10,000+ Miles Driving a Cybertruck – Things learned: range, great sound and full love/hate list after 10k miles

[VDR]

So it seems to me that we can conclude:
1) Range sucks
2) Team knew long before release that range sucks
3) It is a big deal for customers
4) They could have fixed it but didn't

So far the range for the tri-motor model sucks but the range is as expected for the Dual motor as they only claimed 300miles & it will achieve that in summer on the smaller A/S tires at rural hwy speed limits. They never claimed 300 miles at 70-80mph.

only ways he could have made it worse would have been to deflate the tires (he never told us the tire pressure and I can only assume they were set cold, not warm) and roll the windows down while jacking the suspension to high.

It was quite similar to the Rivian test the week before that yielded 317/340 miles on 33"A/S tires but at a lower air density.
He preconditioned the battery and it was really not even that cold outside 15F is cold not 46F. Millions of people live at or near sea level so a pretty reasonable expectation for a range test.
The side by side tests will come

It more or less comparable to the Rivian's.

With the similarly equipped(QM, 34"A/T) Rivian having the better long range travel results by at least 10% it is not a race to the bottom.

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[Woodrick]

Am I missing some? $465 a month for insurance!!!!! . What the actual F? I have a newer Porsche Cayenne and a Model 3 Performance and I’m $145 mo. In Illinois.

It varies person to person, state by state and $6,000 is not unheard of.

18-year-old driver, Los Angelos County, what would you expect their probability of accident and cost to repair a $100,000 vehicle would be compared to yours?

 

[SentinelOne]

On the lowest range Tesla, the Model 3 RWD, it doesn't have to stop.

At the ABSOLUTE WORST, you pull off at the Thornton Supercharger, adjacent to the Interstate and plug in for less than 5 minutes or less. With an empty battery, you'll be adding about 10 miles/minute. And you can't get in and out of the market adjacent to it to get a drink or coffee that fast.

But you'll find that 172 miles shouldn't be anything to worry about.

Fingers crossed! They are building a Buc-ee's on the route although not sure if Superchargers or other brand!! The Thornton one is easy to get too...

 

[Cybergirl]

With the similarly equipped(QM, 34"A/T) Rivian having the better long range travel results by at least 10% it is not a race to the bottom.

Rivian didn't have a better long range travel result when adjusted for temperature difference. That's the point of my comment. It appears that the CT AWD and R1T have nearly the same range and efficiency in similar driving conditions. The CT may even be better when you account for the difference in air density between Austin and Collins, CO. I suspect, however, that any advantage Rivian had on that score was erased by the 1000' difference in altitude along Rivian's test loop.

Again, there's no demonstrative evidence that supports the notion that CT has poor range or efficiency compared to other EV trucks.

 

[Woodrick]

Fingers crossed! They are building a Buc-ee's on the route although not sure if Superchargers or other brand!! The Thornton one is easy to get too...

Buc-ees has been putting in Superchargers in a LOT of their new locations, but not all. They entered into an agreement with another conglomerate to put CCS chargers in, so I am now hearing that there are Buc-ees with both.

The store locator actually allows you to see which stores have charging. Locations - Buc-ees

 

[VDR]

Again, there's no demonstrative evidence that supports the notion that CT has poor range or efficiency compared to other EV trucks.

Probably, 2.05mi/kwh is not too bad at 70mph, it did better than I expected.
Tri-motor is a disappointment.
DM the expectations were too high.
The truth will come out when we see the side by side tests.

 

[Cybergirl]

Probably, 2.05mi/kwh is not too bad at 70mph, it did better than I expected.
Tri-motor is a disappointment.
DM the expectations were too high.
The truth will come out when we see the side by side tests.

The problem is that the Tri-motor CT is essentially just a dual-motor CT with an extra motor. The battery is the same size (123 kWh). Why wasn't a larger battery put into the Tri-motor? Probably because it would have drastically changed the structural design of the truck and ruined manufacturing cost efficiency.

 

[Woodrick]

The problem is that the Tri-motor CT is essentially just a dual-motor CT with an extra motor. The battery is the same size (123 kWh). Why wasn't a larger battery put into the Tri-motor? Probably because it would have drastically changed the structural design of the truck and ruined manufacturing cost efficiency.

