When deliveries of the controversial Tesla Cybertruck lastly began late final yr, everybody’s eyes had been on the specs. Particularly, the focused driving vary, which turned out to be lower than what was initially marketed when the angular electrical pickup debuted in 2019.
Tesla’s reply was a yet-to-be-released drop-in vary extender battery that would slot in the mattress of the truck and lengthen the utmost driving distance on a full cost to roughly 500 miles. The vary extender continues to be not accessible to order and there are lots of unknown particulars, however a minimum of we all know what you’ll have to do to get it fitted.
Extra batteries, more cash and extra vary
The drop-in vary extender for the Tesla Cybertruck will supposedly supply round 130 miles of additional vary for the all-wheel drive model of the angular electrical pickup for an additional $16,000.
To put in the non-compulsory battery pack, Tesla Cybertruck homeowners might want to schedule a service appointment, in order that it’s protected in a crash, based on Wes Morrill, the truck’s lead engineer, who turned to X to make the announcement.
We nonetheless don’t know the way a lot the additional battery will weigh, though some serviette math we did final yr urged the bolt-in field would tip the scales at roughly 500 kilos, making it nearly not possible to deal with at house except you have got a carry.
Moreover, that is nonetheless a high-voltage battery we’re speaking about, so taking place the official service route might be the very best plan of action if dwelling your life is one thing you cherish. That mentioned, the answer–if it can ever attain manufacturing standing–looks as if it can solely entail extra issues down the street.
First, the added weight means homeowners can be restricted to how a lot stuff they’ll carry, a difficulty that can solely be exacerbated by the truth that the battery field will take up roughly a 3rd of the area within the mattress.
Second, whereas the value of the non-compulsory vary extender has by no means been printed on Tesla’s web site, the supply code did at one second trace at an MSRP of $16,000, which isn’t precisely low-cost and solely provides to the already excessive price ticket of the truck itself.
Then, there’s the problem of charging. The Cybertruck is understood for its less-than-stellar recharging speeds, particularly at Tesla’s personal Supercharger stations that don’t at the moment have 800-volt stalls to reap the benefits of the truck’s high-voltage pack (the remainder of Tesla’s passenger EV portfolio has 400V batteries). Including extra batteries will solely lengthen the charging periods, whereas the effectivity will drop due to the added weight.
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Elon Musk mentioned that the non-compulsory pack is “meant for very lengthy journeys or towing heavy issues up mountains,” however homeowners must haul across the heavy field within the mattress for many–if not the entire time simply to reap the benefits of the additional vary provided by it on particular events.
This challenge isn’t just with the Cybertruck however with all electrical vans. The extra it’s good to tow and the upper driving vary you want, the larger the battery must be. The larger the battery, the upper the load, which results in decrease effectivity and longer charging stops.
However what’s your tackle this? Tell us within the feedback under how you’d deal with the Cybertruck’s non-compulsory vary extender.
