The Tesla Cybertruck is finally here in all its Joe Rogan bro glory. They keep getting stuck in the snow and don’t have anywhere near the range that was originally promised, but if you’ve got $120,000 to burn, you can let the world know that no amount of racism will stop you from giving Elon Musk your money. Unless you live in China, apparently. As it turns out, China probably won’t be getting the Cybertruck at all, even as production scales up.
This news comes after a Chinese Tesla fan (incidentally, the same guy who shared the video of a guy who added a physical control panel to his Model Y that upset a lot of touchscreen purists) posted about his belief that Tesla would bring the Cybertruck to China for display, claiming, “It would go viral on Chinese social media.” Musk replied saying, “Getting Cybertruck road legal in China would be very difficult, but we could ship some prototypes over for display.”
It’s not entirely clear what would make it so hard for Tesla to sell the Cybertruck in China, but it seems like the most likely reason is that it doesn’t meet the minimum safety standards that China requires. Maybe it’s too dangerous for occupants. Maybe it’s too dangerous for pedestrians. Maybe it’s too dangerous for both. China could have been a huge market for the Cybertruck, so if there wasn’t something inherent to the design holding Tesla back, you’d think it would be sold there.
If Tesla knows it will have problems getting the Cybertruck approved for sale in other markets, it should also probably concern us that it’s allowed to sell it here. Safety experts have already raised concerns about the lack of crumple zones and potential danger to pedestrians. And yet, it sounds like it will be a while before the IIHS or NHTSA get around to independently evaluating the Cybertruck’s safety. Which, again, seems bad. If the Cybertruck is on the road, shouldn’t we know how safe it really is?