Tesla Cybertruck spotted in matte black for first time – wraps incoming?
Tesla’s Cybertruck is finally hitting the road at the end of this month, but it was spotted today in a special color – matte black, the first time we’ve seen the Cybertruck in anything other than basic unpainted stainless steel.
We’ve technically seen the Cybertruck with other wraps, but those were mostly camouflage or jokes to make it look like another truck. The appearance of these wraps fueled speculation that Tesla might offer wraps when the Cybertruck is released, even though none of the ones we’ve seen yet have seemed like they would see public availability.
But now we’ve seen an actual wrap that someone might not be embarrassed to drive it in (well, beyond the basic level of embarrassment from driving a triangle in the first place), and it finally gives us an idea of what the truck might look like on the road, in some color other than silver.
The matte black Cybertruck was spotted in Santa Monica, driving by a “Teslas & Coffee” event this morning, and videos were posted to various social media and to a thread on cybertruckownersclub. It was driven by Franz von Holzhausen, Tesla’s design chief, who lives nearby.
Originally, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that “Cybertruck can have any color you want, so long as it’s nothing.” And in fact explicitly said that Tesla would not offer wraps, at least “at first,” but added that there are plenty of third-party installers who would be happy to install a wrap.
But now the Cybertruck is finally nearing production, with initial deliveries coming at the end of this month after being pushed back several times from its original date of late 2021. And it looks more likely that Tesla may offer wraps.
Tesla recently started installing their own wraps on Model 3 and Model Y, though they are quite pricey at a starting price of $7,500. This is due to Tesla’s use of more expensive PPF film, rather than cheaper vinyl film, because it is thicker, has a longer warranty, and better protects the paint underneath than vinyl does.
Cybertruck should be easier to wrap than Model 3/Y, because its relative lack of curves will make installation and cutting of the material much simpler. However, it is much bigger than those vehicles, so more material will probably be required to wrap it.
Further, the truck doesn’t have paint underneath at all – so using more expensive colored paint protection film may not be necessary, and maybe vinyl would be enough. But speculation has suggested that these wraps would be available within six months at a price of $8-12k, suggesting that PPF would be used.
We’re not sure if the wrap seen today on the Cybertruck was PPF or vinyl, and either way, it’s likely not “production spec” – and whether Tesla is even going to do production wraps after all. Maybe it was just a one-off because Franz liked it.
But this first appearance of a wrapped Cybertruck, combined with Tesla’s recent shift to installing its own wraps, does give us more indication that wraps may be available.
What do you think? Will Tesla offer factory wraps? Does the Cybertruck in the video look better to you? What color would you want to get a wrap in? Let us know in the comments.
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If you’ve ever wondered what happens when you combine a fruit cart, a cargo bike, and a Piaggio Ape all in one vehicle, now you’ve got your answer. I submit, for your approval, this week’s feature for the Awesomely Weird Alibaba Electric Vehicle of the Week column – and it’s a beautiful doozie.
Feast your eyes on this salad slinging, coleslaw cruising, tuber taxiing produce chariot!
I think this electric vegetable trike might finally scratch the itch long felt by many of my readers. It seems every time I cover an electric trike, even the really cool ones, I always get commenters poo-poo-ing it for having two wheels in the rear instead of two wheels in the front. Well, here you go, folks!
Designed with two front wheels for maximum stability, this trike keeps your cucumbers in check through every corner. Because trust me, you don’t want to hit a pothole and suddenly be juggling peaches like you’re in Cirque du Soleil: Farmers Market Edition.
To avoid the extra cost of designing a linked steering system for a pair of front wheels, the engineers who brought this salad shuttle to life simply side-stepped that complexity altogether by steering the entire fixed front end. I’ve got articulating electric tractors that steer like this, and so if it works for a several-ton work machine, it should work for a couple hundred pounds of cargo bike.
Featuring a giant cargo bed up front with four cascading fruit baskets set up for roadside sales, this cargo bike is something of a blank slate. Sure, you could monetize grandma’s vegetable garden, or you could fill it with your own ideas and concoctions. Our exceedingly talented graphics wizard sees it as the perfect coffee and pastry e-bike for my new startup, The Handlebarista, and I’m not one to argue. Basically, the sky is the limit with a blank slate bike like this!
