The Cybertruck is heading toward that shiny cyber dumpster in the sky, leaving people who have built online identities around Elon Musk’s polarizing pickup truck feeling helpless. Usually, Musk’s fan base treads lightly when it comes to their idol’s mercurial decisions. This time, however, the truck’s disappearance sparked a backlash within the Tesla community – aimed directly at the man who signed his death warrant.
Troy Meekhof, who posts on many social platforms under the nickname “The Cybertruck Guy,” expressed his disappointment with Musk’s decision to end production of the Cybertruck by the end of summer 2027. (The original plan was to begin reducing production in the spring, but Musk later decided to extend it for a few months.)
In a 33-minute video on YouTube, Meekhof claims that Tesla never fully committed to making the Cybertruck a success, citing a lack of advertising, confusing pricing changes and the decision to change direction before the truck could fully establish itself in the market.
“It feels like they didn’t try to make the Cybertruck a success,” he said.
He also had some choice words to explain Musk’s reasons for ending the Cybertruck short term to make room for Giga Texas for the fully autonomous Cybercab: “Canceling all of your best products… in favor of an autonomous platform that remains constrained by both software and regulation… seems like an absolutely terrible idea,” Meekhof said.
The Cybertruck wasn’t the only Tesla product to meet an untimely end – at least according to those who had stakes (and often stock options) in the company’s success. Earlier this year, Tesla discontinued the Model S and Model X, two of its flagship vehicles. With the end of the Cybertruck, Tesla only has the Model 3 and Model Y as vehicles you can actually buy. (The Semi is strictly a utility vehicle, while the Cybercab’s availability as a consumer product remains questionable at best.)
“Canceling Cybertruck after all the years of being in production to ‘make room for the CyberCab’ is a lame excuse,” wrote @TeslaXplored on
He added: “Very sad what happened to Tesla over the last 5 years. »
Meanwhile, at least one major parts company is offering to step in and take over. Unplugged Performance, which makes aftermarket accessories, said it would produce the Cybertruck and other vehicles on the licensed truck platform, with investors funding the effort: “Is it worth talking about?”
Musk, for his part, seems less interested in disputing the details of Cybertruck production and more determined to sell a vision of Tesla’s future centered on the Cybercab and humanoid robots. “The Cybercab will carry the majority of all passenger miles in all jurisdictions where it is not prohibited by law,” Musk wrote on X earlier this week. “Obvious to anyone with eyes and a brain.”
He also pushed back against claims that the Cybertruck was killed because it was unprofitable. “The order rate for the Cybertruck far exceeds our production rate,” Musk said. “We’ll try to make as many as possible before we close the line in about 8 months, but we’ll have to return a lot of people’s deposits.”
Certainly, sales of the Cybertruck have been disappointing across its entire production run. Musk initially speculated that Tesla could sell between 250,000 and 500,000 Cybertrucks per year, but the actual numbers are much lower than those projections. Last year, Tesla is estimated to have sold around 20,000 trucks; the company is on track to sell less than that this year.
It remains to be seen whether Musk’s autonomous utopia will come true or eventually join the Cybertruck in the vaporware graveyard. For now, the stainless steel wedge that was supposed to be the ultimate symbol of an indestructible future has become a monument to Musk’s shifting focus — and a stark reminder to Tesla’s most loyal promoters that in Elon’s world, nothing should be taken for granted.
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