Why Is Tesla's Cheapest Cybertruck Only Available for 10 Days?

By now, you probably know if you’re the target market for the Tesla Cybertruck. But drivers who have been on the fence about buying the polarizing EV will be happy to learn that the automaker just announced the cheapest version yet: a dual-motor, all-wheel-drive model starting at $59,990 — or $20,000 cheaper than the premium all-wheel-drive option.

The catch? Less than 24 hours after Tesla promoted the vehicle as “[t]ough as nails with ultra-low cost of ownereship,” CEO Elon Musk added this addendum on his social media platform X: “Only for the next 10 days.”

A number of people replied to Musk asking for clarification. Did he mean that the dual-motor AWD Cybertruck would only be available to buy for the next 10 days, or that the price would increase after 10 days? Or is this nothing but a scarcity tactic being used to boost sales, one that Musk will back off on later? It’s not clear, but in an article criticizing Musk’s statement, Electrek’s Fred Lambert was blunt in his assessment of the situation: “Tesla is not committed to offering an affordable Cybertruck.”

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Perhaps this is also a side effect of trying to pin down Musk’s gnomic missives. Most large corporations announce significant business decisions with splashy announcements and detailed press releases. In this case, as with many, many instances in the past, Tesla is doing so via a post from its CEO on social media. (See also: SpaceX’s recent shift in priorities from a Mars mission to a Moon mission.)

As Lambert observes, the combination of price and performance in this version of the Cybertruck is genuinely appealing in a way that previous iterations have not been. Tesla has achieved success in part by eluding the automotive industry’s conventional wisdom, but at times like these, we’re reminded why certain industry norms exist in the first place.

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Tobias Carroll

Tobias Carroll lives and writes in New York City, and has been covering a wide variety of subjects — including (but not limited to) books, soccer and drinks — for many years. His writing has been published by the likes of the Los Angeles Times, Pitchfork, Literary Hub, Vulture, Punch, the New York Times and Men’s Journal. At InsideHook, he has…