Tesla returns seven-year-old deposits after dropping Cybertruck plans for Australia and New Zealand

The Cybertruck will never be sold in Australia or New Zealand.

Tesla confirmed the cancellation in an email to customers who reserved the vehicle seven years ago. The company stated that its plans to produce the truck for those two markets have been discontinued. Because it can no longer fulfill orders in the region, Tesla said it will refund every deposit within 30 days of customers receiving an email that confirms their details. As a gesture to affected customers, the automaker is also offering a free year of Full Self-Driving (Supervised) access to anyone who orders a new Model 3 or Model Y.

The decision resolves a long-standing uncertainty for buyers in the region. According to Drive Australia, questions about whether the truck would ever reach Australia lingered for years. When Tesla began delivering the vehicle to early buyers in 2023, sources indicated that the company's Texas factory was not set up to build the vehicle with a right-hand drive configuration. That limitation prevents the Cybertruck from being legally driven on public roads in Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Japan, and Ireland.

The right-hand drive gap has also stalled the vehicle's expansion into other markets. Tesla has not officially launched the Cybertruck in the UK or the European Union, and the vehicle has not obtained any form of regulatory approval from European authorities. It is widely believed it will not be approved there due to rules covering crumple zones, pedestrian safety, lighting, and weight classifications. The truck's sharp edges are viewed as a particular hazard to people it might strike.

Regulatory bodies have explicitly cited the vehicle's design as a barrier to entry. In a notification, the US Army Customs Agency stated that several specifications of the Cybertruck violate EU safety standards. The agency noted that the sharp-edged, stiff stainless-steel body poses risks primarily for the protection of vulnerable road users.

Despite these hurdles, some Cybertrucks have reached European roads through individual workarounds. Single-vehicle approvals have been secured by owners who made sufficient modifications to the truck to satisfy regulators. Tesla has scheduled the refund process to begin immediately following the confirmation email, giving depositors a clear deadline of 30 days to receive their money back.