sales number would never bear fruit. Tesla is believed to have sold only tens of thousands of Cybertrucks over its entire production run. Given how much money, time, and effort were spent on things like the ill-considered stainless steel body and absolutely not bulletproof windows, this early demise has to sting more than a little for Musk.
Tesla is at an interesting crossroads right now. With the advent of its Cybercab, it made its first real push toward becoming an AI and robotics company rather than a car company, a move that the company clearly thinks will lead to continued profit.
The Cybercab clearly signals that purpose.
Of course, Tesla’s “Full Self-Driving” system, on which the Cybercab’s technology is based, was never actually was able to achieve true level 4 or 5 autonomy. That means operating entirely without human supervision, even in a geo-fenced area, according to the Society of Automotive Engineers’ definition.
So we have our suspicions about how successful that venture will be. Especially since Tesla remains committed to using a camera-only sensor package to achieve autonomy, rather than a whole suite of sensors like lidar, radar, ultrasonic, etc.
An Ouroboros of Disappointment
The Cybertruck turned out to be just the latest vehicle in the classic Tesla cycle of disappointment.
You know what I’m talking about: Musk makes wild claims about capabilities and timelines, the public goes crazy, paid reservations come in, deadlines get blown for years, a watered-down version of the product hits the market, and then the whole thing repeats.
It’s almost a tradition by now.
In other cases, such as with the Model 3, the product that was promised never really got delivered, and certainly not for the promised price. But it was still a good car. The Cybertruck couldn’t even make that claim.
It’s massive, hard to see out of, lacks practicality as a truck, isn’t especially efficient, requires a massive, resource-intensive battery pack, and has body panels that tried to chop people’s fingers off. The stainless body’s finish is easily damaged and hard to repair. And it’s absolutely useless as an off-road vehicle, with it being famously flummoxed by obstacles such as a quarter-inch of mud or a light dusting of snow.
An Ugly Reminder
Beyond the practical reasons it’s bad, the Cybertruck also came to symbolize a particularly ugly period in American history, one in which Elon Musk was deeply entangled.
His Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) cost tens of thousands of government employees their jobs. That includes the park rangers who take care of the wild places in this country that mean a lot to folks like us. Musk also led DOGE’s efforts to shutter USAID, which had tragic consequences.
While some folks will doubtless be sorry to see the Tesla Cybertruck go — we aren’t among them.
