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News

Tesla Cybertruck Owners Will Face Absurd Resell Penalties

Cybertruck resellers could be barred from purchasing Elon Musk's cars
ever again, and face penalties of $50,000.

By
Maxwell Zeff
Published8 hours agoUpdated3 hours ago
Comments (70)
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Image for article titled Tesla Cybertruck Owners Will Face Absurd
Resell Penalties
Photo: Nic Coury/Bloomberg (Getty Images)

Tesla will charge customers of its new Cybertruck a hefty penalty for
reselling their vehicle within the first year of ownership, according
to a recently added section of the vehicle's order agreement.

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"You agree that you will not sell or otherwise attempt to sell the
Vehicle within the first year following your Vehicle's delivery
date," says Tesla in a new "For Cybertruck Only" section of its
customer agreement.

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The clause states that resellers of the Cybertruck, Tesla's
long-awaited electric pickup truck slated to begin delivery on Nov.
30th, could be barred entirely from purchasing Tesla vehicles ever
again. Tesla also threatens legal action against resellers, seeking
injunctive relief of at least $50,000. Elon Musk's electric vehicle
maker asks anyone who wants to dump their Cybertruck to sell it back
to Tesla or receive written consent from the company before selling
it to a third party.

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The last thing Tesla wants is for customers to be flipping
Cybertrucks, according to Wedbush Securities Tech Analyst Dan Ives on
Bloomberg Radio Monday. This decision is all about the estimated
750,000 people with reservations for the Cybertruck, says Ives, and
ensuring that people on that list don't cancel because they got one
secondhand. It's expected to be years until Tesla can meet those
reservations, and a thriving resale market could cause a meaningful
wave of cancellations.

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"That was really a big part of the black eye that we saw at Rivian,"
Ives said. "Reservations continued to get kicked down the road and
others eventually canceled."

It seems Tesla is trying to keep profits in-house and limit the
lucrative resale market that's popular in the car world. The move
could be to drive up sales of the Cybertruck, as Tesla lost 20% of
its valuation last month in a shrinking EV market.

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The Tesla CEO unveiled a prototype of the Cybertruck in 2019 and has
been teasing its release ever since. The futuristic-looking truck has
a bulletproof, stainless steel body and is "waterproof enough" to
cross rivers like a boat, among a long list of claims that only seem
beneficial during an apocalypse. The electric truck weighs 7,000
pounds according to Musk, making it about as heavy as a Ford F-150,
but can accelerate from 0-60 in under 3 seconds.

Tesla includes a stipulation that anyone who wants to sell their
Cybertruck can only sell it back to Tesla at a discounted price. If
Tesla declines to purchase your vehicle, for reasons unspecified,
only then can you sell it to someone else.

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Cybertruck's supply chain lead, Mustapha El Akkari, left Tesla to
work at Rivian this summer, one of many bumps in the road that
stalled the release of the company's premiere pickup truck.
Production on the truck has reportedly been a nightmare for Musk, who
is famous for his manufacturing expertise. The billionaire said Tesla
"dug our own grave" with the Cybertruck on its recent earnings call,
and noted mass production of the truck will not begin until 2025.

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