New Member - potential EV truck buyer

[Spottswoode]

Hello folks. I have never owned an EV.

Been researching the CT and the Rivian quite a bit, but would love to have some real world feedback on how your trucks have treated you, pros and cons, your pre-ownership expectations versus actual long term ownership experiences. Also curious if Tesla is planning a gen 2 (newer drivetrain/better range) model.

Currently I drive a Ram TRX and it's a lot of fun, but I did do a CT test drive a year ago and was impressed with many aspects, of course the FSD was neat. I appreciated the much quieter cabin than my TRX. I felt the interior was too plain and didn't feel premium. Also missed having a real driver display and a HUD. I don't do a lot of long road trips, but do have "range anxiety" when I am plunking down over 100k for a vehicle, and despite my TRX terrible mileage, its huge gas tank means I can go farther than a CT if I ever did take it on a road trip.

Have not driven a Rivian yet, but the interior looks much more inviting and classy than CT. But it seems the CT has a more capable FSD than the Rivian, correct? I also drive an AMG E53 which can achieve amazing mileage with its glide mode, so I appreciate well-engineered drivetrains that can achieve both performance and efficiency, but I didn't buy that car for that reason, it was just great looking, comfortable, fast, and had an incredible interior that looked like a 100k vehicle.

My new house has a "dedicated (220/240V, 50 amp) circuit w/ a NEMA 14-50 outlet" mounted in the garage. How fast would that charge a CT or similar vehicle?

Appreciate your feedback!

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[no%X#XMVk65v#cq]

Your Nema 14-50 with the 32 amp mobile charger is sufficient to charge the vehicle overnight. You can go to the slightly higher amp hard-wired charger, for a cleaner install, but you don't really need it unless your use case is unique. I actually dial my amps down to 25 just to put less stress on the system, because overnight is overnight whether that's 6 hours or 9.

 

[Timthehelipilot]

Welcome! Foundation Series owner here, so take my bias into account, but I’ve put my truck through real use, off-roading and long trips, and I can honestly say the ownership experience has exceeded my expectations.

Ownership so far: No major issues, just the known recalls, which were usually handled quickly. Some owners have had more issues so something to consider. The ride is smooth (the adaptive air suspension is a big part of why the cabin feels so quiet and composed vs. your TRX), and FSD has genuinely gotten really good over the past year of updates. If you were impressed on your test drive a year ago, it’s noticeably better now. And yes, to your question, CT’s FSD is well ahead of Rivian’s hands-free highway system in terms of where it can actually operate. Rivian’s autonomy is improving, but Tesla’s is doing door-to-door city and highway driving today.

Range anxiety: Totally get it coming from a huge gas tank. Here’s the reality: I do long trips on the Supercharger network and it’s fine. Plan it right and stops line up with a bathroom break and a snack, then you’re back on the road. The trip planner in the truck handles all the routing for you. And day-to-day, range anxiety basically disappears with home charging, you wake up to a “full tank” every single morning, which is something the TRX will never give you.

Your NEMA 14-50: You’re already set up. The Tesla Mobile Connector pulls 32 amps on that outlet (~7.7 kW), which works out to roughly 15–18 miles of range added per hour on a Cybertruck. That’s a full overnight charge from low battery. If you want a bit more, hardwire a Tesla Wall Connector on that same 50-amp circuit and you’ll get 40 amps (~9.6 kW), around 20+ mi/hr. Either way, overnight charging covers basically any daily driving.

Gen 2: Nothing official announced. For 2026 Tesla shuffled the lineup (new Dual Motor base trim, pricing changes) but there’s no announced next-gen drivetrain or major range bump on the roadmap. The 4680 cells do keep improving incrementally on the production line, but if you’re waiting for a “gen 2,” you could be waiting a long time.

On the interior, it’s minimalist for sure, and if you love your E53’s cabin, the Rivian will feel more traditionally premium. That’s fair. But you can outfit it with their party accessories and I feel the CT interior grows on you, the huge screen does a lot, and honestly the tech and drivetrain are where the money went. Drive both back to back before deciding.

