The Cybertruck is headed for that shiny cyber dumpster in the sky, leaving people who built online identities around Elon Musk’s polarizing truck feeling helpless. Musk’s fan base typically takes their idol’s fickle decisions with a grain of salt. This time, however, the truck’s disappearance has sparked a rare reaction within the Tesla community, aimed directly at the guy who signed its death warrant.
Troy Meekhof, who posts on numerous social platforms under the nickname “The Cybertruck Guy,” has openly expressed his disappointment in Musk’s decision to shut down Cybertruck production by the end of summer 2027 (the original plan was to start shutting down production in the spring, but then Musk decided to extend it by a few months).
In a 33-minute video on YouTube, Meekhof argues that Tesla never fully committed to making the Cybertruck a success, citing a lack of advertising, confusing pricing changes and a decision to change focus before the truck could fully establish itself in the market.
“It seems like they didn’t try to make the Cybertruck a success,” he said.
He also had choice words for Musk’s reasons for ending the Cybertruck’s short run to make room in Giga Texas for the fully autonomous Cybercab: “Cancelling all of their best products… in favor of an autonomous platform that remains limited by both software and regulations… seems like an absolutely terrible idea,” Meekhof said.
The Cybertruck wasn’t the only Tesla product to meet a premature end, at least according to those with a stake (and often stock options) in the company’s success. Earlier this year, Tesla discontinued the Model S and Model X, two of its flagship vehicles. With the end of the Cybertruck, Tesla now only has the Model 3 and Model Y left as vehicles you can actually buy. (The Semi is strictly a commercial vehicle, while the Cybercab’s availability as a consumer product remains dubious at best.)
“Cancelling Cybertruck after all the years of putting it into production to ‘make room for CyberCab’ is a lame excuse,” @TeslaXplored wrote on
And he added: “It is very sad what has happened to Tesla in the last five years.”
Meanwhile, at least one prominent aftermarket company is offering to step in and pick up the slack. Unplugged Performance, which makes aftermarket accessories, said it would produce the Cybertruck and other vehicles on the truck platform under license, and that investors would fund the effort: “Is it worth a conversation?”
Musk, for his part, seems less interested in litigating the details of the Cybertruck’s production and more determined to sell a vision of Tesla’s future centered on the Cybercab and humanoid robots. “Cybercab will travel the most passenger miles in any jurisdiction where it is not prohibited by law,” Musk wrote on X earlier this week. “Obvious to anyone with eyes and a brain.”
He also rejected claims that the Cybertruck was eliminated because it was unprofitable. “Cybertruck’s order rate far exceeds our production rate,” Musk said. “We will try to make as many as possible before we close the line in about eight months, but we will have to return a lot of people’s deposits.”
Without a doubt, Cybertruck sales have been disappointing throughout its production. Musk initially theorized that Tesla could sell between 250,000 and 500,000 Cybertrucks a year, but actual numbers have been far below those projections. Last year, Tesla is estimated to have sold around 20,000 trucks; the company is on track to sell less than that this year.
It remains to be seen whether Musk’s autonomous utopia succeeds or ends up joining the Cybertruck in the vaporware graveyard. For now, the stainless steel wedge that was supposed to be the ultimate symbol of an indestructible future has become a monument to Musk’s changing attention span, and a stark reminder to Tesla’s most loyal boosters that in Elon’s world nothing should be taken for granted.
