Tesla will sue you if you try to flip your low-VIN Cybertruck
Early Cybertruck owners will be prevented from reselling their vehicles until a year after they take delivery, according to an update to Tesla’s Motor Vehicle Purchase Agreement.
With the Tesla Cybertruck hitting the road at the end of this month, we’re gradually starting to learn more and more about it. We’ve recently seen it doing some offroading, wrapped in matte black, and seen a leak of every single dimension so we finally know how big it is.
And as hype has been building closer to release, an auction was held last month by the Petersen Automotive Museum in LA, where an “early Cybertruck VIN” was auctioned off for the cool sum of $400,000.
So you may be thinking: I have an early Cybertruck reservation, maybe I’ll be able to get a low VIN and do the same?
Well, not if Tesla has anything to say about it.
Turns out, Tesla will stop anyone from reselling a Cybertruck in the first year, and if a situation comes up where you have to resell the car, Tesla demands that you give it first right of refusal for the sale before putting it up to the public. And if you do resell your car and don’t tell Tesla about it, the company threatens to sue you for $50k (or more) and may not sell you any future vehicles.
The clause was added to Tesla’s Motor Vehicle Purchase Agreement, which you can read directly on its website. Under the “No Resellers” section, which normally stops dealerships from buying Teslas en masse to resell them, a section has been added labeled “For Cybertruck Only,” and reads thusly:
For Cybertruck Only: You understand and acknowledge that the Cybertruck will first be released in limited quantity. You agree that you will not sell or otherwise attempt to sell the Vehicle within the first year following your Vehicle’s delivery date. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if you must sell the Vehicle within the first year following its delivery date for any unforeseen reason, and Tesla agrees that your reason warrants an exception to its no reseller policy, you agree to notify Tesla in writing and give Tesla reasonable time to purchase the Vehicle from you at its sole discretion and at the purchase price listed on your Final Price Sheet less $0.25/mile driven, reasonable wear and tear, and the cost to repair the Vehicle to Tesla’s Used Vehicle Cosmetic and Mechanical Standards. If Tesla declines to purchase your Vehicle, you may then resell your Vehicle to a third party only after receiving written consent from Tesla. You agree that in the event you breach this provision, or Tesla has reasonable belief that you are about to breach this provision, Tesla may seek injunctive relief to prevent the transfer of title of the Vehicle or demand liquidated damages from you in the amount of $50,000 or the value received as consideration for the sale or transfer, whichever is greater. Tesla may also refuse to sell you any future vehicles.
Note that there are exceptions available – if you do have good reason to need to resell your vehicle, you can notify Tesla, and if Tesla says okay, then you can sell the car back to the company. But that depends on what buyback price Tesla comes up with, and whether it even decides to accept your reasoning in the first place.
Tesla is no stranger to having popular vehicles that resell for well over sticker price on release. Several of Tesla’s previous vehicles have trickled out onto the road in limited numbers at first, with early owners having the chance to resell them for much more than they paid.
Some of these early models have ended up being bought by other automakers, presumably for reverse-engineering purposes. And we could see that being the case with the Cybertruck, which has many aspects that are a departure from traditional vehicle manufacturing (extra-thick stainless steel body, 48-volt electrical architecture, etc.), which will certainly be of interest to other automakers.
And it does make for a more chaotic release, with buyers scrambling to try to get an early car and scalp it for profits, and low-VIN cars that traditionally have more problems ending up in the hands of people who paid way too much and who don’t have a pre-existing relationship with the company.
Tesla tried to control this with the Model 3 release, with the first several months of vehicles going to employees rather than the public, and the first public cars mainly going to people who already had a Tesla, were close to the factory, and who had camped out overnight to reserve one.
So there are certainly reasons that companies might want to place some limits on early cars.
And despite that this might seem legally unenforceable at first glance, these sorts of clauses are actually relatively common in the rare car world. For example, wrestler John Cena was one of the first to get a Ford GT in 2017, but resold the car within a few months in violation of a clause in Ford’s purchase agreement disallowing resale for two years. Ford sued him and the case ended up being settled with an apology by Cena and donation of proceeds to charity.
Ferrari is also notorious for this sort of behavior – to buy Ferrari’s limited-edition cars, you pretty much need to be on a list of known customers, and the company will refuse to sell cars to certain people for various reasons. Ferrari also has a first right of refusal contract, and may even prevent you from wrapping its cars.
We’ve seen it in EVs, and even in EV trucks, as well, as the Hummer EV originally had a 12-month no-resale provision, later lowered down to 6 months.
But those cars are much more expensive and much more limited than the Cybertruck. Clauses like this are a lot rarer with vehicles that are meant to have mass appeal or to sell in large numbers – which Tesla has recently said is the case for Cybertruck.
