Tesla (TSLA) is preparing to report Q1 earnings on April 22, 2025, and investors are watching closely for updates. Given how far the stock has fallen since the new year began, many questions may arise about the company’s plans.
Over the past few months, many Tesla-specific problems have come into sharp focus. With some saying CEO Elon Musk has focused more on his responsibilities on Capitol Hill than actually running his company, investor confidence and Wall Street sentiment have trended downward.
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That’s not the only factor that has stemmed from Musk’s work with the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), though. His political affiliations have sparked a global backlash from consumers in both the U.S. and Europe.
This anti-Tesla sentiment led to some highly disappointing delivery statistics from Q1. But according to some recent photos, things may be even worse for Tesla than many experts had anticipated.
Consumer sentiment toward has been trending downward lately, impacting sales for multiple Tesla models.
Image source: TheStreet/Getty
Recent aerial photos paint a troubling picture of Tesla’s Texas factory
It’s important to note that Tesla’s declining sales do not indicate that the electric vehicle (EV) market is shrinking. On the contrary, sales are up 10% in the U.S., with more than 300,000 sold between January and March 2025, according to data from the Kelley Blue Book.
But while companies such as General Motors and Honda experienced notable EV sales growth, Tesla has failed to keep pace. And a recent report helped shine a light on just how difficult it has been for the former EV leader to move one type of vehicle.
Related: Analyst flags major Tesla problems ahead unless Elon Musk takes bold action
For years, Musk kept Tesla enthusiasts on the edge of their seats as he teased the electric pickup, known as the Cybertruck, that the company would be producing. Since the futuristic-looking vehicle finally started rolling out to the public, though, sales results have been underwhelming.
Sherwood News recently showed just how difficult it has been for Tesla to move these large-scale EVs. The outlet published some aerial photos taken of the company’s Austin, Texas, gigafactory, which showed a staggering amount of idle Cybertrucks.
The analysis notes that by its count, the photos show over 500 idle Cybertrucks. That number may not seem noteworthy at first, but according to the report, it represents “more than 1% of the number of Cybertrucks owned in the U.S.,” all of which are sitting on a lot in Texas, waiting to be shipped to owners.
“Since the Cybertrucks began coming off the line just over a year ago, Tesla has sold fewer than 50,000 of the vehicles in the U.S. — something we know from government data after the vehicle’s eighth recall last month,” Sherwood reports. “The 6,406 the company sold in Q1 is also about half of what it sold a quarter earlier, according to data from Cox Automotive, when the truck was less of a political lightning rod.”
This would help explain why Tesla has stopped accepting Cybertruck trade-ins, a decision that has likely been largely unpopular with owners who regret buying a car linked to Musk. But on top of that, it shows that the company is facing an extremely difficult battle in selling the expensive vehicles Musk spent years hyping.
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This is further supported by an analysis from Popular Mechanics, which found that while roughly 1 million people reserved Cybertrucks, only about 5% have ended up translating into actual sales.
This isn’t the first report of Tesla’s excess Cybertruck problem
Other outlets have reported similar problems facing Tesla regarding Cybertruck sales. On April 1, 2025, Electrek reported that the company had accumulated roughly $200 million worth of unsold Cybertruck inventory.
Shortly before that, a local news publication revealed the company had been storing extra Cybertrucks in parking lots in Overland Park, Kansas. A month before, a Reddit user claimed to have seen Cybertrucks piling up at a location in Cypress, Texas, near the city of Houston.
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On April 17, news broke that Tesla would be scaling back Cybertruck production and reallocating some of its employees to work on the Model Y.
However, the company has also revealed that it will delay this lower-priced EV by “at least several months,” which raises further questions about the company’s growth prospects.
Tesla’s future remains uncertain as the company prepares for what will likely be an underwhelming earnings report, even after analysts have tempered their expectations. But these photos indicate that a product once thought to be the future of Tesla may hinder immediate progress.
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