Zero To Sixty: Tesla Winds Down Cybertruck, Pulls Model Y Variant While Rivian, Lucid Chase Volumes

Tesla is winding down Cybertruck production by summer 2027 to free capacity for Cybercab while Rivian and Lucid chase volume with cheaper offerings.

• Elon Musk this week noted a larger order backlog than remaining production capacity and said Tesla would produce the Cybertruck until the end of summer 2027. 
• Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe said in an interview with Kleiner Perkins that the company’s Mind Robotics spinoff plans to deploy its first robots at the company’s Normal, Illinois plant in mid-2027.
• Lucid CEO Silvio Napoli reaffirmed that production of the midsize Cosmos SUV remains targeted for the second half of 2027.

EV developments this week were spearheaded by Tesla deciding to reshape its lineup by winding down the Cybertruck next year to the end of summer and quietly removing its lowest-priced all-wheel-drive Model Y from the U.S. order page.

The move frees more capacity for the company’s robotaxis as it attempts a pivot away from being a regular automaker, even as Rivian and Lucid attempt to scale or introduce cheaper models.

Tesla Winds Down Cybertruck For Cybercab

CEO Elon Musk said on X last week that Tesla will wind down Cybertruck production at Gigafactory Texas around mid-2027 to expand Cybercab output. The stainless-steel pickup, once projected at 250,000 units a year, sold roughly 20,000 in the U.S. last year after starting deliveries in late 2023.

Musk this week noted a larger order backlog than remaining production capacity and said the company would now produce the vehicle until the end of summer 2027, later than his initial timeline of June/July, while adding that the decision was spurred by ‘sentimentality.’ The move is “not the smartest from a pure profit-maximizing standpoint,” he added. The decision follows the earlier end of Model S and Model X production to free space for Optimus robots and continues Tesla’s shift toward autonomy and robotics.

Separately, Tesla pulled the $41,990 Model Y All-Wheel Drive from its U.S. configurator after less than a year of introduction. The cheapest all-wheel-drive Model Y is now the Premium AWD priced at $49,990. The base variant, called the rear-wheel-drive Model Y, remains available at $39,990. Bloomberg also reported on Thursday that merger discussions between Tesla and SpaceX have progressed, with a possible announcement as soon as December, adding optimism to the stock.

Rivian Targets Factory Robots And R2 Momentum

Meanwhile, Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe said in an interview with Kleiner Perkins that the company’s Mind Robotics spinoff plans to deploy its first robots at the company’s Normal, Illinois plant in mid-2027. They will initially handle about 20% of tasks, mainly pick-and-place work, with a longer-term goal of 80%. Mind Robotics, which has raised more than $1 billion and hired former Ford EV chief Doug Field as president, uses Rivian as its first customer and training environment.

In a separate interview with CNBC to mark the 5th year of the company’s debut on Nasdaq, Scaringe said 2027 will be an “inflection year” as the production of the more affordable R2 SUV ramps up; it was already Rivian’s best-selling vehicle by volume in the third quarter after deliveries commenced in June.

Lucid Eyes Cosmos To Drive Volume

Lucid reported third-quarter revenue of $350.3 million on Monday, missing estimates, while reducing sequential free-cash-flow outflow by about 30%. The company expanded its credit facility with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund by $1.75 billion, lifting pro-forma liquidity to roughly $3.75 billion and extending the expected funding runway into late 2027.

On the earnings call, CEO Silvio Napoli reaffirmed that production of the midsize Cosmos SUV remains targeted for the second half of 2027, with more specific reveal and production timing details expected in the first quarter. Management described the midsize program as having entered final-stage prototyping, and said pilot production is in its final phase ahead of the planned ramp at the new plant in Saudi Arabia.

How Did TSLA, RIVN, LCID Retail Traders React?

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around TSLA jumped from 'neutral' to 'bullish' territory over the past 24 hours, while message volume fell from 'normal' to 'low' levels.

Meanwhile, sentiment around RIVN and LCID was in 'bearish' and 'bullish' territory, respectively.

While TSLA has dropped 13% year-to-date, LCID and RIVN have lost 38%. 

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