If you do end up ordering, feel free to use my referral link m: https://ts.la/timothy49216

Happy to answer any other questions. Good luck with the decision!

 

[MCraft99]

You need a 60A breaker to use 48A of charging if you're going to install a L2 system. Breakers are rated for 80% with 100% duty cycle usage of resistive loads. The Tesla mobile charger with do 32A max. You can buy 3rd party 40A mobile chargers. Overnight charging at home will get you filled back up. Supercharging usually takes 10-20 minutes. 35-40 from 0-80%. Expect 250 miles of range with 80% daily charging. You can go to 100% if you're going to immediately drive it and drain back down to at least 80% before parking.

The Rivian looks more like a traditional truck and won't get as much polarizing attention. Depending on where you are, this can be something you have to consider when parking at certain locations.

If you plan on using FSD, which you'll have to pay monthly now, Rivian doesn't have anything close yet. They claim in 1-2 years it will be available. For now they have lane centering cruise control that works on clearly marked roadways. FSD works on dirt/gravel fire access roads.

The audio is much better on the premium CTs. The steer by wire is awesome(feels like a racing video game). The 120V outlets in the cabin are super useful for powering fridges/laptops/camping gear. The Rivian has more headroom and some prefer the look of its dash more. The extremely long & slanted windshield of the CT is hard to clean with a squigee and the water doesn't drain at the bottom like most vehicles(I use drive through car washes).

I take a generator and gas canisters when camping out of range of superchargers. 250 miles is usually enough to charge at the beginning and end of camping trips though. In an emergency, you can always be pulled by another friend and have it regen for you. Some of the newer trucks have outlets in their beds too. Having AC/Heat without having to keep the engine on all the time is super convenient.

I put a 13" iPad pro behind my steering wheel and another on the passenger side. There's no need for a dash monitor behind the wheel. You can customize the CT as much as you want. I hook up an xbox and PS5 for my son to play games in the back on long trips. The Rivian and Ram's rear bench seat is nicer to lay down across though. The CT's rear bucket seats that are very vertical can be uncomfortable for adults. The TRX can also recline a little. The front seats can both move forward easily (from the screen) in the CT though.

 

[DarkEye]

Hello folks. I have never owned an EV.

Appreciate your feedback!

I was in you same shoes about not never owning an EV back in 2019 when the CT was announced. I ordered my reservation and then waited 4.5 years to get my FS AWD CT in June 2024. I won't never go back to an ICE vehicle.

If you do end up ordering, feel free to use my referral link Click here

 

[SlegMD]

CT is my first EV. Charging from home is a large boon to EV ownership, as long as your utility and charge setup is good.
Beyond having a dedicated 240v I have not invested in anything beyond the mobile charge cable for charging at 32amps. I can charge approximately 100 miles overnight and my daily usage is average 45-50miles. If you’re over that you might consider the universal charger which is highly recommended.

Haven’t had to go to a gas station other than for ice.

Tesla does a VERY good job with route planning and energy management. Charging availability is generally in real time. Plan to charge every 220-240 miles, shorter increments are better and charge times are generally 20-25minutes. When you’re on the road this time generally flies by with food/bathroom/sigand it’s good for your body to take these breaks anyway.

only range anxiety is when the nearest charging station is 200 miles away when going to remote areas, if you’re going town to town, city to city, there really is no anxieties to be had.

Maintaining the vehicle is generally easier, no more oil change every 5-10k ranges. Car manufacturers are getting more ambitious with their car maintenance requirements. EVs are generally tire hungry, which is a pro/con you’ll have to consider. I’d research this more to see if this would appeal to you.

