Tesla Cybertruck is being "stopped".
On Friday morning, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced on X that production of this silver-colored, sharply designed electric pickup truck would be gradually reduced until "mid-next year." According to Cox Automotive data, over the past three years, this electric vehicle manufacturer has delivered a total of about 76,000 Cybertruck, which is far below the initially ambitious sales forecasts.
"This design has drawn a lot of attention," Cox Automotive, the Director of Industry Insights, told Business Insider. However, this unusual shape "has also narrowed its target audience."
Despite not having high sales figures, Cybertruck still occupies an important position in American culture and politics. Below are some of the most representative moments of this vehicle, reviewed in the form of pictures:
2019: Cybertruck makes its debut
In November 2019, Cybertruck made its debut to the world on a smoky stage at Tesla's design center in Hawthorne, California.
At that time, Musk predicted that the price of this pickup truck, inspired by "Blade Runner," would start at $39,900. He also stated that production of this vehicle would begin at the end of 2021, and Tesla hoped to offer three configurations with ranges of 250 miles, 300 miles, and 500 miles respectively.
2019: The broken window demonstration went awry.
At the press conference, Musk stated that the car's steel shell could withstand 9-millimeter pistol bullets. Subsequently, Tesla's chief designers Franz von Holzhausen threw a metal ball through the driver-side window to test its durability.
The car window shattered on the spot.
“Well, maybe I used a bit too much force that time,” Musk said, and then they decided to throw the ball through the rear window of the car in the back row – as a result, that window also shattered. “But it didn’t go through!”
Musk stated that after the event, 146,000 people paid $100 to reserve Cybertruck.
2019: Tug-of-War with Ford
In the days following its debut in 2019, Musk posted a tug-of-war video on X (then known as Twitter), which showed a confrontation between Tesla and Ford F-150, the best-selling pickup truck in the United States.
This performance was originally intended to showcase the formidable power of Cybertruck, but critics questioned whether it was fair: in the video, the rear wheels of F-150 were slipping, and some believed that Tesla put a four-wheel-drive Cybertruck against a two-wheel-drive Ford.
2021: Production delays, with a limited number of public appearances.
2023: Workers gathered around the first batch of Cybertruck
After a two-year delay, the mass-produced version of Cybertruck began to roll off the production lines at Tesla's factories in mid-2023.
2023: Cybertruck racing a Porsche against another Porsche
Tesla began delivering Cybertruck to its first batch of customers in November 2023.
During the delivery event, Tesla played a video showing Cybertruck competing in a drag race against a Porsche. In the end, this pickup truck, while towing the Porsche, crossed the finish line ahead of the German sports car.
Tesla did not specify against which Porsche model it was competing.
2023: Alexis Ohanian Pick up the car
Several buyers picked up their Cybertruck during a live delivery event, among whom the most well-known is Reddit, co-founder of Alexis Ohanian.
2024: Pharrell Williams Difficulty in finding parking spaces
In the months following its launch on Cybertruck, several well-known celebrities were spotted alongside this electric pickup truck, including Lady Gaga, Kim Kardashian, and Justin Bieber.
One of the most influential appearances by a celebrity came from Pharrell Williams.
The singer and songwriter, who also serves as the creative director for Louis Vuitton, was spotted in Miami in January 2024 having difficulty parking this huge pickup truck sideways, before it was finally taken over by a valet.
"That truck simply couldn't fit in there," an onlooker who witnessed the parking process at the time, Roxana Gonzalez, told Business Insider.
2024: Snowy driveways
Despite Musk's emphasis on the durability of Cybertruck, some videos that became popular online after its launch presented a completely different scenario.
2024: Recall begins
As of now, Cybertruck has been recalled 11 times.
In April 2024, Tesla recalled nearly 3,900 early-model vehicles due to loose accelerator pedal pads that could cause the vehicles to accelerate suddenly.
Subsequently, there were multiple rounds of recalls, including issues with the windshield wipers, loose exterior trim, delayed video from the rearview camera, potential loss of power, and body panels that could come off while the vehicle was in motion.
2025: Tesla Protests
With Donald Trump returning to the White House with strong support from Elon Musk, Cybertruck has also become a political symbol and has become culturally linked with MAGA.
In early 2025, as Elon Musk began to participate in government work in his public representative capacity of DOGE, protests started to appear outside Tesla stores. Cybertruck often became a part of the slogans on the protest signs.
2025: Cybertruck appears at the White House
On March 11, 2025, Trump turned the South Lawn of the White House into a Tesla exhibition hall.
He held a press conference standing in front of five car models alongside Elon Musk, including one Cybertruck; the president praised these cars and stated his plan to purchase a red Model S.
“It’s all about computers,” the president said as he got into this sedan. famously
This staged photo makes the political connections surrounding Tesla quite evident.
2025: Cooperation with SpaceX
Space exploration and artificial intelligence company SpaceX under Musk disclosed in a S-1 document submitted in May that the company spent $131 million to purchase Cybertruck from Tesla in 2025.
Calculated by the price of each bicycle, this is approximately equivalent to 1,200 to 1,800 vehicles.
