Extended battery pack available when?

[eswimm]

There have also been on and off app issues that prevented reserving the extender. I'm hoping there will be a way to order it as an accessory even if you didn't reserve.

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[HaulingAss]

Yes I agree with the density, but when? I would say at least two-5 years to fill in those gaps.
That is not how Tesla approaches supercharger buildout on interstates. They don't look at demand as much as they used to. So I am confused by the unused statement. Many superchargers sit unused. Less now that they are open to others. People won't buy the cars if they can't also take family vacations in them.

Millions of people already take family vacations in EVs, generally without issue. True, the charging network isn't suitable for every conceivable vacation route, of every American, but with EV adoption still below 10% it doesn't make sense for Tesla to market to 100% of use cases yet. Because that would require a much more expensive Supercharger Network for minimal gain in adoption/sales.

I feel for the issue you are facing, specifically, that is driven by your location AND your need or desire to travel East/West on a regular basis. In terms of the current Supercharger buildout, you are not the customer that Tesla is trying to woo. That's not a slam on you or what you want to do, it just comes down to the fact that you are a very small portion of the whole pie of American buyers of new EVs. Tesla still hasn't saturated sales of EVs to people who never want to travel the routes you regularly travel.

So filling in the gaps for the people in Minnesota that want to go west with the family. They need those chargers. Most of the time the cars at Montana Superchargers aren't from Montana as an FYI. I have driven back and forth 3 times already this year across that stretch from NY.

I get it, I would like to travel some of the more remote routes in Northern Washington and Northern Montana also. But it's not as important to me as it is to you, obviously. And I can still get to anywhere I want to go in North America, if I really needed to. Although the more remote areas would require a bit of juggling and planning, higher charge levels and more time charging. And it's not something I need to do on a regular basis (or at all, really).

Bottom line I would like to see some folks travel eastern montana in winter at -15 with a 30 mile an hour headwind pulling a tiny camper. There is no scheduled addition to those chargers for the foreseeable future. Miles City to Billings is interesting in those types of temps. 146 miles. Going West is a windy day.

Because you live Montanada (northern Montana) it may appear that lots of people would like to travel Eastern Montana in winter at -15 with a 30 mph headwind while towing a trailer. But I can assure you, looking at all American buyers of new EVs, that is not the case. It's a vanishingly small use case. Most travel trailers aren't even rated for travelling in those temperatures.

So some people might have to consider the extender if it comes about. That's how I see it. I have a camper popup bed on mine. Wouldn't dream of towing on interstates. The extender would give me a cleaner setup without all the generator and solar crap people are trying to do. Thats why I would use it.

There are people for whom the range extender makes sense, and it sounds like you are one of them. But it's a smaller group than those who think the range extender makes sense. Much smaller. Because more kWh is not a panacea, it's just a small incremental improvement with considerable negatives to consider. It still won't make the scenario you used as an example practical (towing a trailer through a remote underserviced route with a 30-mph headwind at -15 degrees F), there will still be major inconveniences. More Superchargers (and no range extender) would still be better. Those will come when they are needed, not by you (which is right now) but as they are needed for electrification to continue expanding. The range extender is just a stop-gap measure.

The percentage of people for whom it would make sense for would be considerably larger if it could be owner installed/removed as needed in less than 15 minutes. But I don't see how that is possible (while maintaining reliability and affordability). If we consider the range extender is basically a permanent addition, the number of people it makes sense for is quite small due to the weight, lost cargo space, added tire wear and reduced performance/handling/off-road ability when the range isn't necessary, and the additional expense. For a small percentage of Cybertruck owners it will be a sensible addition. That said, the majority of people who buy it will be buying it just because they can (and this assumes it actually becomes available).

 

[Gaximus]

That poll showed a 38.7% take rate for the Range Extender, which is much higher than I would have expected. I find it hard to believe that this number is realistic.

