Australians holding out for a Cybertruck just got their answer, and it's a hard no. Tesla has told reservation holders in Australia and New Zealand that after "careful consideration," it has abandoned plans to build a right-hand-drive Cybertruck, canceling all preorders and promising full refunds within 30 days, EV Central reports. Those who had deposits down are being offered a free year of Full Self-Driving (Supervised) if they buy a new Model 3 or Model Y instead.
The move ends a nearly seven-year saga that began when locals could reserve the electric pickup for $150 Australian, around $150 US, in 2019. Tesla never gave an official reason beyond Friday's email to customers, but the business case was long questioned: Australia would likely have been the only right-hand-drive market, and the roughly $80,000 US price tag would have translated to a steep ask in a small segment. Sales in the US have been far below Elon Musk's predictions, leading Bloomberg to declare in July that the Cybertruck was on the way to becoming the "greatest automotive flop of all time," Drive notes.
Tweaks to comply with Australian pedestrian protection regulations were also an issue, though Tesla Australia and New Zealand country director Drew Ward said last year that he was "personally confident" that the Cybertruck would arrive in Australia as early as 2026. Tesla has said tens of thousands of Australians placed reservations between 2019 and 2021, EV Central reports, though many later sought refunds. Drive reports that if people who had paid $150 for reservations in Nov. 2019 had spent the money on Tesla stock instead, it would now be worth $2530 Australian, almost $1780 US.
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