Range Extender Battery will require install by service center (to be structurally mounted)

[Woodrick]

My hope is that the reason it has to be installed at a service center and is not removable is because the entire bed has to be swapped out.

Even with the cover rolled ip and the air compressor, there is plenty of room between the bed and structural components.

Maybe you loose a couple of inches of bed base, but not nearly as much room as a toolbox.

I don't forsee Tesla adding any more batteries. The empty space is clearly engineered for impact protection and gas egress in the event of thermal runaway. They are not putting any more batteries in the primary pack.

I'm 99.9% sure that the reason that it has to be installed at the Service Center is the high voltage that appears on the connectors.
I'll lay odds that the installation procedure will call for both batteries be drained to near zero (as they do with a battery replacement) and then protective gear installed and special gear installed between the two batteries to equalize the voltage. Only then will the batteries be connected, with protected gear on.

With 120V AC, you get the chance to release your muscles 60 times a second if you touch the wrong thing.
Same at 240 AC.

But once the voltage starts getting higher, the heart no longer has a chance.

And at DC, you NEVER get the chance to release your muscles.

800V DC is no laughing matter.

In Superchargers, all that safety is built in, but none of that exists in a battery-to-battery connection.

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[mongo]

I'm 99.9% sure that the reason that it has to be installed at the Service Center is the high voltage that appears on the connectors.
I'll lay odds that the installation procedure will call for both batteries be drained to near zero (as they do with a battery replacement) and then protective gear installed and special gear installed between the two batteries to equalize the voltage. Only then will the batteries be connected, with protected gear on.

With 120V AC, you get the chance to release your muscles 60 times a second if you touch the wrong thing.
Same at 240 AC.

But once the voltage starts getting higher, the heart no longer has a chance.

And at DC, you NEVER get the chance to release your muscles.

800V DC is no laughing matter.

In Superchargers, all that safety is built in, but none of that exists in a battery-to-battery connection.

Both sides (pack and extender) would likely have contactors and pyro fuses.
To link only requires them to be at the same voltage. So start with main pack above extender and link on the way down. Or use a dissipative device to balance.

 

[Woodrick]

Both sides (pack and extender) would likely have contactors and pyro fuses.
To link only requires them to be at the same voltage. So start with main pack above extender and link on the way down. Or use a dissipative device to balance.

Isn't that pretty much what I said?

I'm not quite sure about the second set of contactors though. The bed outlet doesn't really show any control lines, although they could indeed be coming from somewhere else.

HV Harnesses - Bed Outlet - High Voltage Harness (Remove and Install) (tesla.com)

 

[mongo]

Isn't that pretty much what I said?

I'm not quite sure about the second set of contactors though. The bed outlet doesn't really show any control lines, although they could indeed be coming from somewhere else.

HV Harnesses - Bed Outlet - High Voltage Harness (Remove and Install) (tesla.com)

The 120/240 are GFCI/ overcurrent protected at the PCS itself.
I was referring to the voltage exposure risk of the extender. I expect it's nominally safe versus having live lugs when inactive. So no need to drain to zero, plus safety stuff built in.

 

[cyber61]

I've long been of the belief that the range extender will never make it to market due to low demand. It's only on-line that it seems a lot of people need more range, in the real world most Cybertruck owners have a lot more range than they need. Extended range is more of an edge case for people who travel in remote areas, away from the Supercharger Network. Even those who tow tend to have enough range because most towing trips are local in nature. And people in the most rural areas of the country are often very reluctant to spring for a $16K accessory.

It will be difficult to make it worth Tesla's development time if any range extender only has a 1 or 2% take rate. If they do it, it will mostly be for bragging rights.

I disagree. I’d rather have longer range for towing a camper or boat than the items in the Foundation Series that jacked the price. My order is on hold until the standard CT release.

 

[Woodrick]

The 120/240 are GFCI/ overcurrent protected at the PCS itself.
I was referring to the voltage exposure risk of the extender. I expect it's nominally safe versus having live lugs when inactive. So no need to drain to zero, plus safety stuff built in.

I'm not talking about the 120/240V bed outlet, I'm talking about the extender outlet.
Did you even look at the link?

 

[mongo]

I'm not talking about the 120/240V bed outlet, I'm talking about the extender outlet.
Did you even look at the link?

The link is for the 120V/240V bed outlets, it has nothing to do with the range extender (though the steps to ensure the pack is isolated might give that impression)
https://service.tesla.com/docs/Cybe...UID-B8385720-1616-475B-A0C1-61EC66435A6D.html

 

[Woodrick]

The link is for the 120V/240V bed outlets, it has nothing to do with the range extender (though the steps to ensure the pack is isolated might give that impression)
https://service.tesla.com/docs/Cybe...UID-B8385720-1616-475B-A0C1-61EC66435A6D.html

I just clicked on the link in your response. It sent me to the right page as shown in the left-hand side index

 

[mongo]

I just clicked on the link in your response. It sent me to the right page as shown in the left-hand side index

What do you mean "right page"?
The bed outlet harnesses connects to the 5-20 / 15-40 outlets (line above the highlighted one) and AC junction box, not a range extender (which would be at the front of the bed, not rear).

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