Elon Musk ‘goes back on his word’, Tesla increases electric pickup truck price

Despite promising to keep the Cybertruck at $40,000, the pickup has now doubled in price.

On August 22, Tesla raised the price of its top-of-the-line Cybertruck pickup truck by $15,000 in the US, despite disappointing sales and repeated recalls.

The surge comes after a delayed launch, when the Cybertruck fell short of initial promises. Current sales are well below Tesla’s expectations.

The Cyberbeast version is currently priced at $ 114,990 , with the “Luxe Package” including Supervised Full Self-Driving system and free access to the Supercharger network. Prices for other Cybertruck versions remain the same.

That price is significantly higher than CEO Elon Musk ‘s 2019 promise that the Cybertruck would start around $40,000 . When it launches in late 2023, Tesla has set the base price at $60,990 , more than 50% higher than its original target.

Meanwhile, rivals like the Ford F-150 Lightning and Chevrolet Silverado EV have lower starting prices on some trims, creating competitive pressure as the Cybertruck continues to increase in price. To stimulate demand, Tesla recently reduced prices by about $10,000 on some of its inventory.

Musk has said Tesla can produce more than 125,000 Cybertrucks a year, and expects to reach 250,000 by 2025, but has also warned that increasing production will be difficult.

In fact, Cybertruck sales have been disappointing, accounting for only a small percentage of Tesla’s total deliveries amid declining demand due to a series of recalls and quality issues.

Although Tesla does not release delivery figures, the March recall of about 46,000 vehicles produced between the start of deliveries (November 2023) and February 27, 2025, shows that cumulative sales are still much lower than the expected annual capacity.