Range Extender Battery Pack increases range to 470+ miles and costs $16K 🔋

[freakyguy666]

Today a price $79K+ there are not "MILLIONS of people who would buy this Vehicle (340mi dual-motor AWD or 342mi tri-motor AWD )".

Even in 2025/2026 when/(IF) the cheaper single motor rear drive for $61K arrives there are not "MILLIONS of people who would buy this Vehicle". All three trims might not even break 80K per year.

Ohh shit. For once in his life, Jim Cramer might have been right when he said Cybertruck would be lucky to sell 50K units !!!

Aligning yourself with that Clown dismissed any credibility you might have had….?

We’ll mark this post and revisit in 3 years and see how ignorant your statement (“All three trims might not even break 80K per year”) looks in retrospect…

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[TheLastStarfighter]

Should be no problem tossing that in the back. Although it’s probably a bit lighter if it’s 4680 cells. I think they said 16% weightb savings. So maybe around 700+lbs.

 

[Jethro]

Tesla Website Shows Range Extender Specs. Updated with image:

NOPE! It’s to heavy to load up when needed. We need one more modular’s and maybe fits in the frunk, no? AND Not enough for CyberQuad…BTW, WHERE IS CYBER QUAD??

 

[Jethro]

Aligning yourself with that Clown dismissed any credibility you might have had….?

We’ll mark this post and revisit in 3 years and see how ignorant your statement (“All three trims might not even break 80K per year”) looks in retrospect…

TOTALLY AGREE! Self-proclaimed “expert”??

 

[Jethro]

Battery in the bed makes the most sense.

How about modular enough so it can mount in the bed, frunk or trailer? Choices are good, no?

 

[AustroTom]

Aligning yourself with that Clown dismissed any credibility you might have had….?

We’ll mark this post and revisit in 3 years and see how ignorant your statement (“All three trims might not even break 80K per year”) looks in retrospect…

Did you just call me a clown? Do you attack people for fun? Or ae you just a jerk

 

[Tinker71]

My thought is: I'm going to buy the AWD model, not get the range extender (RE) initially, see if I *really* need it and then if I do, I'll buy it then. If you wait long enough, the price (and possibly the size) of the extender will go down (and hopefully the amount of range it will extend will go up, due to improved battery geometry/chemistry). If you want to camp in the bed of the CT, I think the RE is literally going to cramp your style. I'm not one that is going to. be towing often or towing heavy (or long distance), so I should be fine with the RE (that's what I'm telling myself, anyway )

I really want to know how this interacts with the truck. Normally mixing old and new batteries is not good. Everything should balance. We are assuming it charges with the truck. Will the Tesla dealer balance it before connecting? How fancy is the bms. Does it bridge to 800v like the main pack. It must?

 

[Tinker71]

I would put my money instead on it coming to market but only in very limited quantities

there’s two factors likely at play here

first, you set the price as $16K because you want to artificially constrain uptake

second, there are some bizarre rules around these sorts of ‘accessories,’ where if you sell some threshold % of them, you have to rehomologate the vehicle (eg, have all the regulatory checks re-run, crashworthiness, EPA, electro-magnetic, etc.) as essentially a new ‘trim’


meanwhile, Tesla can’t seriously think a lot of people are going to pay $16K, lose the bed of the truck, cram down the payload, etc.

But they can sell a few, and then - like today - with a semi-straight face say, “hey we have an easy solution for anyone who really needs more range”

$16 k is less cost per kWhr than a Powerball. So not bad there.

 

[cvalue13]

$16 k is less cost per kWhr than a Powerball. So not bad there.

On one view, yes, and depending on what Tesla “allows” between the V2H and this extended, that might be a partial justification for some buyers.

But on the other hand, a powerwall setup would be subject to potentially significant federal incentives that the extender will not.



In any event, a Ford Lightning XLT ER with 131kWh is cheaper than 10 powerwalls, and starts to tell me maybe it’s the powerwall pricing that is the trouble, not that the truck is cheap.

 

[carpedatum]

Sign me up for one! I tow a camping trailer and I’m guessing that it’ll halve my range. 340/2 = 170 miles is going to be very annoying, basically have to stop every 2-3 hours and find a pull-through supercharger stall. But 470/2 = 235 miles gets me 5-6 hours and I’m not usually towing further than that. Once my trailer is unhitched at the campsite I can run into town and supercharge without needing a pull through stall.

Eleven pages into this thread, I finally see somebody framing one of the most important use-cases for a range extender. Much appreciated! Seems like half this thread is just people expressing disappointment that it could have reason to exist, might cost real money, and take up room. I'd like to encourage anyone who has those concerns to elaborate, specifically on why they need more range and also can't compromise on price or cargo space. Just being disappointed doesn't count, you adult child you .

