Musk Says Tesla Will Refund Many Cybertruck Deposits
Elon Musk said Tesla will end Cybertruck production in about 8 months and return deposits to many buyers. What is known about the $1,000 deposits.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk said many people who put down a deposit on a Cybertruck will not get one. In a post on Nov. 9, reported by Yahoo Finance, Musk said orders come in faster than Tesla can build the truck, the company will keep producing as many as it can until it shuts the line in about 8 months, and it “will have to return deposits for a lot of people.”
How many deposits will be refunded was not disclosed.
What Tesla has announced
Musk’s post followed an announcement reported on Nov. 6. Tesla will wind down Cybertruck production at its Texas factory, Giga Austin, around the middle of next year. The space is meant to make room for more output of the Cybercab, the company’s robotaxi.
Musk also argued that the complexity of building the Cybertruck costs more than it is worth next to the value of producing additional Cybercabs.
The numbers behind the truck
Each Cybertruck deposit is $1,000, according to Yahoo Finance. Tesla built Giga Austin with annual Cybertruck capacity of 250,000 units.
Actual sales have been far below that. Cox Automotive’s Kelley Blue Book estimated total Cybertruck sales since the truck launched in 2023 at 71,000.
Musk had described strong demand before the latest post. On Tesla’s Oct. 21 earnings call, he said demand for the company’s vehicles was growing quickly and running ahead of production by a significant margin, according to the reports.
Why it matters for Cybertruck reservation holders
People with a reservation are the ones affected most directly. Tesla has not said which deposits will be returned, in what order, or when, and the number of trucks it can still build before the line stops has not been given. Buyers who hold a $1,000 deposit are left waiting for details from the company.
The wind-down also ends one of Tesla’s three pickup-era production plans at the Texas plant in favor of the robotaxi, which has not yet reached the sales volume the truck’s factory capacity was built for.
What to watch next
The production line is expected to close in about 8 months, around the middle of next year. Details on how Tesla will process deposit refunds, and how many reservations it will fill before then, have not been announced.
Sources: 24/7 Wall St., Yahoo Finance
