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

[Gigahorse]

no vin yet for me (1/12), but these last five days have me getting a little nervous. I'm not all in on Tesla, but the vision I thought Elon and I shared with Tesla about our destiny for AI did lead to a stake somewhat larger than it should be. Elon complaining about volunteering for a company that doesn't share his vision for AI is alarming. I'm not concerned about cold-snaps and supercharger outages, those don't affect me as much, and I also presume they can fix those, but the FUD I'm hearing now in here about CT range is alarming. Superchargers are still to scare in our hills and mountains. I need this truck to make it to the wilderness and back. Or through Mexico without a support caravan following behind me. For most folks, that's 6 hours of driving there and back. 150 miles may lay between me and my next supercharger. Pulling $1k (if it can't covert) will sting, but of course as well all know that's not all of it. We all have banked on these 2M reservations converting and if mine doesn't I don't see how others will. Folks are using their trucks for family time! We see them out there. Tesla needs to work out a strategy for the battery booster pack pricing fiasco. They had me at $27.5k at 300 mi range. I'll rent a pack but I'm not laying out $16k in addition to the FS bump that was already on top of a base AWD that we all know really needed to be closer to $65-70k than $80

Have a lot of similarities. There are certain things I need the truck to do that were well within the announced specs, having to recalibrate now that reality and the real world have had their way with those goals from 4 years ago.
Grappling if the truck will work in its current state and definitely nervous to spend the extra $27k to be one of the ones that does the early fact finding.

Sponsored

 

[CybertruckRN1127]

It's like you didn't even read my post. Yes, people want those cars used. Now. Because they are cheaper. You aren't even listening to your own words coming out of your own mouth.

Cheap Tesla = desirable.

There will be thousands of people who want a used 2023/2024 Cybertruck at a huge discount in 3-4 years. The same people that think the FS is overpriced now and think the bump in price from 2019 was too much. They wanted a CT in the $40k-60k price range. You are delusional if you think Tesla can or will bring down CT prices to that range in 2027.

Here is Tesla's pricing over time for all of the current models. They all have the same exact price structure: start high, go low (I assume to empty inventory while switching production lines to a new model) then goes high again, then low again. They have no desire to do a traditional auto manufacturer business model of keeping thousands of cars in storage somewhere.
https://skills.ai/tesla-car-prices-analysis/

Seems like you agree with me. Prices drop and cars get better. Just saying a Cyberbeast in 2027 will be under $100k and will have more range and features. As they ramp up and sell more the price will drop. They shown it with the Plaid S and X recently. My Cyberbeast is $135k out the door. I bet many people who finance will owe more on their truck than what a new one cost in 72 or 84 months.

Cheap != Desirable

As for used Tesla, the demand is low so that is why the prices are low. When demand were high in 2020-2021 an used Tesla sold more than a new Tesla.

You can get a 2018 Model X for like $46k. I have seen lower but below is a recent ad and 1st that showed up. 2016 X are like $35k. This is because demand is low and supply is high. There is literally thousands of used Tesla on the market unsold for many months. For comparison, only 36 manual Audi R8s. They are desirable so the prices are higher than KBB. McLaren MP4-12Cs are not desirable so they are 50% cheaper than a Ferrari 458. They are not cheap because they are desirable.

Less desirable = Cheap
Desirable = markup

 

[YDR37]

but seriously, why hasn't Tesla updated its Trip Planner for CT? Alarming.

It's a fair question.

One possible answer: Tesla doesn't want curious potential Cybertruck customers to plot road trips, because then they might be disappointed by the number of stops and the associated charging times.

Tesla clearly has the necessary data, because they provide a Cybertruck trip planner in the vehicle itself. But if you have access to the vehicle trip planner, then presumably you are already an owner, not a potential customer.

 

[Gigahorse]

but seriously, why hasn't Tesla updated its Trip Planner for CT? Alarming.

Because 1 hour+ charges and not enough range to get from one SC to another is not the ideal scenario.
Hopefully short term they fix the charging curve with software and long term add a larger battery pack.

 

[Crissa]

Because 1 hour+ charges and not enough range to get from one SC to another is not the ideal scenario.

You're showing a plan for a road that's not plowed in winter. I went to University in Prescott. That's not a freeway.

Stop being a damn troll.

-Crissa

 

[Warbird]

What do you base your opinion on that charging at 48 amps leads to reduced battery longevity?

I was misleading Great Bay Shark, I retract my statement, there is no significant degradation difference for the battery, between 24 verses 80 amp home charge rates. Understanding that every charge cycle does degrade most battery chemistries and supercharging is likely far worse than home charge rates.

My main points were I agree with HaulingAss, it is beneficial to install a Telsa High Power Wall Connector (HPWC) over a 14-50 outlet because of the convenience of having a dedicated cord and the lower connection resistances. But I feel it is not necessary to install a 100 amp circuit. A 50 amp circuit, which will provide 40 amps of charging capability, is more than enough to charge an EV overnight. Having to upgrade the service panel to provide a dedicated 100 amp circuit is overkill in my opinion.

