Why people love — and love to hate — Tesla's Cybertruck

Few vehicles in modern history have elicited as much consumer excitement and loathing in their first year on the market than the Tesla Cybertruck.

Ever since Elon Musk unveiled the Cybertruck in 2019 and declared, "It's not going to be for everyone," people have debated whether the eclectic pickup truck's hulking design is ugly or stylish. That divide has only intensified since Cybertrucks began rolling off the assembly lines in November of last year.

"Man does a cybertruck ever look dumb up close," Blake Murphy wrote last week in a message posted to Blue Sky.

"I think it is so cute," Sheila Elgaard, a resident of Foster City, Calif., told the San Francisco Standard. "I just think this design is futuristic. I want one."

Buying a Cybertruck isn't cheap — they're about $100,000, depending on the trim. Still, in the third quarter of this year, they were the third most purchased EV in the country, according to the Kelley Blue Book.

“Despite a six-figure price tag — average transaction price in September was north of $116,000, according to Kelley Blue Book estimates — more than 16,000 Cybertrucks were sold in Q3,” the Kelley Blue Book said. “In fact, Cybertruck outsold every other available EV except for two — Tesla’s popular Model Y and Model 3.”

But there are signs that the interest in Cybertrucks could be waning. The average time that it takes a dealer to sell a Cybertruck on a lot has risen from 27 days in May to 75 days in November, Reuters reported. And in another sign of falling sales, the number of new Cybertrucks registered in the U.S. fell from 5,428 in the month of August to 4,039 in October.

The politics of Cybertruck ownership

To be sure, Cybertrucks are more than just a means of transportation. They are, as the New York Times described it in a headline, "A Culture War on Wheels."

In August, online streamer Aidin Ross gifted Donald Trump a customized Cybertruck and a gold Rolex watch.

“I think it’s incredible,” Trump said of the Tesla.

Given Musk’s own full-throated, deep-pocketed support of Trump’s reelection bid, the angular design quickly became synonymous with MAGA values, and Musk’s role in the new administration has further solidified that association.

Not all Cybertruck owners are comfortable with their vehicle being seen as a tacit endorsement of the next president. In Berkeley, Calif., this reporter spotted a Cybertruck with the words “F*ck Trump!” printed on the rear door.

In June, 34 Cybertucks stored in a public parking lot in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., were vandalized with the spray-painted message "F*ck Elon," according to a local news outlet.

On an online Cybertruck owners forum, an anonymous poster from Pennsylvania relayed their mixed feelings about their vehicle.

“I’m really tempted to sell because of all the attention, criticism, assumptions, and even aggressive drivers targeting me on the highway,” the poster wrote in a thread titled “Love the truck, hate the opinions.”

Recalls

According to the National Highway Transportation Safety Board, Tesla has issued seven different recalls for the Cybertruck over the past year. Those have included fixes for issues such as a loss of drive power, a front windshield wiper failure and a faulty rearview camera.

The NHTSB launched two investigations of the Cybertruck in 2024, including one based on reports of crashes in areas with “reduced roadway visibility conditions.”

Following a Cybertruck crash in November in Piedmont, Calif., that killed three young people after the vehicle crashed into a tree and then burst into flames, the NHTSB said it was gathering information from Tesla and police.

A newdesign in the old world

While Cybertrucks are all-electric vehicles whose adoption could help cut carbon emissions responsible for climate change, their enormous size and weight are harder on roadways and pose a threat to other motorists, cyclists and pedestrians, according to experts.

In Europe, where regulations restrict the registration of large, angular vehicles in many cities, Cybertrucks are not a common sight.

"Cybertrucks present acute dangers and don't meet European standards," James Nix, of the nonprofit Transport & Environment, wrote in a letter this summer to the European Commission and officials in the Czech Republic. "To protect other road users, we've asked the minister to suspend the Cybertruck from public streets."