Cybertruck as a tow vehicle

NCCyberTruck

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From what I've sen advertised from other EV trucks that are coming to market you would end up loosing about 50% of your overall mileage while towing. I have had concerns but since the cyber truck is clearly advertised with towing capability I'm sure that it will fall in line with those numbers or be better. Give that the cyber truck will have newer battery technology and software i would assume that it will be different than any current numbers from other vehicles. I guess time will tell!
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CostcoSamples

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A big battery is mandatory for towing. Its also madatory for life in Canada where distances are vast, charging network is limited, and cold weather kills range.

I wish Tesla would offer the big battery on dual or single motor variants. I don't need a Plaid Mode CT, but I do need a big battery.
 

Sirfun

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You are getting a CT for $9000?

$900 a week for a single trip a year is only $900. Over 10 years you are still only at $9000. And because it’s a rental, you have no maintenance, registration, or insurance to deal with.
Many years ago my wife and I only had a couple of classic cars as our daily drivers and we would use rentals for road trips. There are ways to get reasonably priced rental cars and it actually worked out pretty well. Like you said there can be benefits. One time on a trip to Tahoe we had a vehicle that was acting up and called the rental company. They directed us to a nearby facility and we traded it out no problem. It's kinda fun trying out different new vehicles. One drawback is having to figure out everything on different vehicles, but it can work.
 

Firetruck41

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Would it help if you thought of the extra cost being for the battery and Tesla is throwing in the third motor as a gift for buying the large battery CT?
Charge me only an $8k premium, and you got a deal!
 


TruckElectric

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New business plan. Buy up cheap land directly next to a ton of Buc-ees. Put in reliable super chargers. Let the people charging walk over to Buc-ees for restroom access.
Go for it. Let us know how it works out for you.
 

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I have just fitted a tow bar on my Model 3 dm. I fish at Lake Anna which is 65 miles from my house in Warrenton VA. There is no supercharger on route so I need to make about a 25 mile detour to get to a supercharger.
I have an F150 which I can use to tow with but I love my Model 3 as it is such a pleasure to drive so I rather want to tow with the Tesla. I can just about make it with my bass boat to Lake Anna but the whole arrangement is not ideal. I now start worrying about the Cybertruck which was to replace the F150. It starts looking like its a non-starter because of EV's poor towing performance. After the first Cybertrucks are released I shall monitor the YouTube videos to see how they perform as tow vehicles. If they are much the same as the Model X, 3 & Y in towing then I will not proceed with my pre-order. Sad, but it won't work for me and I am a big EV fan.
don't get the single motor. problem solved.
 

jerhenderson

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A big battery is mandatory for towing. Its also madatory for life in Canada where distances are vast, charging network is limited, and cold weather kills range.

I wish Tesla would offer the big battery on dual or single motor variants. I don't need a Plaid Mode CT, but I do need a big battery.
as a fellow canuck.....Trimotor.
 

jerhenderson

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A 100 to 120 mile range whilst towing is for me a deal breaker. NBGAA (no bloody good at all)

The EV industry needs to band together to solve this. Someone should make a swappable battery for RVs and trailers. These could be leased/swapped at fuel stations. They will be heavy so there will need to be some sort of crane or forklift at the minimum. Since voltage requirements are different


$900 a week x 10 years for a ice rental. That's almost half way to a CT3.

The other way I look at it is I would have to be really annoyed at charging for 200 hours @ $100 per hour to justify the CT3. 1500 miles /150 is 10 charge stops x 10 years is also half way. Dang it, I really don't want to spend $70k, but I probably will.

Even if you have an ICE back up it has expenses. Insurance, registration, maintenance. For many of us space constraints.
[/QUOTE]
the EV industry will do this if its profitable to do so. Go for it, don't rely on someone else. I can't see battery swapping as efficient.... better to make an electric EV with solar panels and a big ass battery.
 

Crissa

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Swapping batteries is something Tesla looked at, and there's a Chinese company doing it.

The problem is that battery packs are not all made equal. No one wants to be left with a bad one. And to swap them, you need a pile of spare battery packs sitting around.

And the logistics of that - when automakers are battery constrained - never worked out.

-Crissa
 


AustroTom

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With a CT3 reserved I keep my fingers crossed that it won"t do much worse than my current truck.
My 2010 Chevy Silverado 4x4 crewcab with the Duramax gets 13.3 mpg avaerage non towing.
When I tow our 28' 18" extra height v-nose 14K gvwr (4,800lbs dry), enclosed cargo trailer, that mpg drops down to as far a 5 mpg. This is huge for a diesel. When I tow I mostly use truck stops, so I don't know where Elon and Tesla is on this matter but it would be tremendously advantageous to team up with a Flying J, Pilot, or Love's (or any other such outfit), to build pull-through superchargers (especially once the Tesla semis become available), at such already established infrastructures. It would also help their business while the vehicles being charged.
To be honest: the biggest worry I have is arriving at a standard supercharger with a couple of pull throughs and any non-towing Tesla would ocupy it. I'd go balistic if I'd have to unhook because of that
 

HugeinChina

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With a CT3 reserved I keep my fingers crossed that it won"t do much worse than my current truck.
My 2010 Chevy Silverado 4x4 crewcab with the Duramax gets 13.3 mpg avaerage non towing.
When I tow our 28' 18" extra height v-nose 14K gvwr (4,800lbs dry), enclosed cargo trailer, that mpg drops down to as far a 5 mpg. This is huge for a diesel. When I tow I mostly use truck stops, so I don't know where Elon and Tesla is on this matter but it would be tremendously advantageous to team up with a Flying J, Pilot, or Love's (or any other such outfit), to build pull-through superchargers (especially once the Tesla semis become available), at such already established infrastructures. It would also help their business while the vehicles being charged.
To be honest: the biggest worry I have is arriving at a standard supercharger with a couple of pull throughs and any non-towing Tesla would ocupy it. I'd go balistic if I'd have to unhook because of that
Having experienced people parking at diesel pumps to run in and buy things at a gas station whilst I am waiting with my boat in tow, I think you can almost guarantee that you will see that behavior. People suck.
 

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Would it help if you thought of the extra cost being for the battery and Tesla is throwing in the third motor as a gift for buying the large battery CT?
Lol that is pretty much how I justify it in my mind. I'm actually hoping the trimotor will include a few other luxuries as well, such as rear LCD for the kids.
 

AustroTom

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You guys actually might be on to something if you have a couple of powerwalls in the garage.
Once ready for a trip with a toyhauler (or similar), in tow, throw in the powerwalls and tie them to the CT as a range extender. Would be cool, huh?
 

Ranulf

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How come no one has brought up powered trailers? I think its silly to talk about throwing powerwalls in the back of the cybertruck. Promo images show a cyber trailer, how much do you wanna bet that will have its own battery and at least one powered axle?

You already power lights and signals from the tow vehicle, it wouldn’t be that hard to add in a link to the CTs drive computer. Cybertruck would automatically regulate the trailer’s motors and power would be shared between trailer and vehicle (or vice versa) as necessary. To use industrial terminology, the Cybertruck/Trailer combo would be the same as as AC or DC motors in a master/slave relationship.

To an extent, that is exactly how dual and tri motor teslas already work. Adding a powered trailer to that current setup would not be hard at all. They did it with electric trains over 100 years ago.
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