Hopefully Cybertruck tow range is better than F-150 Lightning

[CyberGus]

Not sure if this is the correct forum article but was watching an Electrified youtube video and he showed Musk saying "When fully loaded, the Tesla Semi should be able to achieve over 500 miles of range." To me that means the range of the Semi is based not on an empty trailer but a full one. My hope is Tesla will design the CT the same way, which they could do if they designed the battery size the same way they're designing the Semi's battery.

If the 500-Mile Plaid Cybertruck does end up costing $150k, I'm just gonna buy the $160k Semi and drive it without a trailer

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[CyberGus]

Everybody here is trying to solve the problem to get the key from the wizard

I have a DeLorean!

 

[TyPope]

Why EVs suck at towing

TLDW or TMMDW (Too Much Math, Didn't Watch)

Here's the deal... a 100KwH battery has 100 KwH energy
One gallon of gas has about 33.7 KwH energy
Cybertruck with 200 KwH battery will have 200 KwH energy.
F-150 with 36 gallons of gas has 1,213 KwH energy

End, Even though an F150 is inefficient, it can tow max weight twice as far as a Cybertruck with a 200 KwH battery (and we aren't even sure it'll get a battery that big... more likely 150 KwH which would be twice a Model Y pack... 200 KwH would be twice a Model S pack but since those are much lower in production rate, it would seem Tesla will be able to make the Model Y packs much faster and thus, will be able to doublestack that pack into a Cybertruck Pack.

 

[Ogre]

If you want to tow 15,000 pounds 500 miles without stopping, get a Tesla semi.

If you want a pickup truck that has significantly reduced range when towing, then get a Cybertruck.

You could tow a Model 3 in a

If the 500-Mile Plaid Cybertruck does end up costing $150k, I'm just gonna buy the $160k Semi and drive it without a trailer

Just get the pickup version.

Semi is cheaper at that point since there is a $40,000 commercial vehicle incentive.

 

[CyberGus]

If your use case is "I tow 10,000lbs every day for 2000 miles, uphill both ways" then maybe an EV is not right for you.

Does "range" even matter if you can charge in to 80% in 5 minutes?

 

[SwampNut]

Does "range" even matter if you can charge in to 80% in 5 minutes?

IF that were true, and IF there were a lot of stations super conveniently located, it MAY be acceptable. If I had to stop every 100 miles and find a station, hell no. But my bladder as like a 180 mile range. And we can't charge from 10-80 in 5 minutes and there's no sign that we will be any time soon.

 

[Ogre]

IF that were true, and IF there were a lot of stations super conveniently located, it MAY be acceptable. If I had to stop every 100 miles and find a station, hell no. But my bladder as like a 180 mile range. And we can't charge from 10-80 in 5 minutes and there's no sign that we will be any time soon.

Adding 180 miles range to my Model Y usually takes about 15 minutes. Pee, find food, stretch, get on the road. Usually a break every 3 hours or so is welcome. I suspect the Cybertruck will charge similarly quickly.

An extra 10 minutes charging on a 3 hour leg is 5.5% of your travel time. It’s not a big deal. If it were 40+ minute stops all the time, I could see being bothered, but those longer stops are uncommon in a Tesla.

 

[SwampNut]

I've learned that nearly everyone (I want to say everyone, but there will be an outlier) takes way longer to "rest" than the car takes to charge. My common road trip is Phoenix to a Los Angeles suburb. I make two stops. I'm ready to stop where I stop. I used to sometimes make it with one gas stop, and was always less happy and more fatigued. I thought I was stopping for less than ten minutes, but it's really 15. By then the car is done.

On my last trip a week ago, I had family traveling with me who are amazingly slow and totally unaware of time. I told them I was going to do a longer charge at 17 minutes. They were in the Pilot store for ... 41 minutes!!! They arrived at the car and asked me if it would be ready soon. They seriously thought they took less than 17 minutes. I could have made it to the destination without another charge since it had charged so long. But I still did want to stop and take the break.

That said, there's just no way that having to do more frequent stops would be good, it really does add up. That Pilot is a bit off the highway, there's traffic, etc. Total interruption time is more than just the charge time.

 

[Ogre]

For me, range seems to be a bigger constraint for day-trips than for cross country driving. I often go places where you drive 100+ miles and back and there is no charger en-route. With the bikes on the back, it’s right at the edge of range.

If you are towing a boat to the lake for the weekend and it’s 80 miles up the hill, I can easily see it being a problem.

 

[SwampNut]

With the bikes on the back, it’s right at the edge of range.

I'm considering a rack for either the 3 or our Smart. This is unexpected news; how much does this reduce range? I thought it would be very minimal. And we're talking bicycle not motorcycle right?

If you are towing a boat to the lake for the weekend and it’s 80 miles up the hill, I can easily see it being a problem.

Well, not for the trip back, LOL. Seriously though, a common trip for us is Prescott and back, which takes like 50% to get there and only 20% back (made up numbers but close). I could see downhill towing actually adding a ton of miles.

 

[CyberGus]

IF that were true, and IF there were a lot of stations super conveniently located, it MAY be acceptable. If I had to stop every 100 miles and find a station, hell no. But my bladder as like a 180 mile range. And we can't charge from 10-80 in 5 minutes and there's no sign that we will be any time soon.

The V3 Superchargers are 250kW, and could theoretically charge a 100kWh pack from 20% to 80% in 15 minutes.

There's a V4 Supercharger in the works, possibly 350kW.

 

[CyberGus]

For me, range seems to be a bigger constraint for day-trips than for cross country driving. I often go places where you drive 100+ miles and back and there is no charger en-route. With the bikes on the back, it’s right at the edge of range.

If you are towing a boat to the lake for the weekend and it’s 80 miles up the hill, I can easily see it being a problem.

Uphill both ways?

 

[SwampNut]

The V3 Superchargers are 250kW, and could theoretically charge a 100kWh pack from 20% to 80% in 15 minutes.

There's a V4 Supercharger in the works, possibly 350kW.

Yeah, not five minutes.

 

[CyberGus]

Yeah, not five minutes.

My question was meant as a hypothetical. Unless we're charging with actual lightning, it will always take longer to charge than to fill gas, but what if that delta is only 5-10 minutes? So a 5-minute stop is just fine, but at 15 minutes it's "fuck this planet, I'm getting a diesel"??

Just speculating on where the tipping point is.

 

[SwampNut]

The point of my long post is that it already doesn't really matter what the charge time is. "A stop" is already almost as much overhead time as charge time. Range matters because of number of stops.

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