Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Emergency Situations has confirmed it will purchase additional Tesla Cybertrucks after the electric pickup proved effective in rescue operations in Almaty, the country’s largest city.
The Central Asian country has become the latest small international market to adopt the Cybertruck, as Tesla continues to struggle with collapsing domestic demand for the electric pickup.
Cybertruck in rescue operations
Vice Minister for Emergency Situations Yerbolat Sadyrbayev confirmed the expansion plans during a government meeting, saying the first Cybertruck deployed in Almaty has already proven its value in real-world rescue operations — including in the mountainous terrain surrounding the city.
“Our ministry deals with emergencies where every minute counts,” Sadyrbayev said. “The Cybertruck has shown high efficiency in responding to various emergency situations. We are talking about saving people’s lives.”
Officials highlighted several operational advantages: high mobility across difficult terrain, electric power output capable of running communications and rescue equipment, quiet operation for discreet deployment, and extended power delivery for prolonged rescue operations.
Tesla’s official ‘Cybertruck’ X account shared the news:
The ministry is not replacing its entire fleet with Cybertrucks. Traditional rescue trucks, fire engines, and ambulances will remain the backbone of the system. The Cybertruck is being evaluated as a supplementary rapid-response vehicle.
Government and security use
Beyond emergency services, Kazakhstan’s elite State Guard Service also deployed Cybertrucks as mobile command-and-control vehicles during the informal Summit of the Organization of Turkic States in Turkistan on May 15. One Cybertruck was assigned to the State Guard Service for command and coordination, while a second was added to the rapid response reserve of the Ministry of Emergency Situations.
According to the State Guard Service, the vehicle was chosen for its power supply capabilities and ability to quickly deploy communications equipment in unprepared areas — not as a Tesla promotion.
Tesla’s Cybertruck demand problem
Kazakhstan is a tiny market for the Cybertruck, but it’s emblematic of Tesla’s broader strategy of finding any buyer it can for the struggling electric pickup.
Cybertruck sales fell 48% in 2025 to about 20,000 units — a fraction of the 250,000 per year Tesla originally anticipated for annual production. In Q1 2026, Tesla sold just 3,519 Cybertrucks, and registration data revealed that SpaceX bought 1,279 units over the last year, artificially inflating the numbers.
Tesla has been scrambling to find new markets. The company launched the Cybertruck in the Middle East in January 2026, delivering about 63 units in the UAE at prices starting around $110,000. It also cut the price with a new $60,000 AWD trim in February. But the truck still can’t be exported to Europe because it doesn’t meet EU regulations.
Small government contracts in places like Kazakhstan won’t move the needle on Cybertruck sales, but Tesla is clearly willing to take whatever demand it can get.
Electrek’s Take
We have been tracking the Cybertruck’s commercial struggles for over a year now, and the picture hasn’t improved. Kazakhstan buying a handful of Cybertrucks for emergency services is not going to fix Tesla’s demand problem with the electric pickup.
Sales have collapsed domestically, SpaceX has been propping up the numbers, and Tesla is expanding to tiny international markets to find any buyer willing to take the truck.
That said, the emergency services use case is genuinely interesting. The Cybertruck’s vehicle-to-load capability makes it useful in a wide range of use cases, including this one.
The last hope for the Cybertruck is the $60,000 AWD. Let’s see how the demand is for this version in the coming months. If it can’t move the needle, I expect the vehicle program will go the way of the Model S/X, unfortunately.
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