When deliveries of the controversial Tesla Cybertruck lastly began late final 12 months, 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 loads of unknown particulars, however at the very least 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 provide 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-obligatory battery pack, Tesla Cybertruck homeowners might want to schedule a service appointment, in order that it’s secure in a crash, in line with 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 12 months urged the bolt-in field would tip the scales at roughly 500 kilos, making it virtually unimaginable to deal with at dwelling except you could have a raise.
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 would ever attain manufacturing standing–looks as if it would solely entail extra issues down the highway.
First, the added weight means homeowners shall be restricted to how a lot stuff they’ll carry, a problem that can solely be exacerbated by the truth that the battery field will take up roughly a 3rd of the house within the mattress.
Second, whereas the worth of the non-obligatory 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 thought 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 benefit from 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-obligatory 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 all the time simply to benefit from the additional vary provided by it on particular events.
This problem isn’t just with the Cybertruck however with all electrical vans. The extra you have to tow and the upper driving vary you want, the larger the battery must be. The larger the battery, the upper the burden, which ends up in decrease effectivity and longer charging stops.
However what’s your tackle this? Tell us within the feedback under how you’ll deal with the Cybertruck’s non-obligatory vary extender.