CT is easy to drive and an unrated positive, 4wheel steering turns this thing into a go-cart and is less difficult to maneuver, less stress in tight squeeze. My father almost shat himself when I complete a u-turn the other day with a quarter crank on the steering wheel.

stainless steel requires a learning curve to manage if you are not wrapping the vehicle. Might expect to decontaminate the stainless every 6months. Overall the stainless is low maintenance once you get the hang of it, you can mostly leave it alone. Stainless has been a blessing though as Usually after a couple years my vehicles acquire dings from parking lot cucks but so far the stainless has resisted any injury.

I have enjoyed my EV experience and would hate to go back to ICE. Sold my other ICE vehicles as they were at risk of becoming derelicts.

 

[Spottswoode]

Some very helpful info, thank you all.

 

[SabrToothSqrl]

FSD is the new camera phone. Anything without it just can't compete.
Either one is great. I really hope Rivian makes their FSD work someday.
They are the only ones working on it. (Everyone else is just noise).

I've driven both, either is epic. Whichever makes you smile more

 

[HaulingAss]

I took delivery of an early 2024 Cybertruck and have had zero problems even though I beat it upregularly on rugged mountain roads. Still drives tight and quiet. At 63 I've never had a better all-purpose vehicle, nothing even comes close. The off-road capabilities and ride are great. It hauls heavy loads, even loads over it's impressive 2500 lb. cargo capacity, without missing a beat.

Road trips are easy and fun with the amount of Supercharger expansion over the last several years. Every drive I feel like I'm driving the future. Just do it, you won't regret it. Stereo sounds amazing too, especially if you feed it high-bitrate recordings. The Tesla App functionality from your phone is the most seamless and comprehensive experience you will get in any brand of vehicle. Pre-cooling the cabin 5 minutes before you get in is real luxury you will never get tired of and it costs only pennies in electricity. I don't get the "sparse cabin" comment because I don't drive places to look at the same old, same old, I look outside and the view is great. After two plus years the interior still looks new and fresh. It's very easy to clean too, once you get a 3 foot pole to mount a glass cleaning pad on the end.

If it was taken from me tomorrow I would have no choice but to replace it with the same immediately.

 

[JCERRN]

2025 CT AWD (formally owned a 2024 Foundation Series AWD that Tesla bought back)

pre-ownership expectations: finally the Tesla i would buy that met all of my needs and “checked all of my boxes”. an $80,000, basically bullet proof, all terrain, tri motor, self driving EV that would benefit from all of Tesla’s experience building vehicles in terms of build quality (referencing EM’s tweet about tolerances), would get 500 miles of range, and could tow a house AND be a commuter/daily driver.

Real world experience: When it works, its amazing. When it doesnt, it REALLY doesnt. Im sure over all build quality has improved since Ive bought, but my experience has been basically at least 1 service visit every 1-2 months (usually something minor or a repeat visit for something previously not fixed). Service experience is hit or miss, some visits have been above and beyond, others have been utter fails that leave me wondering why the eff im doing this to myself, but honestly, most of the time the truck is a marvel of interesting tech.

pros: scheduled maintenance is minimal compared to other similarly classed gas cars. extraordinarily versatile, its a people AND a stuff mover, and an off roader that can also commute without getting 14-19mpg. it is really interesting to drive (hardly because its fast), not to mention FSD. Amazing sound and infotainment system both up front and in back for a wide range from bassy tracks to audiobooks, games, apps, and even internet browser (Wonder how much people actually use that).

cons: i dont mind the spartan interior, but gosh i wish they used just like 5% better quality materials… ive been in loaners that have 20,000 miles with rubbed bare patches in the not-leather, especially some of the sharper corners. The vehicle is built in a way where tolerances are small, but the materials can creak and rub, so if you are bothered by annoying sounds in your otherwise silent cabin, beware. “the best service is no service” only works when your vehicle doesnt need service… service arm can be pretty weak and clearly focus more on closing the ticket as cheaply and quickly for the company as possible, which can be fine if your problem is simple, but if not, can become VERY frustrating very quickly.

