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- Tesla has cancelled plans to bring the Cybertruck to Australia and New Zealand, nearly seven years after opening local reservations in 2019.
- Australian customers who paid the AUD $150 deposit will receive a full refund, processed within 30 days of confirming their details.
- As a consolation, reservation holders are being offered a year of Full Self-Driving (Supervised), worth up to AUD $1,788 at current rates, if they order a new Model 3 or Model Y.
Tesla has pulled the proverbial plug on ever bringing the Cybertruck to Australia and New Zealand. Seven years after the company started accepting AUD $150 reservations for its so-called angular electric utility vehicle (I refuse to call this thing a ute), the company has finally delivered something: a cancellation email. Tesla has confirmed the Cybertruck won’t be heading down under, leaving customers who put their money down in 2019 with a refund instead of a stainless-steel spaceship on wheels. Honestly, I think they’ll be better off without it.
“After careful consideration, plans to produce Cybertruck for Australia and New Zealand have been discontinued,” Tesla told reservation holders in an email shared online. The company apologised for the disappointment and said it could no longer fulfil their reservations. So, after years of waiting, the answer is a resounding no.
There is a consolation prize, though. Tesla is offering affected customers a complimentary year of Full Self-Driving (Supervised), worth up to AUD $1,788 based on current Australian subscription rates. And while that may seem generous, you’ll actually need to buy an entirely different Tesla to claim it. Can you feel the schadenfreude?
What Happens to Your Cybertruck Deposit?
Tesla opened Australian Cybertruck reservations following its 2019 unveiling, taking refundable AUD $150 deposits from hopeful (and possibly misguided) buyers. Tesla eventually paused new local reservations in 2022, but those already in Musk’s queue were left wondering whether a right-hand-drive version would ever materialise.
According to a customer email shared on Reddit, Tesla will cancel all Cybertruck reservations in Australia and New Zealand and refund any payments in full. Affected customers will receive a separate message to confirm their refund details, and Tesla will process the refund within 30 days once those details are confirmed. That’s how you’ll get your $150 back. What about Tesla’s rather expensive way of saying sorry?
To claim the self-driving offer, reservation holders must place a new order for a Model 3 or Model Y using the email address associated with their Cybertruck reservation. Tesla will activate the free 12-month Full Self-Driving (Supervised) subscription after it delivers the new vehicle. Tesla says you can also combine the offer with certain current promotions.
At AUD $149 per month for vehicles with Basic Autopilot, that’s AUD $1,788 worth of software over a year. But this isn’t a cash payment. Nor is it a permanent upgrade. And despite its name, Full Self-Driving (Supervised) still requires an attentive driver ready to take control. It’s 2026, and we’re still waiting for the future. After seven years holding out for one ridiculous-looking Tesla, you’ll have to buy another EV that still can’t drive itself. Some apology.
Why Isn’t the Cybertruck Coming to Australia?
The writing has been on the wall for a while, with Elon Musk himself casting doubt on an international Cybertruck back in 2024. In 2023, Drive reported that the company’s Texas factory wasn’t properly set up to build a right-hand-drive Cybertruck. Not to mention, its unusually angular, rigid stainless-steel body also raised questions about meeting safety and design requirements outside the US.
However, Tesla’s Australian team hadn’t completely given up on bringing the Cybertruck to our shores. In 2025, country director Thom Drew said the company was still working towards a local version. “We are working pretty hard to get in right-hand drive,” he told Drive, adding that Tesla’s engineering team was still discussing how to bring the project to life. For a bloke who spent part of 2025 preaching efficiency through DOGE, Musk has taken an awfully long time to make this cut.
Tesla hasn’t publicly identified a specific reason for abandoning the Australian and New Zealand plans. But the latest full-year US sales figures aren’t exactly encouraging. According to Cox Automotive estimates reported by CBS, US Cybertruck sales fell from 38,965 in 2024 to 20,237 in 2025, a drop of about 48 per cent. Against that backdrop, engineering a separate right-hand-drive version for Australia and New Zealand would be a harder sell.
The Cybertruck also hasn’t officially launched in the UK. Nor is it officially sold in the European Union, where it lacks EU-wide type approval. Even German authorities rejected a request to import and register Cybertrucks for US military personnel. And although a few modified examples received individual approvals elsewhere in Europe, that’s hardly a green light for wider sales.
For Australians who wanted the Cybertruck, a Model 3 or Model Y isn’t exactly a like-for-like replacement. Still, after nearly seven years, at least they’ll get their $150 back, which isn’t even enough to buy the $500 Hot Wheels RC Cybertruck we covered last year. Whether these scorned buyers feel like spending their money on a different Tesla is another question.
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