No matter how you look at it, the Tesla Cybertruck is a successful product in its home country, the United States. In the half-year it’s been on sale, it managed to surpass both the Ford F-150 Lightning and the Rivian R1T–two electric trucks that debuted way before it–when it comes to registrations.
It’s big, flashy, expensive and most certainly controversial, which is probably half the reason why it’s so popular stateside. But while Americans get to order their trucks online, European fans have been left yearning for the fridge-like EV with no official solution in sight. That hasn’t stopped people from importing the Cybertruck into the European Union and registering it for public road use, though.
InsideEVs spoke with a couple of people who either already have a road-legal Tesla Cybertruck in the EU or are in the process of registering one to sell once there are plates on it. It’s not quite a straightforward process. There’s overseas shipping involved, hardware modifications and a grey spare parts market to contend with. That said, it can be done.
When deliveries of the production-spec Cybertruck finally started late last year, Tesla’s Vice President of Vehicle Engineering, Lars Moravy, put the final nail in the coffin of the truck’s potential European availability. “European regulations require a rounding of 3.2 millimeters on protruding parts,” he said. “Unfortunately, it is impossible to make a rounding of 3.2 millimeters on a 1.4-millimeter sheet of stainless steel.”
His statements came after several experts had weighed in on the Cybertruck’s European future. Some said that the truck’s projected weight (we didn’t have a final figure until after the delivery event in November 2023) would have put Tesla’s truck in the truck category. That would limit its appeal to buyers in the EU because they would need a truck license (C category), which isn’t as ubiquitous as a regular car license (B category).
The experts also said that the vehicle’s tough-to-bend stainless steel body panels would make it nearly impossible to pass local crash safety requirements. The NACS charging port which is fitted to all U.S.-spec Tesla EVs would also need to be changed for the CCS2 connector that’s widely used in Europe.
Don’t fret, though. As we learned from our sources, neither the stainless steel panels nor the charging port are issues in reality. As for the sharp edges, there’s a quick fix for that, too.
Enter Norton Slovak. Based in the Czech Republic, he’s the man behind the Cybertruck.cz website and owner of the first Tesla Cybertruck to be registered in his home country. His unit is one of the first Tesla pickups in the EU, and its story started about a year ago when a group of Tesla fans got together and came up with the plan to import the edgy EV from the U.S.
The car was reserved and delivered in North America first, and then privately shipped to the EU where the homologation process began, Slovak told me over e-mail.
One of the biggest problems that prevented the Cybertruck from being road-legal was the rear lights, which are red instead of amber. They’re 48-volt units on a proprietary electrical architecture, making them quite hard to modify to comply with the rules. As a result, the truck got additional amber turn indicators and an extra red fog light at the rear.
As for those sharp edges, the fix was easier than I expected. “The car has modifications for sharp edges in the form of rubber edge guards that could come into contact with pedestrians at the front and back,” Slovak said.
Charging is not an issue, either. With a CCS to NACS adapter, the Cybertruck can charge just fine at European DC fast charging stations. It was even recorded drawing 800-volt power from compatible stalls. The weight of the truck–6,600 pounds or 2,995 kilograms–is also just under the limit for a B-category vehicle, meaning it can be driven without a truck license.
When it comes to spare parts and servicing, however, things get a bit trickier. “We have contacts in the U.S. and every part needs to be purchased there and then shipped to Europe where we can fix the vehicle,” Norton Slovak told me in an email. Owners have to be comfortable with long wait times for parts shipping from overseas. Software updates shouldn’t be an issue, though, as the EV can connect to any Wi-Fi network in the world and do its thing.
It’s also worth noting that getting an imported vehicle certified in the EU requires an expert who needs to go over the entire truck, check for non-compliance, measure it and weigh it at an accredited facility. Then, after all the problems have been resolved, they can issue an exception for registration purposes.
Gallery: The First Tesla Cybertruck Registered In The Czech Republic (Source: Norton Slovak for InsideEVs)
What about costs, though? The dual-motor Tesla Cybertruck Foundation Series costs $100,000. After adding up the costs of shipping, individual homologation and registration fees, potential buyers need to check their bank accounts twice to make sure they can foot the bill.
There are already people willing to help prospective owners who don’t want to deal with all the paperwork themselves. A company called Next Exclusives in the Netherlands specializes in selling luxury cars. It's in the process of importing a Cybertruck All-Wheel Drive Foundation Series, which it claims will be the first never-registered Cybertruck ever offered for sale in the EU.
The price? A whopping €356,950 ($388,959 at today’s exchange rate). I contacted the company, trying to find out more about its plans with the vehicle and whether there has been any interest in it. “Many American pick-ups are driving around in the Netherlands, like the Dodge Ram and Ford F-150,” Jens van der Putten from Next Exclusives told me in an email. However, the extremely limited number of Cybertrucks on European roads means it’s a highly exclusive car. “A Cybertruck is more exclusive than, say, a Lamborghini Urus. For that reason, you can also tap into a new market in Europe because of its exclusivity.”
The Netherlands-based company doesn’t have its hands on the truck yet, as the delivery is expected sometime in August, but that hasn’t stopped people from asking about it. “Because of the exclusivity and [company] tax advantages offered in the country, there is more interest than I initially expected. I hope to reach a deal one of these days,” Jens van der Putten said.
Gallery: Tesla Cybertruck Founders Edition
The company will handle all the paperwork and individual type approval for getting the Cybertruck registered in the Netherlands, which will result in a car that can then be registered anywhere in the EU.
“An individual type approval is not something unique. People who want to import a car from outside Europe that has never been delivered in Europe by the manufacturer or people who have built a kit car, for example, can use this,” the dealer told InsideEVs. “We assume that this is not going to cause any problems for this Cybertruck. For example, it’s the same procedure as importing a Nissan R34 GT-R from Japan,” he added.
I asked Slovak, the Czech owner of Cybertruck.cz, about the eye-watering price tag of the Next Exclusives truck. He told me that–coincidence or not–he is now also in the business of importing and registering Cybertrucks in Europe. Without telling me specific numbers, Slovak said that it would cost significantly less to bring the EV to the EU and get it road-legal.
Currently, Slovak’s Czech-registered angular pickup is being used as a rolling advertising billboard in and around Prague. It’s also worth mentioning that it’s quite hard to know how many Cybertrucks are roaming the streets of Europe.
There are several reports about trucks arriving at European ports only to be shipped further east, and at least one article about a Cybertruck that was supposedly for sale in Germany after being approved and registered, but I couldn’t track any of them down to find out more. It’s pretty clear, however, that more will come, one way or the other.