RE: Range Anxiety- once you understand how EV charging and driving is more like how you use your phone than how you fill up a gas car, the anxiety goes away, especially if you can charge at home. day to day- unless your vehicle is a pursuit vehicle or a race car, or you drive 280-300 miles a day, you basically wont even think about your battery. youll find a cycle that works for you.
for road trips, or the odd day (say you forgot to charge) you can use any public fast charger or super charger, for less urgent options, level2 chargers are everywhere. Most places ev juice is cheaper than gasoline. For reference, 1 gallon of gasoline is approximately equal to 36.6 kwh or approximately 33% of the battery. Your truck can commute the same distance on 3 gallons of gas as most vehicles do on 15-20 gallons.

one thing i havent seen anyone really mention is about long term maintenance of the HV (main) battery. Tesla lays some pretty basic rules to follow to get the best “life” and the least degradation:
1. always leave the vehicle plugged in when not in use, whenever possible.
2. never let your battery go to 0% state of charge.
3. Charge to a max of 80%, try to keep above 20% for most day to day driving, but the battery is really happy around 50-60%. Occasional charging up to 100% (road trips long days…) and occasional discharge single digits will not “harm” the battery but do stress the battery over time more than is necessary and in theory could reduce its lifespan. (Think similar to how a cell phone battery degrades over time but MUCH better managed)

Re: FSD- Tesla is “all in” on autonomy, robotics, and AI. Their vehicles are less “cars” and more “transport robots”. they have publicly stated that their intent is to produce the roadster, then no other human operated vehicles. lofty goal but they are clearly moving toward that full steam, and FSD is the operating system for that model. It is literally the cutting edge of transportation technology, and is one of the largest and most mature neural networks on the planet with some pretty insane compute. this system isnt simply “keeping your car in the lane” or “parking in a spot“, it is literally the equivalent of your car’s software seeing, interpreting and responding to the world around it in real time, just like how people do when they drive, except it has 8 ”eyes” and doesnt get tired. It does make mistakes, and is not autonomous yet, but my bet is that incremental improvements and iterations will result in a logarithmic graphical representation of “approaching perfect” to a point where it will literally just be “freak accidents“ that cause crashes. it even actively prevents not at fault accidents (Videos of fsd moving forward or out of the way to prevent it from getting hit or rear ended). I understand why they made it sub only, not sure their plan for when(if) they sell robo taxi to consumers though… will we have to subscribe and pay a perpetual monthly fee for an owned vehicle to work?


anyway- yeah you should get one if you want it.

 

[Jager]

Best vehicle ever, despite the teething issues that inevitably come with any kind of complex, clean-sheet design.

Like @HaulingAss , if something happened to mine, I'd be in the app ordering another.

 

[Spottswoode]

FSD is the new camera phone. Anything without it just can't compete.
Either one is great. I really hope Rivian makes their FSD work someday.
They are the only ones working on it. (Everyone else is just noise).

I've driven both, either is epic. Whichever makes you smile more

I have read that the Cadillac super cruise is very good.

Does the CT use an older battery tech than the newer Y and 3 models? I thought I read something about that.

 

[Jager]

Does the CT use an older battery tech than the newer Y and 3 models? I thought I read something about that.

No. The Model 3 and Model Y use older (but quite good) 2170 cells. The Cybertruck uses a 2nd-gen 4680 cell, a cell format which was developed after the 2170.

 

[Outdoors]

Does the CT use an older battery tech than the newer Y and 3 models? I thought I read something about that.

Other way around. The CT has the newer design 4680. Yet if one does their own googling one will see the design of the 4680 (Tesla's design) is not what it was claimed to be in the beginning.The newer 4680's are about 13% less dense than the 2170 they were designed to replace.Heat buildup. Not providing the charge curve leading to longer charging times.Tesla's shot at in house battery building hasn't been a hit.

Announced at battery day in 2020. 6 years to make it good. Still not great. Yet here people think that the new dry method is going to increase range. It will bring costs down for Tesla, and make batteries last longer for the consumer.These were some of the claims. Only Dry Battery tech came to be true.