Towing a camping trailer is a use-case. You plan to do that, or you don't. When you read that the truck you'd hoped to do that with has a 320 mile range, know you'll get a fraction of that while towing, and the whole point of towing is to go camping in comfort far from home, you have to go "oh, well, why bother then". Absent this accessory I'd probably have to say that CT is not for me.

I'm old. I grant that most of the pickup market doesn't look at towing three tons of camping trailer a couple of hundred miles in a day as a priority. I gotta pick a truck that can do that, though, and am grateful that this fix may exist so I can still dump the ICE, and get the most important job I need done, done.

So if an in-bed range extender won't solve your problem, what the heck is your problem? That would actually be interesting. Sharing only that you're just down in the dumps over Elon once-again simply over-promising is a lot less so, IMHO.

 

[cvalue13]

So if an in-bed range extender won't solve your problem, what the heck is your problem? That would actually be interesting. Sharing only that you're just down in the dumps over Elon once-again simply over-promising is a lot less so, IMHO.

Agree with to the extent it applies to people doing what you are describing

but a more generous interpretation of what many are saying is instead: to go 470mi, or pull a trailer, or [whatever use case], I don’t want to have to spend $96,000 - $115,000 on the vehicle

 

[baumer81]

The shape of the range extender in the bed should allow for a 5th wheel towing configuration. At least a goose neck configuration.

 

[baumer81]

Yes, heresy according to Elon, and I expect some heat for this, but: This engine, packaged in one module, a fuel tank in another module, each movable by one person, would be the ultimate range extender for any EV truck. Or even a frunk version. https://innengine.com/

 

[flowerlandfilms]

Wow a lot of upset folks around here, let's try and look on the bright side of things.
A separate pack that is added into the bed to extend range does some very cool things.
Some thoughts.

1 - Shows everyone else how to do it.

If there is a battery extender and presumably some kind of interface to allow the extension, people can study both and figure out how to make their own third party extenders and safely integrate them into the Cybertruck or other Tesla systems, more opportunities for hacking and modding.

2 - The march of progress

As battery technology improves, you could replace your range extender with a new one containing newer cells and upgrade its performance. This is also true of the main battery but replacing the extender should be a lot easier.

3 - Use Case

Anyone who needs this is probably towing, and if you are towing something you are towing more storage space in whatever you are towing than what space you give up in the back of the bed.
And if you are towing something you live in it gives you extra power to your home.

4 - It's not mandatory

It's at least somewhat clear that lack of progress in increasing 4680 energy density is responsible for the less than predicted range from the initial reveal, which is disappointing for many. But this extra module is a bone being thrown to those people who really need that missing range.
"Sorry we goofed up but if you still need this, it's not ideal but here you go."
If you don't want the extra range enough to pay the extra 16,000 or give up the bed space, maybe you didn't really need it in the first place? And you can save some money by not paying for the extra value the extender presents, which if it had fit in the trucks battery pack would have been a mandatory price rise. But the people who do need it can get it and will appreciate it.

5 - This bickering is pointless

Battery capacity is accelerating so fast in the last decade and there are so many corporations, scientists and research institutions paying attention to the space now that it's impossible to think it won't continue to improve at that same pace or faster. In a few years this pack may well be an hilarious relic like those laptop battery extenders of the 90's 00's. I hade one for my Creative Zen Vision W that made it twice as fat. Now 12 years later and a standard phone battery could have made it last 4 times as long in half the size. It's an interim step towards the future. Which is better than nothing.

I'll get one if I can afford it.

 

[Tinker71]

Yes, heresy according to Elon, and I expect some heat for this, but: This engine, packaged in one module, a fuel tank in another module, each movable by one person, would be the ultimate range extender for any EV truck. Or even a frunk version. https://innengine.com/

Thank you for posting this. There a couple like it. This is great bridge technology. 300 ish miles is good enough for the built in battery. I am trying to convince folks that you only need 20 HP or so to make a huge difference on an PHEV with a BEV power train.

Tesla already makes a 17.2kWhr high capacity onboard charger for the model s. This is good for ~45 miles of range per hour.

If you are taking a long trip you start this up as soon as your battery drops below 90% capacity. It can add power using the onboard charger as the vehicle is being driven. It won't keep up like the bigger hybrids but can really extend your range. Plus as long as you have fuel you can always charge the main pack. Even with 50% range loss from towing you might get (300+40x10)/2 for 350 miles over a 10 hour day.

If you live in a really cold climate and they integrated this into the heating system to use the waste heat that would be really efficient.

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