Cybertruck is top-selling EV pickup in US for 1Q 2026

[Outdoors]

The Conventional Wisdom was that the Slate pickup was an attractive deal at ~$20,000 with the EV tax credit.

Then the tax credit disappeared, and the Conventional Wisdom switched gears. The Slate was no longer attractive at ~$27,500, when a better-equipped Ford Maverick was close in price.

I think the big question is the price of gasoline going forward. The Conventional Wisdom may find the Slate at ~$27,500 to be attractive again, if gas prices are still elevated in late 2026. And this is a real possibility.

Laws of supply and demand work everywhere. Moving wheels. Great lesson for Econ class this week.

Being on the Big Island with my CT the last two months I have craved for a smaller truck. Old Toyota pickups the size of the Slate are prevalent at 40 years old. First day order of a Slate. Hearing I should be in the first thousand from a friend.

Gas isn't bad here. $5.69

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[Jhodgesatmb]

Yeah, I have seen and agree with that assessment. The cancellation of the EV credit is really kicking everybody’s ass.

I think governmental retreat on this will be eventually seen as a huge blunder. We’ve confused sound policy for anti-capitalism. We’ve handed the keys to the future to China.

Not going to do partisan politics, but anybody who wants to trot out the company line on this subject (subsidies = communism) needs to remember/learn that but for government meddling, the petroleum industry would not have existed. It’s asinine to shoot ourselves in the foot on the future under the guise that the role of the government isn’t to “pick winners.” One need look no further than the
Mineral Leasing Act of 1920 (and numerous other actions before and since). 🫤

Some of the very first cars ever made were electric, and if it wasn’t for dirt cheap petroleum products (thanks to our government), electricity probably would’ve won from the start.

*ie Robert Anderson’s electric carriage, 1832–1839, decades before Karl Benz’s gasoline automobile of 1885/86.

Like I’ve said before, Morons v. Machiavellians is going to be the complete ruin of this nation! The Machiavellians know what they’re doing and they know this history. The morons don’t know shit, and they never learn!

True enough. Sadly, this country is built on subsidies (aka handouts) to friends of politicians. The aerospace and military companies have long stayed afloat this way. Farmers get subsidies. The FUD drivers in this country call anything they don’t like (today) some form of socialism or communism, but most of our country’s institutions fit that kind of label; public schools, social security, Medicare and Medicaid, all of the military and homeland security, … people don’t want to think anymore; they just want to follow so they choose who to follow and leave it at that.

 

[dalton108]

Laws of supply and demand work everywhere. Moving wheels. Great lesson for Econ class this week.

Being on the Big Island with my CT the last two months I have craved for a smaller truck. Old Toyota pickups the size of the Slate are prevalent at 40 years old. First day order of a Slate. Hearing I should be in the first thousand from a friend.

Gas isn't bad here. $5.69

Eventually retiring to Kauai I’m planning to bring my FJ and have an Aptera as a second car I hope that works out. I would think that the big island would be a good place to drive around in a CT. But a SLATE seems perfect for just about everything to me!

 

[Jhodgesatmb]

Laws of supply and demand work everywhere. Moving wheels. Great lesson for Econ class this week.

Being on the Big Island with my CT the last two months I have craved for a smaller truck. Old Toyota pickups the size of the Slate are prevalent at 40 years old. First day order of a Slate. Hearing I should be in the first thousand from a friend.

Gas isn't bad here. $5.69

I’m on Kauai this week and saw a CT with kayak racks yesterday in Koloa. There are a lot of big trucks here so it didn’t seem too big.

 

[YDR37]

Gas isn't bad here. $5.69

Not bad at all. California currently averages $5.92 for regular. Many counties are over $6.00.

 

[Sjohnson20]

Seems like a horrible segment to release a vehicle in. I wonder how much longer the Silverado and the Sierra EV will be around? Doesn't seem worth running a line to make those small numbers.

If I was an auto manufacturer I would stay clearly away from EV trucks for a while.

 

[Outdoors]

I’m on Kauai this week and saw a CT with kayak racks yesterday in Koloa. There are a lot of big trucks here so it didn’t seem too big.

Seems like a horrible segment to release a vehicle in. I wonder how much longer the Silverado and the Sierra EV will be around? Doesn't seem worth running a line to make those small numbers.

If I was an auto manufacturer I would stay clearly away from EV trucks for a while.

Let's not forget GM dropped the Bright Drop deliv vech. I think the only thing that maybe keeping them(GM) building is that they have contracts to buy, they sell just enough that the bean counters said don't write it off. It also would look like GM would have killed the EV again.

I am in North Kohala. Which is so laid back I don't even know what country or decade I am in. I think there are 6 CT on the Big Island. One pulls a horse trailer, we haven't stopped to chat. $1600 from Seattle each way for shipping. Yet I have free solar here.

 

[YDR37]

If I was an auto manufacturer I would stay clearly away from EV trucks for a while.

