Tesla forced to axe model

There is bad news on the horizon for electric utes.

Reports from the US including the respected Car and Driver Magazine state Tesla has canceled its rear-wheel drive Cybertruck for the United States market months after it was launched.

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Tesla have trimmed its Cybertruck line-up to just the dual and tri-motor variants.  

The Cybertruck’s culling is the latest in a series of cancellations for electric utes. 

Earlier this week, Ram canceled the fully electric 1500 pick-up citing slow demand for electric trucks in North America. 

The company said in a statement: “As demand for full-size battery-electric trucks slows in North America, Stellantis is reassessing its product strategy and will discontinue development of a full-size BEV pickup.”

Ford also temporarily halted production on the Ford F-150 Lightning in North America for six weeks in November 2024 with similar demand issues in the US, but sales have picked up since then. 

In Australia electric ute options are scarce, with LDV’s eT60 the only model to be sold here boasting a 330km range and a near $100,000 price tag.

LDV’s next-gen electric ute, the eTerron9 was already supposed to be on sale, but it has been delayed with no date confirmed for sale in Australia.

Plug-in hybrids have been more effective in captivating the attention of consumers looking for a greener ute.

The BYD Shark 6 offers a combined range of 800km with nearly 13,000 examples sold as of August 2025.

Ford has gotten in on the act and launched the plug-in hybrid Ranger, as has GWM with its Cannon Alpha PHEV. Both haven’t generated as many sales as the Shark 6, though.

Nissan and Mitsubishi are working on petrol-electric workhorses, and Chinese brands such as MG and Jac are preparing plug-in hybrid utes in the future.