Also the poll is biased toward people that have searched range extender, the rest are people that happen to be on the site when it showed up in the “new post” section.
I think the poll of 40+ total preorders bs the percentage is probably more correct. I saw somewhere that only 10% of CT owners are on that site, and using that math, and multipoint the total votes, still only getting 400ish preorders. It’s still only 0.8% people preordered.
This is all very guess based. But seeing as how most CT owners were previous Tesla owners, and very few of them would think they need the range extender, I think the numbers for range extender are very low.

 

[OUTLAW]

My opinion here is that the base battery on foundation truck, spread out over the floor of the entire truck would have been invisible, and should’ve added 100miles extra range At the hugely increased prices.
Now we’re going to have this huge wart in the middle of the bed for sum of money that makes no sense

 

[Jhodgesatmb]

They can’t deliver a simple off-road light bar, you thank that they will deliver a range extender? As far as it comes to the CBT, the design team does not know what they are doing, production and deliveries were rushed to meet financial goals. They will scrap the range extender and increase the range of newer models modestly.

Then they will have to return the deposit. For me that was $500 but it is higher now.

 

[Jhodgesatmb]

My opinion here is that the base battery on foundation truck, spread out over the floor of the entire truck would have been invisible, and should’ve added 100miles extra range At the hugely increased prices.
Now we’re going to have this huge wart in the middle of the bed for sum of money that makes no sense

By that I am guessing that you didn’t reserve one and that is fine. I haven’t decided yet whether I will get one if/when they provide the actual details. I don’t like the idea of it being a permanent installation but so far I haven’t needed it either. I haven’t tried towing anything though.

 

[YDR37]

This is all very guess based. But seeing as how most CT owners were previous Tesla owners, and very few of them would think they need the range extender, I think the numbers for range extender are very low.

OK, and what about future Cybertruck owners? Is the unavailability of the Range Extender hurting current sales? Is anyone saying: "I want a CT, but 325 miles of range is totally unacceptable for me, so I'm going to put off my purchase until I know I can get the CT+RE with 445 miles" ?

Well, it's possible. But seems unlikely. The availability or unavailability of the RE probably does not move the needle on the vast majority of CT purchase decisions.

Tesla has a lot of other stuff going on right now -- cybercabs, new low-cost models, refreshes of Models S/X. An expensive Range Extender that would be difficult to develop and manufacture, and which would only be seriously considered by a small percentage of current/future CT owners, is probably not their top priority.

Bottom line: I wouldn't be surprised if the next real news about the RE comes in a few months, as a small update to the CT order page that says "Production planned to begin in early 2026".

Hopefully I'm wrong.

 

[Outdoors]

Millions of people already take family vacations in EVs, generally without issue. True, the charging network isn't suitable for every conceivable vacation route, of every American, but with EV adoption still below 10% it doesn't make sense for Tesla to market to 100% of use cases yet. Because that would require a much more expensive Supercharger Network for minimal gain in adoption/sales.

I feel for the issue you are facing, specifically, that is driven by your location AND your need or desire to travel East/West on a regular basis. In terms of the current Supercharger buildout, you are not the customer that Tesla is trying to woo. That's not a slam on you or what you want to do, it just comes down to the fact that you are a very small portion of the whole pie of American buyers of new EVs. Tesla still hasn't saturated sales of EVs to people who never want to travel the routes you regularly travel.




I get it, I would like to travel some of the more remote routes in Northern Washington and Northern Montana also. But it's not as important to me as it is to you, obviously. And I can still get to anywhere I want to go in North America, if I really needed to. Although the more remote areas would require a bit of juggling and planning, higher charge levels and more time charging. And it's not something I need to do on a regular basis (or at all, really).




Because you live Montanada (northern Montana) it may appear that lots of people would like to travel Eastern Montana in winter at -15 with a 30 mph headwind while towing a trailer. But I can assure you, looking at all American buyers of new EVs, that is not the case. It's a vanishingly small use case. Most travel trailers aren't even rated for travelling in those temperatures.



