Portable range extender -- dream accessory

[Woodrick]

@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.

Let's stary with UPDATE #3: Tesla Model 3 Sets New Range Record At 606.2 Miles (insideevs.com)
Just slowing down increases your range dramatically. 600 miles should be a possibility in the Cybertruck.

A 199 mile gap in Superchargers is no problem a Cybertruck. Sure, it may be an issue when towing.

I'm not sure why you think that you have to camp every 150 miles.

You did happen to pick one of the most desolate routes/areas (Assuming Reno to Alberta) out there. It appears from ABRP, that if you stay below 700wH/mi, then you can make it via Superchargers, except for the middle of nowhere Canada.
I will say that with the battery extender it is possible and doable at 1000wH/mi.

I had a friend that was a camper vendor. He had a pickup that had the standard undercarriage tank, two factory saddle tanks and a toolbox type tank. No, the Cybertruck is not going to match that. But then again, that is a VERY NICHE vehicle.


No, the Cybertruck is not going everywhere in every condition.
But I can absolutely tell you that solar panels and batteries wouldn't help with this trip. It requires about 1.6MW! one-way.

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[CyberTruckeeTheOne]

That's why dream is simple and not too lofty.

A portable battery that could be 50 miles each towing (100 miles without and i'll get 4
of them).

 

[BannedByTMC]

Leaving out the details does make one wonder.

Wonder what? I saw the trailers in person, (he used to live near me), and they worked. I think he left out the battery hookup details because he was hoping to make some money from what he figured out by advising others how to do it, not sure if anyone tried to replicate it though. My guess is he tapped into the main battery HV connection directly in parallel configuration so the vehicle didn't notice anything different other than the "pack" lasting much longer. The pack had it's own independent cooling system so he didn't have to tap into the vehicle's. At some point I expect a trailer manufacturer to offer a similar setup in various trailers when EV trucks become more mainstream. When not in use you'd have a large home power backup as well, just like James did.

 

[TeslaKen]

I think it already exists here:

 

[Giskard]

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.

*cough* Cyberlandr *cough*

 

[firsttruck]

*cough* Cyberlandr *cough*

Cyberlandr takes up all of the bed. Tesla battery extender or a trailer leaves a lot of room in Cybertruck bed.

Cyberlandr is too big and heavy to easily install & remove when you do or do not need it. Trailer is easy.

Roof space is small for solar panels. Only 500W. Cybertruck can not be driven when Cyberlandr is extended. Just opening/closing Cybertruck bed cover and raising/lowering
Cyberlandr will use energy and time. Trailer has a lot more roof space for solar panels (1,000W to 3,000W).

I am not convinced that when Cyberlandr is raised it will give enough usable room to offset the problems.

 

[webspeedracer]

That's why dream is simple and not too lofty.

A portable battery that could be 50 miles each towing (100 miles without and i'll get 4
of them).

Lightship and Pebble Flow are both doing this, but adding an EV drivetrain to the trailer so it eliminates the need to connect the trailer battery to the CT battery. The trailer will propel/regen itself so the CT effectively isn’t pulling the trailer, it’s guiding it. In this way, the hope is the CT range is effectively unchanged. So, if you have the range extender (470 miles ideal) and your real-world is ~350, then that would be your range with the camper.
I’ve order both but the Lightship looks like the winner with the 80kW battery, for range off the grid and skipping Superchargers (b/c PITA with a trailer and choosing SCs with pull-in or pull-through. The Pebble looks like the winner for me in terms of design for family (bedroom at each end).
Either of them will be a game-changer for towing with EVs, due to built-in EV drivetrain.

 

[Trbizwiz]

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.

Tesla added a charge terminal to the battery pack for the range extender, as shown by Sandy in his tear down video. I doubt it would be real hard to tap in to that. Maybe you could toss one of these in the bed, and one on a small trailer, and charge anywhere, while stopped. When you don't need it, use it at home. https://smartflower.com/products/
Its not going to add anywhere near the energy at 40 kwh range extender would, but it'll keep you charged while out in the wilderness. Qualifies for the 30% credit. I'm not entirely sure, but it may actually have onboard batteries. Maybe the could sell a cheaper one with out battery storage.

 

[jsongster]

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?

Check out the options from Bowlus. https://bowlus.com/volterra/ They have a model called Volterra which is a luxury, ultralight, self manouvering, trailer that has a house battery and solar panels and can add range to vehicle. Very nice. I am not a rep but I def respect the quality of their products.

 

[Woodrick]

*cough* Cyberlandr *cough*

Just checked, I don't see anywhere where Cyberlandr suggests that they can charge the truck. Sure, they've got solar panels to charge their own battery to provide lights and stuff in the camper.

 

[Woodrick]

Tesla added a charge terminal to the battery pack for the range extender, as shown by Sandy in his tear down video. I doubt it would be real hard to tap in to that. Maybe you could toss one of these in the bed, and one on a small trailer, and charge anywhere, while stopped. When you don't need it, use it at home. https://smartflower.com/products/
Its not going to add anywhere near the energy at 40 kwh range extender would, but it'll keep you charged while out in the wilderness. Qualifies for the 30% credit. I'm not entirely sure, but it may actually have onboard batteries. Maybe the could sell a cheaper one with out battery storage.

That "terminal" is an 800V connection that can easily kill you. Hook up a Smartflower to it and it will be like a dandelion and just blow away in thousands of itsy-bitsy parts.

 

[SCTesla]

Tesla doesn't support charging while driving from anything outside of the range extender (nothing as of now). There have been some who created their own solution, but it's at your own risk and I can ensure, from other people trying mods, that any future harm to the battery, Tesla will try to say that was from the device connected and not support it.

 

[rudedawg78]

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.

Can you make a YouTube video once you start creating this DIY trailer? I am definitely interested in seeing a setup like this.

 

[Giskard]

Just checked, I don't see anywhere where Cyberlandr suggests that they can charge the truck. Sure, they've got solar panels to charge their own battery to provide lights and stuff in the camper.

They don't have a ton of detail on their site, but they have mentioned they will not have their own battery (I can't recall if it's buried in their FAQs or was discussed in one of the interviews with the CEO). It will tap into the Cybertruck's battery and the solar panels will be able to charge it if there's excess. Additionally, they have mentioned there will be a dolly available to make it easy to remove/reinstall when necessary.

The main advantage of the Cyberlandr concept is very little range loss when traveling to/from your destination. Any type of trailer is going to take a lot more electrons to move than just a truck with 1200-1500 lbs in the back, even if it is covered in solar panels or has its own drivetrain. For my purposes it looks like it would work very well, but we'll see when they finally reveal the production version.

 

[DrPhyzx]

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.

The highest efficiency panels you can get are about 224 W/m^2, and you have about 12 m^2, there, so the most you can get (nominal) is about 2.7 kW, and you'll be lucky to get 20% of that averaged over each 24-hr period with full sun in the daytime, so enough to charge the CT in about 10 perfect days. Could be worth it if camped for long periods where you need only occasional use, but sure seems expensive for such a limited use case.

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