Of particular note is that Tesla says Cybertrucks will “first be released in limited quantity.” While this seems like it would be true on its face for just about any vehicle, in Tesla’s Q3 update, the company said that it currently has production capacity of 125,000 vehicles a year.
While it perhaps will take a little time to ramp up to 125k from the start, this sounds like Tesla is promising to deliver six figures worth of cars in the next year. So early buyers may not be able to resell their cars until six figures worth of cars are out there.
Electrek’s Take
Regardless of how common or reasonable these clauses might be, it should be said that they are also quite unpopular. Nobody likes a scalper, but also nobody likes being told what they can’t do with their car.
Anyone who has walked into a Ferrari dealership can tell you that it’s not a great company to buy from. Unless they already know who you are, they act like you shouldn’t be there, like they couldn’t care less if you wanted to buy their car or not. They’re not selling the cars for you, they’re selling the cars for them.
It’s elitist, it’s haughty, and frankly, I think it makes a lot of people less interested in their cars, not more. And in the early days of the Roadster, one of Tesla’s sales tactics was to tell customers to head to the Ferrari dealership next door and see if they’ll even talk to you, then come back over here if they won’t.
So it’s disappointing to see a similar clause in Tesla’s purchase agreement, especially without any sort of explanation of why or how long it will be there. Hopefully not long.
One thing we don’t know is how long the clause will last. Will this only apply to the first month or two of deliveries, to everyone in 2023, or to everyone in the first year? If Tesla does plan to release five or six figures worth of trucks, it seems a little onerous to have a year worth of reselling provisions for that many owners. If it’s only for early employee/VIP purchases and will disappear as the floodgates open to wide delivery in significant production numbers, then that’s not so big of a deal.
We’d ask Tesla about this, but they have no PR department, so you’ll have to come up with your own explanation.
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Despite the warnings, BYD continues introducing new discounts. On Wednesday, BYD’s luxury off-road brand began offering over 50% Huawei’s smart driving tech.
BYD introduces new discounts on smart driving tech
After BYD cut prices again in May, the China Automobile Manufacturers Association (CAMA) warned that the ultra-low prices are “triggering a new round of price war panic.”
Although they didn’t single out BYD, it was pretty obvious. BYD slashed prices across 22 of its vehicles by up to 34%, triggering several automakers to follow suit in China.
BYD’s cheapest EV, the Seagull, typically starts at about $10,000 (66,800 yuan). After the price cuts, the Seagull is listed at under $8,000 (55,800 yuan).
It doesn’t look like China’s EV leader plans to slow down anytime soon. Fang Cheng Bao, BYD’s luxury off-road brand, introduced new discounts on Huawei’s smart driving tech on Wednesday.
The limited-time offer cuts the price of Huawei’s Qiankun Intelligent Driving High-end Function Package to just 12,000 yuan ($1,700).
Buyers who order the smart driving tech in July will save over 50% compared to its typical price of 32,000 yuan ($4,500).
Earlier this year, Fang Chang Bao launched the Tai 3, its most affordable vehicle, starting at 139,800 yuan ($19,300). The Tai 3 is about the size of the Tesla Model Y, but costs about half as much.
The Tai 3 will spearhead a new sub-brand of electric SUVs following the more premium Bao 8 and Bao 5 hybrid SUVs.
BYD’s luxury off-road brand sold 18,903 vehicles last month, up 50% from May and 605% compared to last year. Fang Cheng Bao has now sold over 10,000 vehicles for three consecutive months.
The Chinese EV giant sold 382,585 vehicles in total in June, an increase of 12% from last year. In the first half of the year, BYD’s cumulative sales reached over 2.1 million, a YOY increase of 33%.
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Every year, it seems like there’s a new headline about the world’s lightest electric bike. Each year, engineers manage to shave a few more grams off of an exotically designed frame built with even more exotic materials. And each year, the continuously lower weight is balanced by continuously higher prices – often exorbitantly high. But now Dahon has bucked that trend, offering us an incredibly lightweight electric bike at a price that normal e-bike riders can afford. Meet the Dahon K-Feather.
To put things in perspective, some of the previous lightest electric bicycles have included the 11.8 kg (26 lb) LeMond Prolog at US $4,500, the 11.75 kg (12.59 lb) Trek Domane+ SLR at US $8,999, and the 10 kg (22 lb) Hummingbird Flax folding e-bike at US $6,050.
So with that in mind, please allow me to introduce you to the new Dahon K-Feather. This is a 12 kg (26.5 kg) folding electric bike priced at an incredibly reasonable US $1,199 in North America or €1,499 in Europe.
