Will the Tesla Cybertruck ever come to Australia? Here’s why it’s unlikely
The Tesla Cybertruck has been on many car lovers' wishlists since it was announced in 2019. Nearly five years later, it remains unlikely it will make it to Australia.
The Tesla Cybertruck has dominated the headlines since Elon Musk unveiled the retro-futuristic electric truck at the Tesla Design Studio in California, USA, in November 2019.
There was plenty of excitement but plenty of criticism as the first pre-production models were sighted, revealing plenty of panel gaps and the infamous moment Elon Musk managed to shatter the so-called "bulletproof" glass. Again, these were pre-production models, so the general public was perhaps too early to criticise.
Fast-forward to the end of 2023, two years after the Cybertruck was supposed to go on sale universally, and only the North American market has opened orders on the new electric truck.
It wasn't until late April 2024 that one seemingly popped up out of nowhere in Sydney and began cruising the streets with some odd licence plates on it. This Cybertruck belongs to Tesla Australia and is part of a tour that will see it go on display in select Telsa showrooms – and other public display locations – in Australia and, later, New Zealand.
The strange plates the Cybertruck is wearing are temporary Queensland 'conditional' licence plates as it is left-hand drive, so it cannot be registered for road use like a normal other vehicle, and can only be driven by Tesla employees.
Is the Cybertruck coming to Australia?
Tesla has still not committed to selling the Cybertruck in Australia – after the ability to place a refundable deposit locally was shut two years ago – and Drive reported that as of late last year, the vehicle was not planned to be built in right-hand drive.
Multiple Tesla sources told Drive last year that the Texas factory where the Cybertruck is exclusively manufactured has not been configured to support the production of right-hand-drive vehicles, and there were no current plans to do so.
As the Australian Design Rules (ADRs) list of approved vehicles currently stands, the Tesla Cybertruck has not yet been approved. However, the Model S, Model X, Model 3, and Model Y have all been approved.
We did contact the Department of Infrastructure to see if the Cybertruck had been denied ADR approval. The Department did not confirm nor deny the Cybertruck's ADR status.
Contrary to popular belief, the shape of the Tesla Cybertruck is not an issue when it comes to the ADRs. Due to the pointy and boxy nature of the EV, many believed that pedestrian safety was a worry, as it's become a misconception that a pedestrian must be able to roll over the car to minimise injury after being hit; but there is nothing in the ADRs about this.
The misconception comes from the European regulations for a pedestrian crumple zone on all motor vehicles.
The Cybertruck meets Europe's regulations for automatic braking in relation to pedestrians, which mandate that cars must be fitted with forward-collision automatic braking.
However, the European regulations put the Cybertruck in an odd spot since its shape does not meet design rules due to the sharp and downward-angled nose possibly causing more harm to pedestrians and cyclists in the event of a collision.
EU auto standards expert Stefan Teller told Forbes the Cybertruck would have to undergo “major modifications to the basic structure” because the Cybertruck “contradicts the European security philosophy" and “the bumper and [hood] must be able to absorb energy to protect pedestrians".
The main issue with the Cybertruck regarding the ADRs comes from the drive-by-wire system it uses. Instead of having a physical link between the steering wheels and the steering rack, it's run via a computer and electric link.
ADR 90/00 has guidelines for constructing a steering system. The ADRs do specify a "purely electric steering transmission"; however, this refers to electric power-assisted steering, which still has a physical connection to the steering rack in the event of failure and not an electric steering system. There are no guidelines for constructing a drive-by-wire system.
Lexus and Infiniti have both announced that they may add this system to their cars in the future, but Lexus told Wheels magazine that it doesn't think it will have any issues with ADRs. However, we can comfortably assume that the system will need to be implemented into the ADRs before any car with drive-by-wire can be registered.
Of course, the glaring issue with the Cybertruck is the fact that it is a left-hand-drive car, and all vehicles sold under dealerships need to be a right-hand drive in Australia. Hence why the Ram 1500 range is sold under Walkinshaw Australia, which converts the trucks to right-hand drive. There is the opportunity to do this with the Cybertruck, but locally converting the car will only cause the cost of the vehicle to skyrocket.
Only nine out of 54 countries where Tesla sells vehicles are right-hand-drive markets. That equates to a ratio of 16 per cent, versus the industry average of 25 to 30 per cent, and according to calculations by Drive, less than 10 per cent of Tesla vehicles sold globally last year had their steering wheel on the right.
It seems that this is perhaps the main reason why the Cybertruck won't come to Australia. If it doesn't pass the EU regulations, it'll miss out on the massive UK right-hand-drive EV market and leave it with the fiercely competitive Japanese market, which tends to stray away from large cars, and the small Oceanic market, which Tesla will likely see as pointless.
However, these statements are speculative, and there is still a possibility that the Cybertruck will go on sale in Australia; it seems unlikely at this point unless Tesla gets EU approval.
Drive has contacted the ANCAP safety testing facility regarding the Cybertruck and will update the story with a reply.
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