There are people for whom the range extender makes sense, and it sounds like you are one of them. But it's a smaller group than those who think the range extender makes sense. Much smaller. Because more kWh is not a panacea, it's just a small incremental improvement with considerable negatives to consider. It still won't make the scenario you used as an example practical (towing a trailer through a remote underserviced route with a 30-mph headwind at -15 degrees F), there will still be major inconveniences. More Superchargers (and no range extender) would still be better. Those will come when they are needed, not by you (which is right now) but as they are needed for electrification to continue expanding. The range extender is just a stop-gap measure.

The percentage of people for whom it would make sense for would be considerably larger if it could be owner installed/removed as needed in less than 15 minutes. But I don't see how that is possible (while maintaining reliability and affordability). If we consider the range extender is basically a permanent addition, the number of people it makes sense for is quite small due to the weight, lost cargo space, added tire wear and reduced performance/handling/off-road ability when the range isn't necessary, and the additional expense. For a small percentage of Cybertruck owners it will be a sensible addition. That said, the majority of people who buy it will be buying it just because they can (and this assumes it actually becomes available).

No it really doesn't matter to me. This isn't a personal thing about my needs. I can go everywhere I want. I have plenty of range. I am just saying you are wrong on the filling in the gaps due to car demand.

I don't need to do cross country travel in a truck. I could. I prefer an S. So it is really more of informational. The gaps in superchargers were designed well before the cybertruck ever had a thought in mind.

I think that the customer being wooed is over for the buildout of superchargers. The density issues are more urban. The interstate routes are based on travel and gaps. Not who lives nearby and owns Tesla's. That used to be the case. It is no longer. Repeated for the second time.

I guess you don't snowmobile much. How do people get such things to trails. I see more box trailers of snowmobiles and other trailers. I also have towed my airstream every winter or 20 years until I put her on a mountain. So people do trailer in the winter. Even if it is a small trailer. Someone has to move couches.

Again. Not my use you seem concerned with. I just don't agree with you that the product isn't worth building, or the answer is more superchargers always. Look at the cost per stall. Maybe we are at the point where. Hey you want more range we aren't always going to fill in gaps. Maybe buy a range extender. While it is contradictory to Tesla recently. Ya never know with the strange glasses guy Elon.

 

[Gigahorse]

My opinion here is that the base battery on foundation truck, spread out over the floor of the entire truck would have been invisible, and should’ve added 100miles extra range At the hugely increased prices.
Now we’re going to have this huge wart in the middle of the bed for sum of money that makes no sense

Agreed, looking at other EVs with much larger battery packs they could have fit way more capacity without eating half the vault.

 

[Jhodgesatmb]

OK, and what about future Cybertruck owners? Is the unavailability of the Range Extender hurting current sales? Is anyone saying: "I want a CT, but 325 miles of range is totally unacceptable for me, so I'm going to put off my purchase until I know I can get the CT+RE with 445 miles" ?

Well, it's possible. But seems unlikely. The availability or unavailability of the RE probably does not move the needle on the vast majority of CT purchase decisions.

Tesla has a lot of other stuff going on right now -- cybercabs, new low-cost models, refreshes of Models S/X. An expensive Range Extender that would be difficult to develop and manufacture, and which would only be seriously considered by a small percentage of current/future CT owners, is probably not their top priority.

Bottom line: I wouldn't be surprised if the next real news about the RE comes in a few months, as a small update to the CT order page that says "Production planned to begin in early 2026".

Hopefully I'm wrong.

Maybe you are right on all counts. All I was saying is that if Tesla decides not to go forward with the range extender then I expect a refund.

that said, there were many people on CTOC in the years before production began that insisted on the extended range. I was signed up for the tri-motor, 500-mile range trim. I suspect that the only people that would need the RE would be those doing serious off-road excursions or those that have to tow long distances. Everyone else just needs a robust charging network.

 

[YDR37]

Maybe you are right on all counts. All I was saying is that if Tesla decides not to go forward with the range extender then I expect a refund.

Which would be a 100% reasonable expectation

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