Sure, it’s not the absolute lightest folding e-bike we’ve ever seen, but it’s 90% of the way there and at a quarter of the price. Plus, it comes from Dahon, which is one of the most respected names in the folding bike world and is largely credited with paving the way for the booming folding bike industry we see today. Since the 1980s, Dahon’s innovative designs have been imitated around the world, yet the folding bike maker has continued to innovate and stay several steps ahead of competing brands.
The K-feather achieves its extra low weight through the combination of a novel frame design employing Dahon’s patented frame designs, including the company’s DELTECH technology and “super down tube,” which help improve rigidity and robustness while reducing weight.
The electrical system on the K-Feather is also a featherweight, keeping the e-bike largely in the last-mile category. While the battery claims a maximum range of up to 24.8 miles (40 km), real-world riding and hilly terrain could reduce that range. Still, clever designs like a system that automatically shuts off the extra motor power when detecting a downhill segment help to eke out more range from the small 24V and 5Ah battery.
The ultra-lightweight 250W hub motor also offers just 32 Nm of torque, meaning the assist is more of a helpful push than a powerful shove. But with the inclusion of a torque sensor for the pedal assist, that push comes on quickly and reliably, making the bike feel more like a traditional analog bike being pedaled by someone with extra strong legs.
With 16″ dual-wall rims and 14g spokes, this isn’t the heavy fat tire folding e-bikes we’re used to in North America, and the capacity reflects that. The K-Feather is rated to support riders weighing up to 105 kg (231 lb), though the highly adjustable seating position can support a range of rider heights from 145 to 190.5 cm (4’9″ to 6’3″).
Coming in six colorways, the Dahon K-feather folding e-bike is now available in the US and has launched for pre-order in Europe, with shipments there expected in September.
I had a bit of a preview of the K-feather on my last trip to China when I was able to visit Dahon’s headquarters and test ride the bike.
I still can’t believe how light it felt, both underneath me and while folding it up and carrying it around. Be on the lookout for that full experience from my trip, coming soon.
Electrek’s Take
The K-Feather represents a compelling milestone not just for Dahon, but for the entire folding e-bike market. By delivering a truly lightweight, compact, and fully electric folder at an impressively affordable price point, Dahon has made minimalist e-mobility more accessible than ever.
It’s not just a bike for die-hard lightweight e-bike connoisseurs; it’s a real-world solution for commuters, travelers, and apartment dwellers who want the freedom of electric assist without the bulk or the sticker shock. If the goal is to get more people on two wheels, the K-Feather might just be one of the most important steps forward yet.
Coming in at less than half the weight of most folding e-bikes, and still a fraction of most lighter-duty folders, the K-Feather’s modest performance makes it a great urban ride for those who favor compact size and light weight. In fact, I think it might be perfect for my mother-in-law, who needs an e-bike to get to and from the train she takes to work, but also needs it to be light enough to carry up to her second-story apartment. Hmmm, perhaps I should have her do a review for us…
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The Honda Prologue remains a top-selling EV in the US, but it’s Acura’s luxury electric SUV that’s been the surprise hit this year.
Honda Prologue sales rise while Acura’s EV surprises
After delivering the first Prologue models last year, Honda’s electric SUV quickly became a hit. In the second half of 2024, it was the second-best-selling electric SUV in the US, trailing only the Tesla Model Y.
Despite limited inventory due to the new 2025 model year change, Honda sold 2,799 Prologues last month. In the first half of the year, Honda has now sold 16,317 Prologue models in the US. In comparison, Toyota sold just over 9,200 units of its electric SUV, the bZ4X, during the same period.
Toyota’s luxury brand, Lexus, sold only 763 RZ models, its sole electric SUV, for a total of 3,779 units in the first half of the year.
Honda Prologue sales have now held steady, averaging over 2,700 units per month, but it’s Acura’s electric SUV that has been quietly gaining ground in the luxury EV space.
With another 1,318 models sold last month, Acura ZDX sales reached 10,355 in the first half of 2025. Acura’s electric SUV is even outpacing the Cadillac Lyriq, which is based on the same Ultium platform.
Sales are significantly higher than the company expected. Earlier this year, Mike Langel, vice president of national sales for Acura, told Automotive News that the company expected to sell around 1,000 ZDX models a month this year.
A significant reason behind the strong demand is the availability of massive discounts, which can reach nearly $30,000 in some states. The luxury electric SUV is more affordable than a Honda CR-V, with monthly leases starting at just $299.
The Honda Prologue is available to lease for as little as $259 per month. The offer is for 36 months with $2,399 due at signing in California and other ZEV states.
With the Trump administration planning to end the $7,500 federal EV tax credit, many of these savings will soon disappear.
If you’re looking to take advantage of the savings while they’re still available, we can help you get started. You can use our links below to find deals on the Honda Prologue and Acura ZDX in your area.
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