Cybertruck Highway Range Test (Dual-Motor AWD) -- Run Until Battery Empty (by Out Of Spec)

[GuyV]

I'm in the same boat. As long as it can carry my hockey equipment I don't care about anything else. Give me the range extender and I'm all good.

Well, if they would just give it to me I'd be fine with that too. ?

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[NoTime]

450 miles isn't what's on the Silverado website right now. It's now showing 400.

But until it is ready for production, it's all marketing.

It's in production.

 

[GuyV]

Sure, but when they take every car or truck and make it bigger and bigger and wonder why sales decrease and then bring in a new model that the original size of the model they just retired.

The F-150 used to be the size of the Maverick, but they made the F-150 bigger and bigger and had to introduce the Ranger and continued to make the Ranger and F-150 bigger and bigger until they just introduced the Maverick, which will probably go through the same thing.

Another great example if the Thunderbird, which started as a small sports car and grew into a land yacht. Which they discontinued because sales were low. But alas, they brought it back as a sports car.

It's a calculated market model. They know we like our cars to increase in size over the years as our waistlines do, and as we generally become more willing and able to pay for that and they don't want us slipping away to someone else's more premium models. Then they design something new, smaller, cheaper for the younger generation who want to be different anyway and get them hooked on the same path.

 

[Woodrick]

It's in production.

Sorry I missed it. Just looked up sales numbers

I certianly hope that the Cybertruck hasnt outsold it.

But I'd really wish that someone will tell Chevrolet that they are selling it, because they don't look like they are, nor do they list the price. And the Canada site suggests that it will be available this year.
It's a pretty elusive one to search for. There are so many stories that Chevy has release, talking about sales starting in 2022 it I'm not mistaken.

 

[GuyV]

It does make me glad I am a 2021 reservation holder. Maybe in 2-3 years things will get better (a good range extender, battery efficiency, better charging etc). The weather in this test is Oregon weather from October to May, so what most of my driving would be in. The numbers are what I was expecting. I hope they could bump that up a little with AW tires and improvements in the next two years

Since they have built in the capability for a range extender they may come up better options/configurations in the future, No reason what they offer at the moment is all that they might ever offer. It's just some extra batteries and an interface, so it could be done in a lot of different ways. I was hoping to hear more about the solar charging they had talked about.

 

[GuyV]

This is their first truck, hardly likely to be their best truck for everyone forever. It's better for them to cover the widest segment while gaining Cyber-experience because they do appear to be targeting a lot of Cyber-everything going forward, with a significant branding separation from other Tesla products.

 

[Sjohnson20]

I think I will swap my tires out to the street ones at some point and see how it does on those.

 

[Woodrick]

Since they have built in the capability for a range extender they may come up better options/configurations in the future, No reason what they offer at the moment is all that they might ever offer. It's just some extra batteries and an interface, so it could be done in a lot of different ways. I was hoping to hear more about the solar charging they had talked about.

It's also just a car with some batteries and electric motors.

The solar comes into to the Powershare equation AFAIK Powershare | Tesla

 

[scottf200]

I think I will swap my tires out to the street ones at some point and see how it does on those.

You already have a hint (ie. ratio of AT vs the OEM streets (Dual-318:340 & Tri-301:320)
AT tires:

318 mi CT AWD Dual &​

301 mi CT AWD Tri-Beast​

Street tires:

340 mi CT AWD Dual &​

320 mi CT AWD Tri-Beast​

 

[GuyV]

It's also just a car with some batteries and electric motors.

The solar comes into to the Powershare equation AFAIK Powershare | Tesla

But form factor, physical size and placement are locked in as it is structural, the extender is essentially just a plugged in booster pack.

I was referring to the off-grid solar Elon talked about, something to soak up a bit of free power when you park it in the sun.

 

[Woodrick]

But form factor, physical size and placement are locked in as it is structural, the extender is essentially just a plugged in booster pack.

I was referring to the off-grid solar Elon talked about, something to soak up a bit of free power when you park it in the sun.

My point was that assuming that the battery extender is just a box and a plug it a gross simplification. There's a lot to think about and you may have not noticed, but it appears as if the battery is placed at the center of gravity of the truck. Making it longer will definitely upset the handling. Some have suggest the frunk, totally messing up the car's handling.

I'm barely remember the solar that Elon may have been talking about, but it may have been the Toneau cover. Even if fully covered and is better than the 300 watt high capacity cells today (most panels are still around 100 watts) then you may get a kW or two from it, or around 5 kW a day. That's get you fully charged in about 2 weeks!

 

[GuyV]

My point was that assuming that the battery extender is just a box and a plug it a gross simplification. There's a lot to think about and you may have not noticed, but it appears as if the battery is placed at the center of gravity of the truck. Making it longer will definitely upset the handling. Some have suggest the frunk, totally messing up the car's handling.

I'm barely remember the solar that Elon may have been talking about, but it may have been the Toneau cover. Even if fully covered and is better than the 300 watt high capacity cells today (most panels are still around 100 watts) then you may get a kW or two from it, or around 5 kW a day. That's get you fully charged in about 2 weeks!

Extender size, shape and capacity can all vary without changing the truck itself, maybe something smaller and more portable, and an alternative if/when better batteries come along. A truck by necessity must be able to cope with weight and placement changes so that's not likely a big issue. It would be great if Tesla were open to third party options but knowing them, yeah that's highly unlikely.

I would see gaining a few kWh/day where plugging in isn't handy more to do with vampire drain or auxiliary usage type offset than directly adding range.

 

[Woodrick]

Extender size, shape and capacity can all vary without changing the truck itself, maybe something smaller and more portable, and an alternative if/when better batteries come along. A truck by necessity must be able to cope with weight and placement changes so that's not likely a big issue. It would be great if Tesla were open to third party options but knowing them, yeah that's highly unlikely.

I would see gaining a few kWh/day where plugging in isn't handy more to do with vampire drain or auxiliary usage type offset than directly adding range.

Still see, to be missing my point. The truck is as the truck is today.

The battery was designed with the truck design in mind. If the battery design is changed, it must keep the truck design in mind. You probably aren't going to want to put 800 lbs in front of the front axle. You may not want to spread it out over the rear axles as well, that would change the front/rear loading still.
And then you have to worry about securing it.

My point, LOTS of things to think about. It's not just a rectangular box they placed in the bed.

 

[GuyV]

Still see, to be missing my point. The truck is as the truck is today.

The battery was designed with the truck design in mind. If the battery design is changed, it must keep the truck design in mind. You probably aren't going to want to put 800 lbs in front of the front axle. You may not want to spread it out over the rear axles as well, that would change the front/rear loading still.
And then you have to worry about securing it.

My point, LOTS of things to think about. It's not just a rectangular box they placed in the bed.

Sure it is, just one with a bi-directional power connection. Rectangular seems practical but even that can be varied. It will be limited in weight to the trucks hauling capacity like anything else you put in it, whether tool chests, campers, generators, Christmas trees, road bikes or even outboard motors. I don't see what there is to argue about that.

 

[Woodrick]

Sure it is, just one with a bi-directional power connection. Rectangular seems practical but even that can be varied. It will be limited in weight to the trucks hauling capacity like anything else you put in it, whether tool chests, campers, generators, Christmas trees, road bikes or even outboard motors. I don't see what there is to argue about that.

I will guarantee you that there isn't just one bi-directional power connection to the box. That's going to a number of tie down points as well. Probably some data ports, who knows. They haven't gotten it out yet and I haven't see any of the YouTubers show any obvious interconnect points.

But if it is that easy, I'm pretty sure that there will be third-parties creating different ones.

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