There’s no denying it, the long-delayed launch of the Cybertruck has been a sales success for Tesla. The angular behemoth has become one of the best-selling six-figure cars and it’s now the third-best-selling electric vehicle in America. That impressive run could be coming to an end, however, as it sounds like Tesla may have reached the bottom of its reservation list.
During the third quarter of 2024, Tesla sold more than 16,000 Cybertrucks here in America. This added to the more than 11,000 Cybertrucks that were shipped by Tesla in the first half of the year. For less than a year of deliveries on a car that starts around $100,000, that isn’t too shabby.
While more than 27,000 Cybertrucks sold is not to be sniffed at, it’s somewhat lower than the lofty ambitions Tesla had for the truck prior to its launch. Before finally commencing deliveries of the Cybertruck, Tesla executives claimed they had more than 1 million reservations, or close to two million reservations, depending on who you asked.
Now, it looks like Tesla may be reaching the end of its waiting list, as new buyers can reportedly pick up a brand new Cybertruck much sooner than they might expect, according to a report from Inside EVs. Despite claiming to have more than 1 million reservations for the truck, Cybertrucks can now be picked up almost immediately regardless of when you place your order:
Users are pointing out that reservation holders are not only getting their trucks sooner than expected but that those who go to order a truck now are often being directed to buy the non-Foundation Series trucks that were only available at launch.
“I say confirmed because [Tesla is] now inviting someone like me, who reserved eight months after launch/first customer deliveries, to order and take delivery of a regular (non-Foundation) Cybertruck within 60 days,” one forum user wrote. “Unless I am some special case (not), all the people on the reservation waiting list of ‘over 1 million’ or ‘almost 2 million’ (depending on who was speaking) that were there [in] Nov. 2023 have been invited for both Foundation and non-Foundation Series. And they are past that group and onto people like me who ordered only a few months ago.”
The user added, with some speculation, “The multi-year pre-launch backlog has dissipated before the first year was out.”
The discussion has been a hot topic over on the Cybertruck Owners Forum, where buyers and reservation holders have chimed in with their own two cents on the issue. One owner, who took delivery of a Foundation Series truck earlier this year, had a second truck offered up shortly after, despite “thinking i’d have to wait a couple of yrs” for the second truck.
Some did speculate that reservation holders may, instead, be waiting for the “right time” to pick up their Cybertruck, as forum user Igs added:
Nope. The reservations will still exist until Tesla refunds them. There are still hundreds of thousands of reservations that haven’t been filled yet as the holders wait for the right time, or the right price. A reservation holder will always have priority over a non-reservation holder. And if you reserved with FSD, the price of FSD will be locked in.
Meanwhile, people without reservations are already ordering and taking deliveries.
If those reservation holders are waiting out for a more affordable model of the Cybertruck, they may be waiting some time. Despite promising that the Cybertruck would start at $39,900, the electric pickup now retails at close to $100,000 after Tesla killed off its base RWD Cybertruck, which was meant to sell for $60,990.
Additionally, there’s the issue of overseas reservation holders. As it stands, Tesla can only sell the ridiculous truck in the U.S. with ambitions to bring it to Canada soon. European Tesla fans will be waiting much longer to get their hands on the truck, as sensible people across the Atlantic have pedestrian safety standards that the truck will probably fail.