Sure, the quality doesn’t quite match something like a fancy Tern cargo bike. The rim brakes aren’t exactly confidence-inspiring, but at least there are three of them. And if they should all give out, or just not quite slow you down enough to avoid that quickly approaching brick wall, then at least you’ve got a couple hundred pounds of tomatoes as a tasty crumple zone.
The electrical system does seem a bit underpowered. With a 36V battery and a 250W motor, I don’t know if one-third of a horsepower is enough to haul a full load to the local farmer’s market. But I guess if the weight is a bit much for the little motor, you could always do some snacking along the way. On the other hand, all the pictures seem to show a non-electric version. So if this cart is presumably mobile on pedal power alone, then that extra motor assist, however small, is going to feel like a very welcome guest.
The $950 price is presumably for the electric version, since that’s what’s in the title of the listing, though I wouldn’t get too excited just yet. I’ve bought a LOT of stuff on Alibaba, including many electric vehicles, and the too-good-to-be-true price is always exactly that. In my experience, you can multiply the Alibaba price by 3-4x to get the actual landed price for things like these. Even so, $3,000-$4,000 wouldn’t be a terrible price, considering a lot of electric trikes stateside already cost that much and don’t even come with a quad-set of vegetable baskets on board!
I should also put my normal caveat in here about not actually buying one of these. Please, please don’t try to buy one of these awesome cargo e-trikes. This is a silly, tongue-in-cheek weekend column where I scour the ever-entertaining underbelly of China’s massive e-commerce site Alibaba in search of fun, quirky, and just plain awesomely weird electric vehicles. While I’ve successfully bought several fun things on the platform, I’ve also gotten scammed more than once, so this is not for the timid or the tight-budgeted among us.
That isn’t to say that some of my more stubborn readers haven’t followed in my footsteps before, ignoring my advice and setting out on their own wild journey. But please don’t be the one who risks it all and gets nothing in return. Don’t say I didn’t warn you; this is the warning.
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Environment
Podcast: Trump/GOP go after EV/solar, Tesla, Ford, GM EV sales, Electrek Formula Sun, and more
In the Electrek Podcast, we discuss the most popular news in the world of sustainable transport and energy. In this week’s episode, we discuss Trump’s Big Beautiful bill becoming law and going after EVs and solar, Tesla, Ford, and GM EV sales, Electrek Formula Sun, and more
Today’s episode is brought to you by Bosch Mobility Aftermarket—A global leader and trusted provider of automotive aftermarket parts. To celebrate Amazon Prime Day July 8th through 11th, Bosch Mobility is offering exclusive savings on must-have auto parts and tools. Learn more here.
The show is live every Friday at 4 p.m. ET on Electrek’s YouTube channel.
As a reminder, we’ll have an accompanying post, like this one, on the site with an embedded link to the live stream. Head to the YouTube channel to get your questions and comments in.
After the show ends at around 5 p.m. ET, the video will be archived on YouTube and the audio on all your favorite podcast apps:
We now have a Patreon if you want to help us avoid more ads and invest more in our content. We have some awesome gifts for our Patreons and more coming.
Here are a few of the articles that we will discuss during the podcast:
- Electrek FSGP 2025: New teams, new cars, same solar spirit
- Congress votes to send 2 million US jobs to China, increase deficit, energy costs
- Tesla (TSLA) confirms 384,000 deliveries in Q2 2025, right on expectations
- Tesla prototype sparks speculation: a Model Y, maybe slightly smaller
- Tesla launches Oasis Supercharger with solar farm and off-grid batteries
- Tesla unveils its LFP battery factory, claims it’s almost ready
- Here’s why Ford’s electric vehicle sales crashed by nearly a third in Q2
- The Chevy Equinox EV is GM’s breakout star, but that’s not the only surprise
- Xpeng launches G7, a new Tesla Model Y competitor for just $27,000
Here’s the live stream for today’s episode starting at 4:00 p.m. ET (or the video after 5 p.m. ET:
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