Thelife- Cybertruck deliveries have finally begun, but Tesla's electric truck is unavailable in Europe.
- The pickup faces obstacles, with an EU truck license likely needed to drive the US-built vehicle.
After years of waiting, the Cybertruck is finally here — but European Tesla fans shouldn't get too excited.
Although deliveries began on Thursday in the US, it isn't available in Europe, despite the European Union being both an important manufacturing hub and a key market for Tesla. There are a few reasons why it's unlikely to be sold across the Atlantic anytime soon.
The first is simple: the Cybertruck is extremely heavy.
Documents submitted to US regulators show that the minimum gross vehicle weight range is 8,001 to 9,001 pounds, or 4 to 4.5 tons, which could prove an issue if Tesla wanted to sell the pickup in Europe as is.
"The vehicle's gross vehicle weight for the dual-motor version is high, above 3.5 tons," Pedro Pacheco, vice-president of research at Gartner, told Business Insider.
"That has implications for European regulations, because it means that, most likely, a passenger vehicle driver's license will not do," he added.
Weight worries
To drive a vehicle heavier than 3.5 tons in the EU, drivers must have a category C1 license — meaning that to drive a US-built Cybertruck on European roads, you may need to apply for a truck driver's license.
Another obstacle is that the Cybertruck's charging port isn't compatible with European chargers.
The Cybertrucks rolling off Tesla production lines in the US work with the Tesla NAC standard, which has been widely adopted across the US, but not with the CCS network used by most European nations.
Pacheco added that Tesla would probably seek to make adjustments to ensure that an EU Cybertruck could drive on European roads, including making their charging tech compatible with CCS and reducing weight.
The bigger question is whether Tesla can be bothered making these tweaks, considering the relative unpopularity of hulking pickups like the Cybertruck in Europe.
"Pickup trucks are somewhat small in terms of market adoption in comparison to what you see in the US market," said Pacheco.
"For a vehicle in the category of the Cybertruck, there's not a huge market in Europe, because pickup trucks generally are not very common."
The European market for pickups is mostly focused on what Pacheco calls "entry-level pickup trucks" – small by US standards but better suited to European roads and cities.
Production challenges
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has floated the prospect of producing a smaller version of the Cybertruck for the European market before, describing it as "highly likely down the road" in 2020. However, there have been no updates since, and Pacheco said he thought the small size of the market was probably a factor in Tesla's disinterest.
At any rate, Tesla is likely going to have enough trouble satisfying demand for the Cybertruck in North America without worrying about other continents.
The US carmaker stopped taking orders for the electric pickup outside the US last year – a step Musk said it would only take if demand exceeded supply "to a ridiculous degree."
Since then, the Tesla boss has admitted that the company faces enormous challenges in scaling up production of the Cybertruck and satisfying the more than 2 million preorders Tesla has received.
In an earnings call last month, he said that the automaker had "dug its own grave" with the Cybertruck's unique design, and said that it would likely be years before Tesla hits its target of making 250,000 Cybertruck a year.
Tesla did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.