The 2025 Tesla Cybertruck but not as we know it? Elon says an alternate version of the controversial ute to be developed for overseas markets like Europe, China, and Australia but it may take some time

Elon Musk has revealed an alternate version of the Cybertruck may need to be developed if it ever stands a chance of being sold outside of North America, adding it may take some time as production ramps up.

Speaking during a Tesla investor briefing, Musk replied to a question about the Cybertruck launching in other markets by saying:  “We might be able to certify it for other markets some time next year.

“We certified the car for North American requirements because if you go with a super set of all international requirements, it forces a lot of constraints on Cybertruck, which would make the product, frankly, worse.”

“So, we’ll need to make a special version, which is China-compliant or Europe-compliant. It really doesn’t make sense to add that complexity until we’ve achieved higher volume on Cybertruck.”

Musk added Tesla’s short-term goal for Cybertruck was not just unlocking additional production volume, but also bringing the price down. 

“There’s still a lot of work to do on [getting the] cost down for Cybertruck.” Musk said, “It’s 100 times harder to go from prototype to production. Then, to improve the price, the cost of goods by 20 per cent, is harder than reaching production in the first place. It’s mega pain, it’s not the funnest job in the world.

Tesla Cybertruck

“It’s super fun to make prototypes, it’s pretty cool to get production going, but the cost grind is a grind. It’s hard work.”

Musk appears to have had plans for the controversial model to eventually go global.

“We’ll have plenty of demand for Cybertruck. Wherever it goes anywhere in the world it gets a massive crowd. It’s not a demand thing. We’ve got to reach volume production, go through the cost grind. It would be difficult for me to overstate the difficulty of the cost grind, it’s really intense, then we’ve got to re-certify the car which will include some design changes for it to be compliant in other markets.”

Tesla Cybertruck

Markets outside North America can expect to see a Cybertruck eventually then, but not exactly how it appears today.

A 20 per cent cost reduction to Cybertruck would see its current starting price in the US, which is the equivalent of AU$92,380 for the base rear-wheel drive model, reduced to AU$73,904.

Cost reductions appear to be key to Musk’s plan for Tesla going forward, as he said: “For most people it’s not a question of whether they want a Tesla. They want a Tesla, they simply don’t have enough money to afford one, so we’ve got to make it affordable, that’s essential.”

Tesla Cybertruck

“If Model Y cost less than US$20k it would sell probably five million units, like, it would be insane.”

In a slide, the brand also revealed three new upcoming models, two of which are expected to be the robotaxi and some sort of light commercial van, at least according to the silhouettes. The mysterious third vehicle could be the long-promised sub-US$25k small affordable model.

Reuters reported plans to build this smaller and more affordable model had been canned, citing multiple unnamed internal sources, who say Tesla was focusing its efforts exclusively on the autonomous Robotaxi instead, but Musk has refuted these claims.

Tesla Cybertruck

At the same meeting, Tesla shareholders approved Musk's US$56 billion pay package and also appointed James Murdoch as an independent director.

Next for Tesla will be its Robotaxi reveal on the eighth of August, while an updated Model Y following in the footsteps of the Model 3 facelift before it is expected to launch in 2025.