Tesla’s stainless-steel moonshot gets a lower rung and a trimmed flagship as sales crater — a clear bid to turn attention into actual orders
Reginald Mathalone/NurPhoto via Getty Images
The Cybertruck was supposed to be a product that would somehow sell itself — stainless-steel swagger, a silhouette that looks like it was designed with a protractor, and a name that dared you to try to take it seriously. Now, Tesla $TSLA is doing the most Tesla thing possible, trying to move more of them by making the whole proposition less exclusive.
This week, Tesla added a new dual-motor all-wheel-drive Cybertruck priced at $59,990, with the usual fine print that the number “does not include Destination and Order Fees,” putting the starting price at $62,235 once those are included. CEO Elon Musk amplified the launch with a familiar pressure tactic, quote-tweeting, “Only for the next 10 days.”
The new-price Cybertruck lands $20,000 below Tesla’s “Premium All-Wheel Drive” Cybertruck, listed at $79,990. That’s a deliberate rung in the price ladder, aimed at the buyer who likes the stainless-steel statement but flinches at the stainless-steel invoice.
The pricing gymnastics show up in the sales math.
According to Cox Automotive’s Kelley Blue Book EV sales report, U.S. Cybertruck sales fell to 20,237 in 2025 from 38,965 in 2024, a 48.1% drop. The fourth quarter was uglier: Q4 2025 sales came in at 4,140 Cybertrucks versus 12,991 a year earlier.
This Cybertruck may be the “most affordable yet," but it still sits far above the sub-$40,000 starting price that was once floated years ago. It’s a meme of affordability: a $60,000 truck marketed like a breakthrough.
The new “cheaper” trim is also a bit of a repositioning. Tesla’s own specs list an estimated 325 miles of range, a 0–60 mph time of 4.1 seconds, and a towing capacity of 7,500 pounds, with ground clearance listed at 10 inches. Higher trims keep the more truck-brag numbers: 11,000 pounds of towing and 16 inches of clearance “in Extract Mode.” It seems that the Cybertruck is being nudged away from “apocalypse accessory” and toward “electric pickup that might actually haul something.”
Same angular body. Interior materials dialed back. Heating features reduced. Utility add-ons such as the powered tonneau cover and bed power kept in place so the truck still feels like a truck. The trims are being rationalized, not reinvented.
Meanwhile, Tesla also cut the price of the tri-motor Cyberbeast to $99,990 from $114,990, and appears to be discontinuing a “Luxe Package” that had included supervised Full Self-Driving and free Supercharger access.
There’s a reason Tesla has to do this dance. The cuts come as Tesla faces sluggish pickup demand after multiple recalls and quality issues, and the company is still in the awkward middle phase where the Cybertruck is famous and recognizable (for better or worse) but not even close to ubiquitous. (Being controversial doesn’t help.) Tesla wants the cultural trophy and the unit volume, and those two goals rarely share a parking spot.
If the 10-day price window sticks as a tactic, it’s a signal Tesla is still probing elasticity — how many buyers are out there who like the Cybertruck, just not at the old price. If it works, the countdown will quietly disappear. If it doesn’t, expect more trimming, more bundling tricks, and more “limited-time” urgency — because nothing says confidence like a sale that needs a timer.
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