Key takeaways
- Tesla emailed Cybertruck reservation holders in Australia and New Zealand that “plans to produce Cybertruck” there “have been discontinued.” Deposits of A$150 were taken from November 2019, almost seven years ago, and will be refunded within 30 days.
- Instead of an apology, Tesla offers one year of free FSD (Supervised) to holders who order a Model 3 or Model Y.
- My view: this is not normal business, it is cynicism. Seven years of promises, two lines in an email, and an offer to buy another promise.
Tesla has officially cancelled the Cybertruck for Australia and New Zealand. On October 23, the day after its Q3 2026 earnings, reservation holders received a short email: “After careful consideration, plans to produce Cybertruck for Australia and New Zealand have been discontinued. As a result, we’re unable to fulfil your reservation and it will be cancelled.”
Australians started paying A$150 deposits in November 2019, and Tesla has said tens of thousands of people reserved between 2019 and 2021. Tesla will refund the deposits within 30 days. As a consolation, holders who order a new Model 3 or Model Y instead get one year of FSD (Supervised) for free.
In this article: Seven years of “next year” · Free FSD instead of an apology · $39,900 became $80,000 · The biggest flop in Tesla’s lineup · When it ends, they won’t tell the truth · It is not about the money · Taking off the pink glasses · Think twice before the next reservation · FAQ
Seven years of “next year”
In May 2022, Tesla quietly closed the Australian reservation page and replaced it with a “Get updates” button. Nobody got a refund, and people kept waiting. In 2024, a Cybertruck toured Australia, and Elon Musk told shareholders: “We might be able to certify it for other markets sometime next year.” In March 2025, Tesla’s country director for Australia and New Zealand said he was “personally confident” it would come. In April he said: “I am not confident it’s coming, but we are discussing it.”
No, this is not normal business. Opening reservations, seven years of promises, and in the end saying “we are cancelling.” That is everything we see from Tesla and Elon: behavior and promises that almost never come true.
| Year | What happened |
|---|---|
| 2019 | Cybertruck unveiled at “$39,900”; Australians start paying A$150 deposits |
| 2022 | Australian reservation page quietly closed, no refunds |
| 2023 | US deliveries start, at a much higher price and with less range than promised |
| 2024 | Cybertruck tours Australia; Musk: certification for other markets “sometime next year” |
| 2025 | Tesla’s local director: “I am not confident it’s coming” |
| 2026 | Cancelled for Australia and New Zealand; deposits refunded |
Free FSD instead of an apology
That is already cynicism. We will not deliver your car, we are cancelling it, but if you buy another model, you get FSD free for a year. And as we all know, for Musk to collect his pay package, he needs about 10 million FSD subscribers. How is that not obvious here?
FSD is also only a promise that it will be fully autonomous, and in Europe it may never be. Still, people have paid for FSD for years and they still have nothing, as I wrote yesterday about Tesla’s FSD maps. The cynicism from Elon is mega big. Collecting money only for his own package, at any price. Yuck.
$39,900 became $80,000
In 2019, Musk promised a Cybertruck from $39,900. That Cybertruck never came. Today the dual-motor Cybertruck costs around $80,000 in the US, about double. In Australia, that would be roughly A$130,000 before on-road costs. And the truck that arrived in 2023 also came with less range than promised.
How many of the promises around the Cybertruck came true? I don’t even know anymore. We are getting lost in them. I think everyone can count for themselves how many promises were not kept.
The biggest flop in Tesla’s lineup
The Cybertruck is built only with the steering wheel on the left, and Australia, New Zealand, the UK and Japan need it on the right. It is still blocked in the EU, mainly over pedestrian safety. In Q3 2026, Tesla delivered 8,295 “other models,” a category that is now almost only the Cybertruck. Electrek estimates 7,000 to 8,000 Cybertrucks last quarter, a pace of about 30,000 a year, on a production line built for 250,000 a year. US sales have collapsed from about 39,000 in 2024.
It looks like this is the biggest flop of Tesla. I think next year we will only hear that the Cybertruck will not be produced at all. But again, he will tell some fairy tale. He will surely not say that the car has no future and nobody wants it.
When it ends, they won’t tell the truth
Will Tesla cancel the Cybertruck completely? It looks almost certain. That is normal when you build such a huge production line and in fact make only a fraction of what you expected. But I am sure that even if they cancel it, they will not tell the truth that it is a flop. They will only say they don’t have some parts, and that is why they decided to cancel it, so the investors don’t get scared.
This company is too much of a money collector, and Elon knows only one language: the language of when he sees the company starting to lose value.
It is not about the money
The deposits will be refunded, so people lost nothing? Here it is not really about the money. People paid a few dollars, that is not so scary. But how the company behaves toward them is bad. They just cancelled it, and nothing, not even an apology for seven years of waiting. Nothing. Only the opposite: so that they don’t lose more money, buy another model and get FSD, which they also keep only promising.
Taking off the pink glasses
This shows exactly that for so many years we wore pink glasses and believed everything Musk told us. But I am glad that we are slowly taking off those pink glasses, and we already see that in fact it is just another rumor from Elon, and just “give me money.” It is the same story as the Roadster, with reservations since 2017.
Think twice before the next reservation
What does it say about other reservations, like the Roadster or the Cybercab? I will say only one thing: people must be careful now and not support Musk by paying him only for reservations and promises. Companies are going too far with subscriptions and paid reservations. And in Tesla’s case, we pay only for promises we wait years for.
Also on Evolt News: Tesla Q3 2026 earnings: a factory of promises · Tesla and SpaceX merger
Photo: Daniel L. Lu (Dllu), CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
This article is opinion.
Tesla Cybertruck Australia: FAQ
Did Tesla cancel the Cybertruck in Australia?
Yes. On October 23, 2026, Tesla emailed reservation holders in Australia and New Zealand that plans to produce the Cybertruck there have been discontinued and that their reservations will be cancelled.
Will Australian Cybertruck deposits be refunded?
Yes. Tesla says reservation holders will get a full refund of their A$150 deposits within 30 days.
What is Tesla offering Cybertruck reservation holders?
Holders who order a new Model 3 or Model Y instead get one year of FSD (Supervised) for free.
Why won’t the Cybertruck come to Australia?
The Cybertruck is built only in left-hand drive. Australia and New Zealand need right-hand drive and local certification, and Cybertruck sales are far below what Tesla planned.
How much did Tesla promise the Cybertruck would cost?
In 2019, Tesla said the Cybertruck would start at $39,900. Today the dual-motor version costs around $80,000 in the US.
Sources: Electrek, The Driven, EV Central, 24/7 Wall St.
Our Take
Tesla cancelled the Cybertruck for Australia and New Zealand after almost seven years of deposits, with two lines in an email and a free year of FSD for buying another car. For me, that is not business, it is cynicism.
The money comes back, but the trust does not. Before you pay for the next Tesla reservation, think twice.
