A Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) Cybertruck bearing Sichuan green license plates was photographed in Zhengzhou on March 9, 2026, drawing attention on elevated highways, near office towers, and in underground shopping mall car parks, according to a Chinese news outlet.

Tesla has not officially introduced the Cybertruck to China. The vehicle is widely understood to have entered the country through the parallel import channel — a niche trade pathway that allows wealthy buyers to import foreign models not sold domestically through licensed dealers.

Parallel import pricing for the Cybertruck in China has been steep. Prior sightings in Tianjin put the asking price at over 3,000,000 CNY (c. $434,800), compared with a U.S. starting price of roughly $99,990 for the Dual Motor All-Wheel Drive configuration. The Zhengzhou unit, registered in Sichuan Province, follows the same pattern.

China's green license plate is reserved for new-energy vehicles and signals that a car meets the requirements for road-legal operation. The first Cybertruck to receive one appeared in Tianjin in August 2024, registered as a commercial vehicle and listed for resale at 3,500,000 CNY (c. $507,200) — roughly 4.5 times its U.S. retail value at the time. In each case, the importer used the "one vehicle, one certification" process to satisfy China's 3C compulsory certification requirements on a per-unit basis.

According to local media reports, the first Cybertruck to receive a green plate in Liaoning Province did so in August 2025, classified as a "small off-road passenger vehicle." That registration was priced from 2,180,000 CNY (c. $315,900). Subsequent units surfaced in Tianjin and Chengdu before the latest Zhengzhou sighting.

Tesla registered the Chinese trademark "特斯拉赛博" (Tesla Cyber) on January 21, 2025, and on December 11, 2024, the tri-motor Cyberbeast variant received an official Automobile Energy Consumption Label from China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), listing the vehicle as an M1 passenger vehicle with a range of 618 km (384 miles) and energy consumption of 22.6 kWh per 100 km.

An insider source reportedly told 36Kr that introducing the Cybertruck to China was one of Tesla's stated goals for 2025. However, Tesla's China website still lists no Cybertruck ordering channel, and no official delivery timeline has been announced.

The Cybertruck's path to official Chinese certification remains obstructed by 2018 national vehicle safety standards that prohibit sharp external protrusions on passenger vehicles. Cui Dongshu, Secretary General of the China Passenger Car Association, has stated that the Cybertruck's angular stainless-steel body does not meet those standards.

Tesla's Vice President of Vehicle Engineering Lars Moravy drew the same conclusion for Europe, noting that rounding the 1.4-millimetre stainless steel panels to comply with the continent's 3.2-millimetre protrusion rule is technically infeasible.

Source: Tesla

The truck comes in three main configurations. The rear-wheel-drive version accelerates from 0–100 km/h (0–62 mph) in 6.5 seconds with a range of approximately 402 km (250 miles). The dual-motor all-wheel-drive version covers the same sprint in 4.1 seconds and reaches roughly 547 km (340 miles).

The tri-motor Cyberbeast hits 0–100 km/h in 2.6 seconds, carries a tow rating of approximately 5 tonnes, and offers a rated range of around 515 km (320 miles), with a Foundation Series limited edition sharing the same mechanical specification. The body is constructed from 304 stainless steel with resistance to corrosion, impact, and, according to Tesla, small-arms fire. The design was inspired by the 1982 science-fiction film Blade Runner.

Cybertruck deliveries in the U.S. totalled just over 41,000 units through the end of 2024, well short of the anticipated demand signalled by more than 1.9 million reservations at peak. The vehicle ranked fifth among all U.S. EV models in 2024 and was the top-selling vehicle priced above $100,000 in the country for much of the year.

In parallel import markets, the Cybertruck joins a long tradition — Tesla's own Model S went through similar grey-market channels in China before the brand established official sales, sometimes trading at five times its U.S. price.

Tesla China's official website continues to show no Cybertruck listing, and the company has not published a delivery timeline for the market.

Conversion rate: 1 USD = 6.90 CNY as of March 9, 2026