If you’ve noticed a steady increase in the number of stainless steel trucks driving around your neighborhood, there’s a reason. Tesla has been steadily ramping up production and deliveries of the Cybertruck, and data from Kelley Blue Book (KBB) suggests it may now be the best-selling electric truck in America.
We expected this. Earlier this week, InsideEVs estimates based on recall data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration suggested that the Cybertruck could outsell the Ford F-150 Lightning in the second quarter of 2024. KBB’s second-quarter sales report bolsters that estimate.
The issue of electric trucks is complex.
Electric truck sales haven’t seen any real growth. They lag far behind electric sedans and crossovers. This is largely due to the high cost and limited capabilities of gas-powered trucks when it comes to heavy-duty tasks, like towing and hauling. But if Tesla Cybertruck sales continue to grow, the trend could reverse.
The report, which pulls in U.S. vehicle registration data, notes that Tesla sold 8,755 Cybertrucks in the second quarter, while Ford sold 7,902 F-150 Lightnings during the same period. So the Cybertruck outsold the Lightning by about 853 units.
Analyzing Tesla’s sales data isn’t easy because the company doesn’t release numbers for specific models. It releases Model 3 and Model Y sales combined, with the rest of the vehicles grouped under “other models.” Tesla doesn’t release registration data just by state, it doesn’t break it down by country or region either. However, the Cybertruck is currently only sold in the United States, so that’s easy to analyze.
Tesla said deliveries of its other models in the second quarter, which include the Model S, Model X, Cybertruck and possibly even the Semi, totaled 21,551 units.
If KBB’s data is accurate, Model S and Model X sales have dropped significantly. With 8,755 Cybertruck units sold alone to offset “other models,” Tesla sold less than 13,000 units of the other three models combined.
This is worrying because the Model S and Model X, which put Tesla on the global map and laid the foundation for its success, are now rapidly aging. The Model S was launched in 2012 and the Model X was introduced in 2015. Both have been updated since then, but they are showing their age in many other ways.
So far this year, the Ford F-150 Lightning remains the best-selling electric truck with 15,645 units sold while Tesla has sold 11,558 Cybertruck units in the first six months of 2024.
With an estimated 2 million reservations for the stainless steel giant, demand isn’t the real problem. It’s ramping up production. And Tesla appears to be gaining some momentum there after years of development delays.
Overall, if things continue this way, the vehicle could top the electric truck sales charts for the rest of the year.
