The end of the breakdown car?: Tesla stops production of the Cybertruck in Texas

The launch of the Cybertruck is accompanied by many glitches. The design is laughed at, but at the same time Elon Musk proves how easily destructible the vehicle's actually robust armored glass is. Now the end of the Cybertruck could have come.

The US electric car manufacturer Tesla will stop producing the Cybertruck at its Texas factory in the middle of next year. This is intended to free up capacity for the construction of the Robotaxis Cybercab, company boss and billionaire Elon Musk announced on Platform X. It initially remained unclear whether the Cybertruck would continue to be built in another factory or whether it would be completely removed from the range. Tesla could not immediately be reached for comment. The end of the Cybertruck comes immediately after the Democrats' election victory in the previously deeply red US state.

Tesla had positioned the futuristic Cybertruck as a competitor to the pickup trucks from Ford and General Motors (GM), which are particularly popular in the USA. However, due to its controversial design, among other things, this flatbed truck failed to gain acceptance. Tesla is also struggling with quality problems and has had to recall vehicles several times.

The Cybertruck's long list of breakdowns

As soon as the car was introduced, it caused ridicule. At the unveiling in 2019, chief designer Franz von Holzhausen threw a steel ball at the side windows, causing them to shatter. Holzhausen actually wanted to show how robust the bulletproof glass panes are. According to Elon Musk, the faux pas was due to previous hits with a sledgehammer on the driver's door.

But it was far from the only mishap. One of the most dangerous: In 2024, almost 4,000 trucks had to go back to the workshop because the accelerator pedal could get stuck. The car manufacturers had illegally used soap as a lubricant during assembly, which meant there was a risk of the cover slipping off. A short time later, 11,700 of the vehicles had to be repaired because the windshield wipers were not working properly and the drivers were literally left out in the rain. Then about 46,000 vehicles were recalled due to body parts flying off and there were reports of faulty headlights (set too bright) and a laggy backup camera.

In the USA, the Cybertruck costs between $60,000 and $100,000. Recently he had to contend with a sharp drop in demand. The car is not officially registered in Germany and is not even sold in this country.