The manufacturers aren't giving up on EV trucks -- but they are changing gears. We should see two new kinds of EV truck in 2026:

(1) Full-sized EREV trucks. The Ram 1500 REV is scheduled for 2026 availability. A full-sized EV pickup -- but unlike today's EV trucks, it will also include an ICE engine that acts as a generator to charge the battery. In theory, it should combine EV performance (647 hp, 610 lb-ft of torque, 4.5 seconds 0-60) with ICE range (690 miles).

(2) Small, inexpensive EV trucks. The Slate pickup is also scheduled for 2026 availability, with a bare-bones vehicle starting "in the mid $20,000s". Slate will be the first EV manufacturer to target the Tacoma/Maverick crowd (instead of the F-150/Silverado crowd). And if gas is still pricey in late 2026, the Slate just might be a competitive Tacoma/Maverick alternative.

 

[tingmo13]

Cybertruck has polarize look but bigger problem is majority of the Americans don't know Tesla vehicles do not have Start Button. Owning/driving ICE vehicle, gas stations, dealerships, emission test, oil change, auto parts etc is normal.

 

[Trbizwiz]

Glad to be #1

But wow 3,519 in a QUARTER is crazy low, especially compared to the early predictions, reservations.
Hopefully Tesla can bump those numbers up, about 40x

Those early predictions were based on a $69,990 beast type truck, with 500 miles of range. Even at an inflation adjusted $80k beast, with current range, would sell much better. Clearly the inflation adjusted stripped down AWD, sold really well. It’s the price not the truck that’s the problem.

 

[koolio]

Glad to be #1

But wow 3,519 in a QUARTER is crazy low, especially compared to the early predictions, reservations.
Hopefully Tesla can bump those numbers up, about 40x

IMO, the estimates Tesla had for Cybertruck were off because the price of the AWD went from $50k to $80k. Yes, there was inflation from announcement to launch but most people can’t afford an $80k vehicle. The average new vehicle in the US in 2025 was $49k.

Given the $80k (now $70k) starting price, sales would be expected to be on the low end.

 

[YDR37]

1. 78,591 Tesla Model Y
2. 31,672 Tesla Model 3
3. 10,029 Toyota BZ
...
8. 4,456 Lexus RZ

Toyota (up 79.0%) ... had surprisingly strong EV sales in a generally lousy quarter.

The biggest surprise in the 1Q 2026 EV sales data was the sudden appearance of the Toyota BZ as the top-selling non-Tesla EV. But the BZ (~10,000 sales) was stil well behind the Model 3 (~32,000 sales) for second place, right?

Well, maybe it's closer than it looks. The Lexus RZ is basically the same vehicle as the Toyota BZ, just with a different badge and dealer network. So that's another 4,456 EVs,

And the BZ platform was co-developed with Subaru (Toyota owns a large chunk of Subaru). The Subaru Solterra is also basically the same thing as the BZ and RZ, and it finished just outside the top 10 with 3,041 sales in 1Q 2026.

If you look past the branding and marketing, Toyota/Lexus/Subaru sold a total of 18,941 BZs/RZs/Solterras in 1Q 2026, which is about 60% of Model 3 sales. And another Subaru model based on the same platform, the Trailseeker, has just been introduced as of 2Q 2026.

Based on the 1Q 2026 data, the BZ/RZ/Solterra platform may be emerging as the most credible challenge to Tesla's EV dominance in the North American market. However, it's flying under the radar, because sales are split among multiple brand and model names.

 

[BlueLightning]

Question, when is Tesla going to have pre owned Cybertruck inventory?

At a reasonable price?

Let say…

$39k $49k and $69k LOL!

 

[HaulingAss]

Based on the 1Q 2026 data, the BZ/RZ/Solterra platform may be emerging as the most credible challenge to Tesla's EV dominance in the North American market. However, it's flying under the radar, because sales are split among multiple brand and model names.

Ha-ha! That's funny!

I hope you are not being serious.

 

[HaulingAss]

The manufacturers aren't giving up on EV trucks -- but they are changing gears. We should see two new kinds of EV truck in 2026:

(1) Full-sized EREV trucks. The Ram 1500 REV is scheduled for 2026 availability. A full-sized EV pickup -- but unlike today's EV trucks, it will also include an ICE engine that acts as a generator to charge the battery. In theory, it should combine EV performance (647 hp, 610 lb-ft of torque, 4.5 seconds 0-60) with ICE range (690 miles).

How can it be considered a full-size pickup if it has a tow rating of only 5,000 lbs?

As a side note, my personal criteria for an EV is that it doesn't have a gas tank and an exhaust pipe that spews toxic gasses, the Ram 1500 REV doesn't qualify as an EV, regardless of how the auto industry classifies it. The industry can greenwash all they want as they avoid making EVs in volume, an EV doesn't have an exhaust pipe.

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