Tesla's engineering boss has confirmed the brand continues to discuss building a smaller ute than its full-size Cybertruck.
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The Tesla Cybertruck electric ute could get a smaller sibling, with an executive confirming the brand continues to discuss "making a smaller pickup".
Potentially sized to rival the Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux, among other popular ute models, the smaller pickup has been long-rumoured since the full-size Cybertruck debuted in the US in 2019 and launched in 2023.
In a recent interview with Business Insider, Tesla engineering boss Lars Moravy said the company's design studio has discussed how it could "serve that need" for a smaller model, which could act as a robotaxi to carry goods.
"We always talked about making a smaller pickup," Moravy said.
"I think in the future, as more and more of the robotaxi comes into the world, we look at those options and we think about, OK, that kind of service is useful not just for people, but also for goods.
"We've definitely been churning in the design studio about what we might do to serve that need for sure."
In 2019, following the Cybertruck's reveal, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said on Twitter, now X: "Long term, it probably makes sense to build a smaller Cybertruck too."
Tesla also displayed a sketch of a two-door, single-cab Cybertruck when it was displayed at the Peterson Automotive Museum in late 2022, retaining the angular, stainless-steel design of the four-door production model.
In 2024, Musk said the Cybertruck would need design changes to be sold outside of the North American market, which could be a "special version" different from the model on sale today.
"We did design the car to North American requirements, because if you start going with the superset of all international requirements, it forces a lot of constraints on Cybertruck that would make the product, frankly, worse," Musk said.
"I think we’ll need to make a special version that is, for example, China-compliant or Europe-compliant, but it doesn’t really make sense to add that complexity until we’ve achieved higher-volume production on Cybertruck."
This would not guarantee a right-hand drive version would be engineered for markets like Australia, though in 2020, it was revealed Australia ranked third on the list of pre-orders for the Cybertruck, behind the US and Canada.
Tesla removed the ability to order the Cybertruck in Australia on its website in 2022.
In the United States, the Tesla Cybertruck currently starts from $US69,990 ($AU108,000) for the rear-wheel-drive Long Range, rising to $US99,990 ($AU154,000) for the tri-motor all-wheel-drive Cyberbeast, more than the promised US$39,990 ($AU61,000) base price following its reveal.
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Jordan is a motoring journalist based in Melbourne with a lifelong passion for cars. He has been surrounded by classic Fords and Holdens, brand-new cars, and everything in between from birth, with his parents’ owning an automotive workshop in regional Victoria. Jordan started writing about cars in 2021, and joined the Drive team in 2024.
