Tesla's billion-dollar mistake: Unbelievable losses skyrocket as a new electric ute brand Slate shows the EV giant how it's done

Americans, it would seem, do want an electric pick-up truck, they just don't want the stainless steel-shelled Tesla Cybertruck.

New reports out of the USA suggest Tesla is sitting on an incredible US$800m (approx $1.2b) inventory of unsold Cybertrucks as sales slow to a trickle in the USA.

And adding insult to Tesla's very expensive injury is the seemingly runaway success of a new rival, with the Jeff Bezos-backed Slate wracking up a reported 100,000 deposits for its new cut-price electric ute.

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But first, Tesla. The hits keep coming for the once giant-killing electric vehicle brand, with news this morning that the brand is telling workers in its Austin facility — responsible for the Cybertruck and the Model Y — to stay home for a week as production currently outstrips demand.

Worse, some excess of 10,000 Cybertrucks reportedly sit unsold in the USA. With an average purchase price of US$78,000, outlet Vice values the unsold stock at US$800m.

Tesla's ambition was to sell 250,000 examples of the Cybertruck this year, needing to shift 62,500 per quarter to hit that target. In the first quarter of 2025, the company sold more like 6400 units, putting its annual target at more like 25,000.

Compare that with new-arrival Slate. The new company had previewed its first offering, the "clean" Slate – a bare-bones electric truck that owners can then customise and personalise.

Tipped to start at below US$20,000 – once California's US$7500 tax credit is taken into account – the Slate's order books opened about two weeks ago, and has already attracted in excess of 100,000 orders (albeit with just a $50 refundable deposit).

"We are truly humbled by America’s response to Slate’s brand launch and the launch of our truck,” Slate’s chief commercial officer Jeremy Snyder said of the results.

“We are excited for what the future holds.”

2025 Tesla Cybertruck

2026 Slate Truck

Less excited, you'd have to think, would be Elon Musk, with the Tesla Cybertruck looking increasingly like a very expensive folly.