- An increasing number of Tesla Cybertrucks are entering the used EV market.
- When the truck was new, flippers charged over $200,000 in the resale market.
- As production and deliveries increase, those absurd prices are now starting to look more normal.
The rabid fanaticism around the Tesla Cybertruck is cooling down. When deliveries of the polarizing truck began in November last year, some owners were flipping them for as much as $275,000, more than double its purchase price. But Tesla has ramped up production at its Gigafactory Texas since then, and now the prices of the ultimate hype machine are undergoing a correction in the used EV market.
The Cyber-flippers may have had their moment last year. Now, according to car shopping and research website CarGurus, Cybertruck prices are down 20% over the past three months and down 50% since the start of the year, when the truck was still a hot new commodity. The average price of a used Cybertruck early this year was around $250,000. Now that has dropped to $119,810.
Gallery: Tesla Cybertruck Founders Edition
That's essentially the same as the cost of a new tri-motor Cyberbeast Foundation Series. The dual-motor Foundation Series costs $100,000. So values are still holding on, which is rarely true for new EVs. In the past few years, Teslas and most other EVs have sharply depreciated. A Model Y Long Range with over 300 miles of range can be had for under $25,000. Plus the overall used EV market has witnessed a titanic drop, with average used EV values falling 20.5% year-over-year last quarter according to Edmunds. It's unclear if the Cybertruck will also suffer the wrath of heavy depreciation down the line, but it's certainly possible given the industry trends.
In June, CEO Elon Musk said Cybertruck production output had increased to over 1,300 units per week. Delivery times are down from an estimated five years last year to just a couple of months now. This could be a result of both a production increase and a possible demand drop. Tesla removed the $61,000 rear-wheel-drive Cybertruck trim this month from its website, which may have turned off many buyers. Tesla reportedly had 2 million Cybertruck reservations at one time. It's produced fewer than 20,000 so far, so there's no way all of those reservation holders are becoming buyers if a new order can be fulfilled within a few months.
One buyer who owns five Cybertrucks and has placed 20 more orders told me last week that he was "shocked" when Tesla removed the relatively affordable trim. Now you have to spend at least a $100,000 to buy a new truck. The company should eventually offer a dual-motor truck without the $20,000 Foundation Series package, bringing the starting price down to $80,000. But that's still double Tesla's original $39,900 claimed starting price for the Cybertruck, way back at its unveiling in 2019.
Admittedly, the earlier prices in the used market were absurd. Despite Tesla threatening owners with an anti-flipping clause—where reselling was prohibited for one year after purchase—they still listed their trucks for insane prices. Tesla quietly removed the anti-flipping clause later for unknown reasons and then reinstated it. However, it doesn't quite make sense to buy a used Cybertruck right now. You can get a new one for the same price—or a lower price if you buy the dual-motor—and get it delivered in about a month or two after placing an order.
