Tesla tuner Unplugged Performance has publicly offered to take over the entire Cybertruck production line, proposing to pay Tesla a licensing fee on every truck plus a share of FSD (Full Self-Driving, Tesla's driver-assistance software) and Robotaxi revenue as the automaker winds the program down around mid-2027.

The proposal landed as a public post on X, framed as a standing invitation, according to Electrek. Unplugged said it would run Cybertruck production "at no cost to Tesla's floor space, headcount, or focus." That last word matters. Tesla's problem isn't just slow Cybertruck sales; it's factory capacity and management attention, both of which Musk wants pointed at the Cybercab instead.

Neither Elon Musk nor Tesla had responded to the offer when Electrek published its story on Tuesday.

Why is the Cybertruck being phased out?

Last week Musk said Tesla would begin phasing out the Cybertruck at its Giga Texas plant around mid-2027. His reasoning, as reported by Electrek: Tesla needs to "make room for increased Cybercab production."

The commercial backdrop is blunt. Cybertruck sales sit at roughly 12% of Tesla's original 250,000-unit annual target, according to Electrek. Benzinga separately reported that sales have fallen well below that goal. A program running at one-eighth of plan doesn't justify prime factory floor space when a robotaxi push is competing for the same cells and capacity.

What would Unplugged actually build?

Unplugged's pitch isn't a nostalgia play. It comes with a product plan:

• The Cybertruck itself, continued under license
• A CyberSUV with three rows of seats
• A driverless CyberCargo hauler

Crucially, the tuner said it backs making Tesla's Cybercab the top priority and would let that vehicle take priority access to battery cells. In other words, Unplugged is offering to absorb the truck line without competing for Tesla's scarcest input.

The money flows the other way too. Tesla would collect a per-vehicle licensing fee, plus revenue from the FSD and Robotaxi networks attached to each truck built. Tesla becomes a royalty recipient rather than a manufacturer — no floor space, no headcount, no engineering distraction.

Who is behind the offer?

Unplugged Performance founder Ben Schaffer is comfortable with Tesla's pivot to self-driving technology but does not want the Cybertruck program to end, according to Electrek.

The company has a direct commercial stake here. It sells a range of Cybertruck products, including lift and armor kits, and it has won multiple contracts to rebuild Cybertrucks as police cars for law enforcement, Electrek reported. If the truck dies, a chunk of Unplugged's business dies with it. That gives the offer a clear motive, and also real credibility: this is a company that already knows the vehicle intimately.

Support arrived quickly from one corner of Tesla's investor base. Ross Gerber, co-founder of Gerber Kawasaki Wealth Management, quoted the post on X with a simple message: "Free the tesla cybertruck," he said, according to Benzinga.

What happens next?

That depends entirely on Tesla, and so far the company has said nothing. The offer's structure — licensing fees, FSD and Robotaxi revenue, zero claims on floor space or battery cells — reads as if it were designed to preempt every objection Musk might raise. Whether that's enough to save a truck selling at 12% of target is another question.

The clock is running. Phase-out preparations at Giga Texas begin ahead of mid-2027, and a standing invitation only stands for so long.