The current base version of the Tesla Cybertruck is now eligible for a $7,500 federal tax credit in the US.
It should help Tesla move some units amid the electric truck’s demand issues, but not for long as both CEO Elon Musk and President Donald Trump aim to kill the electric vehicle incentive.
When Tesla launched the production version of the Cybertruck in late 2023, it was much more expensive than initially announced. However, Tesla still managed to price the dual motor version just short of $80,000, which happens to be the price limit for an electric SUV or pickup truck to be eligible for the $7,500 federal tax credit.
The automaker first started to deliver the Foundation Series version of the Cybertruck, which starts at $20,000 more, and therefore, buyers didn’t have access to the credit.
However, Tesla started delivering $80,000 non-Foundation Series Cybertrucks in October 2024, but it wasn’t officially eligible for the tax credit for reasons that aren’t clear.
This has now changed.
With an update to the IRS website today, the Cybertruck Dual Motor and Single Motor, the latter is not in production yet, now can qualify for the $7,500 federal tax credit for electric vehicles:
It’s not clear why the Cybertruck wasn’t eligible until now. The government has requirements for a vehicle to be eligible beyond pricing, especially regarding the sourcing of parts and materials.
Cybertruck is the only Tesla vehicle using the automaker’s in-house manufactured battery cells. It’s possible that Tesla needed time to have to get approval for those cells.
Regardless, the tax credit should now help Tesla move more Cybertrucks, which was becoming more difficult, as we previously noted.
Tesla was having issues selling the Cybertruck in the US and even started to buff out Foundation Series badges to sell them as regular Cybertrucks and homologate trucks intended for the US market for Canada.
However, it’s unclear how much the tax credit will help.
The eligibility requirements are not just for the vehicles, but there are also some for the buyers. Single tax filers can’t earn more than $150,000, and $300,000 for dual filers, and higher income people tend to be the ones to buy luxury vehicles like these.
Also, there’s the question of how long the tax credit will be available.
The incoming Trump administration, which is backed by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, has made clear that they want to remove the EV tax credit. However, they will need Congress’ approval, and it’s unclear how fast that can happen and if there will be a phase-out period or not.
Electrek’s Take
While I am seriously against removing EV incentives while the US is still far behind the rest of the world in EV adoption, I do believe that the sentiment of urgency should help Tesla here.
I am sure that some people were waiting for Cybertruck’s eligibility for the tax credit, but it’s hard to estimate how significant this buyer group is currently.
I could see some eligible people waiting for the base version preferring to buy a dual motor with tax credit rather than risk not having access to the tax credit by the time the single motor version becomes available.
Between the referral credit and the tax credit, the Cybertruck now starts really close to $70,000.