Portable range extender -- dream accessory

[CyberTruckeeTheOne]

With my ICE RV puller, I have 4 of the 5 gallons tanks back up. That gets me at least 200 miles in case I need it.

Having travelled up north with less than dense superchargers and super slow destination chargers, I can have this on my cargo bed -- ideally rigged land could supplh charge on demand like rhe envisioned Cybertruck range extender.

How about it Tesla? Or, Panasonic? Or, Duracell?

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[Woodrick]

Shouldn't be much of a problem, a 240V 20kW generator should be sufficient.
No charging while driving though.
Otherwise, your only choice is the battery extender.

 

[CyberTruckeeTheOne]

Shouldn't be much of a problem, a 240V 20kW generator should be sufficient.
No charging while driving though.
Otherwise, your only choice is the battery extender.

I am a market for range extender because of my use-case for RV.

But it will be dead load on daily driving.

 

[SCTesla]

I am a market for range extender because of my use-case for RV.

But it will be dead load on daily driving.

You have the options of:

-Generator, likely slowly than L2 destination chargers or RV plugs and cannot charge while driving
-Range extender, seems to be semi-permanent
- Use SC, Destination chargers, or plugs

 

[Jhodgesatmb]

I was watching Kyle from Out-of-Spec-Reviews talking about the Telsa Range Extender and he raised some very valid points about how it will be integrated into the CT battery/charging system/cooling system. It doesn't sound even remotely as simple as adding a battery. It also makes me wonder whether it will ever see the light of day. He also seemed to suggest that it could weigh upwards toward 1,000 pounds. Granted, anyone wanting the extra ~130 miles of range would likely be willing to give up almost half of their cargo capacity, but lugging that extra weight around is going to hurt every day.

 

[Pops]

I have plans to put together a DIY travel trailer. With a 24' box you can fit a lot of solar. Between 3kw-6kw. But the nice part is you can load up the RV with a big battery and a 240v inverter. Depending on where you put it in the RV the weight wont add much to the hitch. The cost of the hardware should be less than the Tesla range extender.

I could go into a lot more details, but with a little investigation you can find what works best for you. Towing can be an advantage if what you are towing is also a fast charger (240v 50amp).

I recommend the EG4 48V Indoor 280Ah WallMount Battery & EG4 6000XP Off-Grid Inverter Bundle. Just add as many batteries as you want.

 

[SteelyMcSteelFace]

Tesla needs to add a charging port to the inside of the truck bed, ostensibly for solar charging while driving and stern warnings in the manual to not run a gas generator in the truck bed.

 

[Woodrick]

It is so much fun working with folks with range anxiety. Like most phobias, the problem and reality have very little to do with each other.

At this point, and probably forever, there is no way to add range while you are moving. The reality is that there is VERY little payback while in motion. What you get in 2 hours of 240V 48A charging is easily replaced in a few minutes of Supercharging. You may gain less than even 5 minutes.

Solar provides little bang for the buck. You just have to have a LOT of panels in direct sunlight, oriented in the right direction and tilts with clear skies to get anything. And then it's only a few hours a day.
Something like a cloud can really play with the vehicles charging process. At the best, it sees the inverter turning on and off. At the worst it sees voltage dropping and rolls back the charging current and then shuts off.

Pretty much the only thing that you can solve is how far past the last plug the vehicle can go. Do you really need to go more than 150 miles past the last plug? (even less if towing?) And you don't have any charging available?
And if towing something big and aerodynamically bad, it's worse. Something like the Tesla Range Extender that adds 150 miles, 75 if towing, would then only get you 30 miles further.

Is that worth the money?

There are a lot of things that you can do to extend the range of the Cybertruck. Who wants to guess what the max demonstrated range of a 310 mile Model 3 is?

 

[CyberTruckeeTheOne]

I have plans to put together a DIY travel trailer. With a 24' box you can fit a lot of solar. Between 3kw-6kw. But the nice part is you can load up the RV with a big battery and a 240v inverter. Depending on where you put it in the RV the weight wont add much to the hitch. The cost of the hardware should be less than the Tesla range extender.

I could go into a lot more details, but with a little investigation you can find what works best for you. Towing can be an advantage if what you are towing is also a fast charger (240v 50amp).

I recommend the EG4 48V Indoor 280Ah WallMount Battery & EG4 6000XP Off-Grid Inverter Bundle. Just add as many batteries as you want.

Interesting if this can be charged with solar panels.

Otherwise in commercial campgrounds, this is either-or with the CT RV puller.

 

[jcryer3]

A small RV setup that could charge the Cybertruck would be awesome. The amount of solar collectors would be very large. Also having a connection from the RV to the Cybertruck when the RV is connected to power so it could also charge the truck. The volume of Cybertrucks could reach a point where there could be a RV that is specifically designed for it. I would buy it.

 

[BannedByTMC]

At this point, and probably forever, there is no way to add range while you are moving.

Not exactly true, it's been done. A guy did it twice, first built a trailer with a used Tesla/RAV4 pack, then did it with a Model S 85 pack. Don't know the exact details since he never shared them but he probably hooked it up to the high voltage pack connection since he could use it while driving.

 

[Woodrick]

Interesting if this can be charged with solar panels.

Otherwise in commercial campgrounds, this is either-or with the CT RV puller.

In my neck, and I suspect in most campgrounds, it won't work. Campgrouds pride theirselves on having tree cover, because that's what the campers like.
Sure, there are beach and I'd guess desert sites without a tree in sight. But then in a commercial campground, do you have the space to deploy?

 

[Woodrick]

Not exactly true, it's been done. A guy did it twice, first built a trailer with a used Tesla/RAV4 pack, then did it with a Model S 85 pack. Don't know the exact details since he never shared them but he probably hooked it up to the high voltage pack connection since he could use it while driving.

Yea, I remember that one now.
And I'm pretty sure I excluded it on purpose in my memories. It was about as far from being consumer ready as you can get.

Leaving out the details does make one wonder.

It's basically the Tesla extender pack.

 

[CyberTruckeeTheOne]

@Woodrick - please tell us how you can extend the range beyond the nameplate numbers.

My 273 in 40 miles seems one off that I was not able to replicate with a hyper-miling strategy.

I did not bring my RV in NV, Idaho, Montana, Alberta trip. My allowance is 165 miles between Superchargers. But there are at least 179 to 199 mile sections in between chargers even with a longer round-about routes Tesla trip planner suggested to hit their Superchargers.

Camping every 150 miles is simply impractical.

Getting enough charge on destination chargers, if it's not overnight on scheduled stops like commercial campgrounds will eat too much time.

I did several remote area camping, hunting and road trips and only have those 4 5-gallon gas tanks as range extenders. Hence, my dream of having something equivalent for our CT.

 

[CyberTruckeeTheOne]

Or rebuild the floor of an RV and lay down an array of used Tesla battery packs from a totaled unit.

I'm a potential costumer, lol.

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