The 4680 Cell Design
Tesla claimed that moving from the 2170 size to a larger, "tabless" 46mm by 80mm format would yield:

• 5x more energy capacity per cell.
• 6x more power output.
• A 16% increase in vehicle range just from form factor optimization.
• A 14% reduction in cost per kWh.
• Elimination of the traditional cell "tab," removing electrical path bottlenecks and solving the heat issues normally caused by larger cells.

Dry Battery Electrode
Tesla claimed they would completely revolutionize how battery electrodes are made by utilizing a technology acquired from Maxwell Technologies:

• Elimination of solvents: Traditional battery manufacturing requires mixing active materials into a wet, toxic solvent slurry, coating it onto foils, and running it through massive, expensive drying ovens.
• Powder-to-film: Tesla claimed they would press dry powder directly into a film layer.
• Footprint reduction: A 10x reduction in manufacturing footprint and a 10x reduction in energy usage.
• This single manufacturing shift was promised to deliver an 18% cost reduction at the cell level.

While Panasonic. Suppliers of the 2170 and old 18650 have kept packing density into the product. Making them more dense than the 4680 in the CT.

Elon is off building robots and chips. Cares less and less about cars and trucks.

Good luck in your decision making.

 

[TJCJr9999]

Hello folks. I have never owned an EV.

Been researching the CT and the Rivian quite a bit, but would love to have some real world feedback on how your trucks have treated you, pros and cons, your pre-ownership expectations versus actual long term ownership experiences. Also curious if Tesla is planning a gen 2 (newer drivetrain/better range) model.

Currently I drive a Ram TRX and it's a lot of fun, but I did do a CT test drive a year ago and was impressed with many aspects, of course the FSD was neat. I appreciated the much quieter cabin than my TRX. I felt the interior was too plain and didn't feel premium. Also missed having a real driver display and a HUD. I don't do a lot of long road trips, but do have "range anxiety" when I am plunking down over 100k for a vehicle, and despite my TRX terrible mileage, its huge gas tank means I can go farther than a CT if I ever did take it on a road trip.

Have not driven a Rivian yet, but the interior looks much more inviting and classy than CT. But it seems the CT has a more capable FSD than the Rivian, correct? I also drive an AMG E53 which can achieve amazing mileage with its glide mode, so I appreciate well-engineered drivetrains that can achieve both performance and efficiency, but I didn't buy that car for that reason, it was just great looking, comfortable, fast, and had an incredible interior that looked like a 100k vehicle.

My new house has a "dedicated (220/240V, 50 amp) circuit w/ a NEMA 14-50 outlet" mounted in the garage. How fast would that charge a CT or similar vehicle?

Appreciate your feedback!

For us CT owners up here in upstate New York, where there are few CTs driving around, I have to schedule at least an extra half an hour for any local trips around here to answer all of the questions I get about "what the heaven are you driving". So I decided to list them on a card that I give out if I'm in a hurry, here it is:
Cybertruck 30 minute dissertation short form;
My 7th and last truck (previous daily drivers, all 4x4 Toyotas starting with the 1979 SR5, last Tundra, a 2014 had 220,000 miles on it), love this beast, is the future, all electric, lightning quick (0-60 2.6 sec), steer by wire progressive steering (full left to right lock 340°), 4 wheel steering (really tight turns), air suspension (17" high setting clearance), regenerative breaking (rarely use brakes), 48 volt low voltage (really small wiring harnesses), Etherloop communication, heavy duty stainless steel body, almost NO maintenance (Tires, wiper blades & fluid is about it), over the air updates, and most importantly gas pickup $60 to drive 250 miles, Cybertruck $19-$22 electricity (400 wH/mile x 250 miles at $.19-$.22/kWh) to drive 250 miles, full slow charge at home 5 hours, full fast charge at supercharger 45 minutes, and Tesla is 10-15 years ahead of everyone else.

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