 

[Gigahorse]

You're showing a plan for a road that's not plowed in winter. I went to University in Prescott. That's not a freeway.

Stop being a damn troll.

-Crissa

You realize the route goes along that path because of supercharger availability right?
ABRP realizes that the CT isn't getting 340 miles of range and adjusts the route in order to get you from point A to point B without running out of energy on the side of the road............

 

[Crissa]

You realize the route goes along that path because of supercharger availability right?
ABRP realizes that the CT isn't getting 340 miles of range and adjusts the route in order to get you from point A to point B without running out of energy on the side of the road............

No, you've selected specific assumptions.

The road you selected is so low priority it doesn't show on this map.

And all of the marks on this map are DC fast charging, I skipped the destination chargers.

Not only does nearly no one live on that highway, when I lived there, no trucks took that route. It's through steep mountains and mixed pine and desert forest (depending on altitude and west facing).

I would expect that hop between Prescott and the freeway to take all day. Most traffic would go through Flagstaff or Phoenix to get to Prescott from the west, because it's so poorly maintained.

You are being a troll.

-Crissa

 

[Gigahorse]

No, you've selected specific assumptions.

The road you selected is so low priority it doesn't show on this map.

And all of the marks on this map are DC fast charging, I skipped the destination chargers.

Not only does nearly no one live on that highway, when I lived there, no trucks took that route. It's through steep mountains and mixed pine and desert forest (depending on altitude and west facing).

I would expect that hop between Prescott and the freeway to take all day. Most traffic would go through Flagstaff or Phoenix to get to Prescott from the west, because it's so poorly maintained.

You are being a troll.

-Crissa

Not all chargers are the same.......most people prioritize Tesla Super Chargers...
Most drivers are going to use Tesla superchargers, not random Electrify America chargers that don't work half the time.

 

[Crissa]

Not all chargers are the same.......most people prioritize Tesla Super Chargers...
Most drivers are going to use Tesla superchargers, not random Electrify America chargers that don't work half the time.

Seems like you're admitting your map is falsified.

-Crissa

 

[Gigahorse]

Seems like you're admitting your map is falsified.

-Crissa

Not some mystery, plan a route with ABRP using current CT stats, pretty easy to see and replicate and see that the charging times and distances between chargers out west are something that needs considering before making a trip.

 

[Crissa]

Not some mystery, plan a route with ABRP using current CT stats, pretty easy to see and replicate and see that the charging times and distances between chargers out west are something that needs considering before making a trip.

If you weren't feeding it bullshit, it wouldn't output bullshit.

You gave us a route that avoids all the gas stations and towns, too. I lived there, I'm calling your 'route' bullshit.

-Crissa

 

[Woodrick]

Tesla updated its Trip Planner for CT? Alarming.

Are you referring to Go Anywhere | Tesla ?
If so, for similar results, pick the Model 3 Performance
For pessimistic results, pick the Mode 3 RWD
Add 25-30% to the charging times.

Both the web and the in-car will give you conservative results. Some little modifications can decrease the time of the route.

 

[Warbird]

in my personal case scenario, I actually use it with significant regularity. I live at the top of a mountain and work irregular hours. My ex wife lives a 40-50 minute drive away and sometimes i get home very late and have a quick turn around for a full day to pick up my kids and drive them to school then pick them up later with multiple trips up and down the mountain in the same 24 hour period.


but the 80 amp 220v charging cannot be beat in the one scenario everyone dreads:


just like your phone, some nights for whatever reason you forget to plug it in before you go to bed. Rare, but it happens. If I realize it before i get in the shower, i just might get enough miles in to make it through the day.


my employer does not provide any charging at all while i am at work. Not free, not paid. So if i forget to charge at night before work the next day, I can be pretty screwed if it is a day i need to do multiple trips up and down the mountain.


I respect your experience, and the experience of those that say they can charge once and drive all week, but that is nowhere close to my life, not even vaguely feasible. So having a pseudo-replacement for a low juice supercharger at home really makes a difference for me.


YMMV (literally)


Cheers

I understand your use case of needing to "faster" charge. One hurdle is unless you have a dual charger in your Tesla (early Model S like HaulingAss or a CyberTruck), you cannot take advantage of a 100amp circuit. The best you can get is a 46 amp rate (11kW), which requires a 60 amp circuit. If you drop to a standard breaker size of 50 amps you can still charge (always multiply 80%) at 40 amps, which is still 9.6 kW.

Note: This table was created by Grok. I have confirmed the Max AC charge rates for the early Model S with dual charger, and the Model Y which I personally own. I cannot confirm charge rates for the other Models.

 

[bkellisimo]

To get 10K miles, they have had this a while. What we need to know is if they used Gen1 4680s or Gen2 4680s? If it is Gen2, I agree, something is broken. Otherwise, a 10% boost is coming this year and another boost with Gen3 in 2025 (if they don't slip).

What gen are the current CT batteries from factory shipping with? Gen1 or Gen2?

Sponsored