Tesla to end Cybertruck production in Texas in 2027 for Cybercab build

Tesla will stop building the Cybertruck at Gigafactory Texas around the middle of 2027, with the space going to higher-volume Cybercab production, Elon Musk said on X. The Cybertruck is assembled only in Texas, and Musk did not say whether output would move to another Tesla plant.

Wes Morrill, who was lead engineer on the Cybertruck project, wrote on X that the truck was "an incredible technology platform" that "lives on through Cybercab". He also told an owner that Tesla will keep spare parts stocked and continue service support.

Why Tesla is clearing space for the Cybercab

The Cybercab is Tesla's fully autonomous two-seat taxi, with scissor doors and no steering wheel. It was unveiled in 2024, shown in production form this September, and began limited paid public rides in Austin, Texas, the same month. Musk is placing large bets on driverless vehicles and robotics, and that has already cost the Model S sedan and Model X SUV their places in the range, while a long-rumoured smaller Tesla never arrived.

Tesla has not announced what, if anything, will replace the Cybertruck in its lineup. The sources here name no direct successor: the pickup's Texas line is being handed to the Cybercab, and the Cybertruck itself is described as living on through that platform rather than through a new truck. Whether a second pickup or a redesigned Cybertruck follows has not been confirmed.

Sales fell far short of Musk's targets

Musk once floated annual Cybertruck sales of 250,000, possibly rising to 500,000. Cox Automotive estimates put US sales at 11,586 in the first nine months of 2026, down 28 percent on the same period in 2025, and 2025 output was itself 48.1 percent below the prior year's sales. Total sales are believed to be around 71,000 over almost three years, with nearly 20 percent of fourth-quarter 2025 output going to businesses owned by Musk.

The gap between promise and reality is the clearest explanation for the decision. A model that was meant to be a high-volume pillar of Tesla's range has become a low-volume niche build, and the factory space it occupies is worth more to Tesla filled with Cybercabs.

A polarising truck with a price that climbed

The Cybertruck's stainless steel, angular body divided opinion from the start. Musk had promised a base single-motor, rear-wheel-drive truck at $39,900, but the production vehicle arrived with a sticker around 50 percent higher. The launch range was all-wheel drive only, starting at $62,380 including $1,390 destination and reaching $101,290 for the 845 hp (857 PS / 630 kW) triple-motor Cyberbeast. A cheaper single-motor Cybertruck at $71,985 was added in April 2025 but was dropped only months later as sales stayed weak.

Owners have also faced quality campaigns, including recalls for exterior trim detaching at speed, accelerator pedals sticking down (a particular concern in the Cyberbeast) and windshield wiper failure. For buyers weighing a Cybertruck now, the end of Texas production sharpens the question of resale value and parts supply, which is why Morrill's assurance that service and spares will continue matters more than usual.

Electric cars record more tyre defects at MOT than petrol cars of the same age, according to research by analyst New Automotive, which examined 1.6 million EV tests and 17.9 million tests of combustion-engined cars.

For every 1,000 MOT tests on cars three to eight years old, about 26 EVs had tread below the legal limit, compared with 18 petrol cars, and cuts reaching the cords appeared in roughly 30 EV tests against 14 petrol cars.

Specialist rubber and the cost trade-off

EV-specific tyres generally offset the extra wear from weight and torque, Molden said, but they carry a premium of up to 50% over normal combustion-car tyres in round numbers. The bigger problem, he argued, is fitting heavy, high-torque cars with tyres unsuited to them, which can double wear rates.

That matters for buyers weighing running costs: the fuel and servicing savings of electric driving are partly eaten by faster tyre replacement, and the penalty lands hardest on owners who fit the cheapest rubber.

Emissions and a chemical blind spot

Faster wear does not translate directly into more airborne pollution, Andersson said, because a tyre with higher overall wear does not necessarily generate proportionally more particle pollution.

Upcoming Euro 7 abrasion standards will push manufacturers toward longer-lasting compounds, which Molden said will affect the toxicity of the particles produced. Prashant Kumar, a University of Surrey professor studying air pollution and health, said tyre-wear particles can contain metals and chemicals whose long-term health impact is not well understood, with larger fragments washed away by rain but finer particles able to become airborne. The BTMA said changes to materials or product design go through extensive technical evaluation and scrutiny.

On carbon, Molden said around two billion end-of-life tyres are discarded globally each year and that making more tyres adds CO2, but this does not erase an EV's life-cycle advantage of approximately 50%, excluding the tyres themselves. Tyres typically last about two years, he added, so going through them faster cannot negate the benefit of electrification.

What the industry is developing

Continental has developed a compound for Volkswagen's new streamliner with rolling resistance around 25% below the level needed for an A rating under the EU energy-efficiency label, and the tyres will influence its next-generation EV compounds. Citroen's 2CV project uses digital twin technology that monitors laden weight, temperature and pressures to simulate the tyre and adjust the car's behaviour, for example ramping up stability control in low-grip conditions.

For drivers, the practical takeaway is unglamorous: check pressures and tread regularly, since the evidence suggests neglect, not electrification alone, is doing much of the damage.