Tesla doesn't put a bigger battery any of their performance models, AFAIK.

If you want performance, you don't care that much about range.

And honestly the base model is so freaking quick, you wonder why they go to the trouble of the performance models.

Yes, I know, there are those that will pay an extra 10k for 0.1s.

 

[VR Driving]

The problem is that the Tri-motor CT is essentially just a dual-motor CT with an extra motor. The battery is the same size (123 kWh). Why wasn't a larger battery put into the Tri-motor? Probably because it would have drastically changed the structural design of the truck and ruined manufacturing cost efficiency.

More like there isn't enough 4680 and it will get more complex if they need to build another battery pack.

The "RWD"will get a different battery pack, most likely smaller tho.

 

[Gigahorse]

More like there isn't enough 4680 and it will get more complex if they need to build another battery pack.

The "RWD"will get a different battery pack, most likely smaller tho.

I don't know if they can go much smaller with the RWD. If they do a lot of users are going to be getting well under 200 miles of range will likely won't fly.

 

[Woodrick]

I don't know if they can go much smaller with the RWD. If they do a lot of users are going to be getting well under 200 miles of range will likely won't fly.

There are a lot of people ordering the Model 3 or Model Y RWD versions that have EPA blended ranges of ~250 miles.

These vehicles are able to easily drive across country and save over $4k by not carrying the extra batteries around.

You gotta stop this crap of thinking that the vehicle only gets 200 miles, that's blatantly incorrect.

 

[kpanda17]

we saw the battery new hire last year due to the 4680 development progression being behind schedule, the CTs currently have gen 2
feel that 4680 development ran in parallel to the CT development, a lot of new all around
CT will be remarkably better with range but potentially will take another 18 months for the full gen 3 4680 dev to complete

for range, what do we have to compare it to? Rivian real range? Lightening real range?
both have been around for 24 months, where will the CT range be in 24 months?

 

[kpanda17]

There are a lot of people ordering the Model 3 or Model Y RWD versions that have EPA blended ranges of ~250 miles.

These vehicles are able to easily drive across country and save over $4k by not carrying the extra batteries around.

You gotta stop this crap of thinking that the vehicle only gets 200 miles, that's blatantly incorrect.

we saw out of spec get plus 250 miles

 

[cvalue13]

Again, there's no demonstrative evidence that supports the notion that CT has poor range or efficiency compared to other EV trucks.

Agree jury still out, and kinks possibly still to work out.

separately, and I mean this only out of intellectual curiosity:

Lightning has only 7kWh more pack

Lightning has materially worse Cd

Lightning has non-trivially larger frontal area

Linghtning (mostly) have no heat pump (until 2024)

meanwhile…

Cybertruck range / efficiency coming in similarly (at best?), despite all the expectation for general Tesla efficiency superiority?

The CT’s better Cd is already taken into account, generally (including tire width effects).

One might blame the tire/wheel sets, but seems to me questionable. Answer there in large part comes down to the difference in weight of the wheel/tire sets of the Lightning and CT.

Guess now I want someone to weigh the CT wheel/tire sets ?

 

[Crissa]

I'm surprised so many people still recommend 50-amp outlets when hard wiring is easier to install and better. Less terminals to oxidize, higher power available, fewer copper conductors needed and for those who are limited on available circuits or power, they can powershare with multiple cars.

You can always tear out the outlet and use the gangbox, so... if you don't have the EVSE yet, it's a good placeholder.

I just want to be able to take my Beast with AT's, a buddy and 2 dirt bikes on this trip every weekend- at least 50% of which is on i25 with a 75mph speed limit....think it'll be doable? And no I don't want to stop and charge...50+ and after riding a dirt bike for 6 hours I need to get home and take a nap!

Follow up: ABRP says can do it with 575 wh/mi and leaving with 98% charge, 700lb payload, 11% buffer when I get home...going to be close depending upon weather (CO can be windy), temps, my right foot, etc...so big maybe. I get it's not a long haul tower, but this doesn't seem like it should be a big challenge for a truck...fingers crossed or my 2 main use cases are not fulfilled. :-(

Stop for lunch, for crying out loud.

-Crissa

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