Reviving the possibilities of onboard battery extender

[EWELON]

I like this non-seamless idea as well. would be cool if it was modular and chargable by nacs or a mobile solar panel - so that you can top off at home or at a supercharger or in the field. Something like 2-4 boxes of range that could be interlinked in the back of the tailgate under the tonneau, and be removable by us as needed. And when it charged the car it charged at as close to supercharger speeds as possible.

in havent found an anker or ecoflow, etc product that meets the above.

Sponsored

 

[YDR37]

I like this non-seamless idea as well. would be cool if it was modular and chargable by nacs or a mobile solar panel - so that you can top off at home or at a supercharger or in the field. Something like 2-4 boxes of range that could be interlinked in the back of the tailgate under the tonneau, and be removable by us as needed. And when it charged the car it charged at as close to supercharger speeds as possible.

Another advantage to the "non-seamless" approach: it's not Cybertruck-specific. It would be possible to adapt the same product, with appropriate adjustments to shape and connector, for use in other EV trucks, like the Ford Lightning, Rivan R1T, or Silverado/Sierra EV. So this expands the potential market.

Basically this would be like the EV truck equivalent of an external power bank that can be used with an Apple iPhone or Samsung Galaxy or Google Pixel. A power bank is not a seamless addition to your phone: the phone doesn't know if it's there, doesn't know its charge status, and can't connect to it automatically. But plenty of people find power banks to be handy regardless.

 

[TheLastStarfighter]

There

I’m not so sure the demand isn’t there. Demamd is both in numbers and amount of desire. I’d be willing to pay through the nose for another hundred miles. People keep saying that the 300 mile range is all they need “most of the time“ I need 400 mile range at least once or twice a month to get back-and-forth between our vacation house. It would be huge for me to have the extra range. I think there’s more people out there like me than you think.
[/QU

It is 400 miles to your vacation home, and there are no superchargers on the drive?

When the CT was announced I really wanted the 500 mile range as there were areas around me I couldn't visit with a 300 mile EV, and there was only one supercharger in the Province. Now there are 6, and one more going up where my parents live, getting rid of the last "dead zone" in my part of the world. With that I'll no longer have a need for over 300 miles. I still wouldn't mind more range, but not at a cost of bed space and $20k.

 

[Oden's Beast]

I agree with exploring all these possible solutions to this problem, that has unfortunately been thrust on us (and we are now having to deal with).

The default answer, and only real solution that’s not a compromise at some level, is Tesla needs to step the heck up, and deliver to us, what was promised to us.

As unfortunately, to me, the rest of this is just wasting our time, and our resources, trying to find a patch to the BS position we have been left in.

We are the red-headed step children, time to embrace it.

 

[YDR37]

The 2Q 2025 Tesla earnings call is scheduled for tomorrow. Retail investors have been submitting questions for Tesla management. And the investors have submitted a surprising number of questions/concerns about Cybertruck range:

At its reveal in 2019, Cybertruck was promised to deliver 500+ miles of range. The dual motor CT only does 325 miles in the best case, and when towing, this is cut in half to about 160. Anyone who tows will not want this truck. Will you make any viable options for those who tow?

Are there any plans for a longer range Cybertruck to better support customers who tow large trailers?

The range of the cyber truck is one of the biggest barrier to entry for the truck market that Tesla has failed to overcome. The 500+ miles that was promised is what will make the cyber truck a useful truck. A 300 mile range becomes 100 miles when towing.

Since the range extender was canceled for Cybertruck, will there be improved charging or can Tesla open source the software and range extender connections so 3rd party can make their own range extender? I believe what is holding cybertruck back from wide acceptance is poor range

For the owners that use trucks, as trucks (long distance towing, remote trail riding), why did Tesla discontinue the promised range extender to customers who fully expected to have this option available to them when they ordered thier trucks? Why was this truck segment abandoned?

Some people feel sideswiped by the Cybertruck that was promised & the one that was delivered. Maybe that's why sales for it haven't been as good as they could. Will we ever see a longer range Cybertruck?

Is there plans for a longer ranged Cybertruck that’s not a stripped down cheaper version?

There is no assurance that any of these questions will actually be raised in the call, or that management will provide a straight answer if they do get asked. We'll find out tomorrow.

 

[HaulingAss]

I get you point, but as someone in that minority, who actually would like to tow his trailer further than 120 miles, or actually go off grid camping for multiple days at time (and not have to hyper calculate or always be within 100-120 miles of a supercharger).

First off, I'm not totally dismissing those who would like a bigger battery or a battery extender, I'm saying it's a small minority of people, and that makes it not a very compelling product for any company to throw a lot of resources at. That's why Tesla dropped the idea.

The reason more people don't need more range is the continuing growth of the Supercharger Network and ever increasing charging speeds. You say you want to camp places where you don't want to worry about being within 100-120 miles of a Supercharger. Here is a North American Supercharger map with a 100 mile radius around each Supercharger Station:

That hole in the North is in Eastern Montana. I've been there, it's flat rangeland. You can still drive your Cybertruck there, but I'm not sure you would want to camp. When I drove through there in 2010 in my F-150, every single person I crossed paths with, about 4 people in 200 miles, waved to me.

The little hole in the center/South is on the border of Kansas and Oklahoma. You can easily drive there too. I don't know, but I doubt the camping is all that exciting.

EVs are dependent upon having convenient charging within the area they operate. As Tesla continues to open new Superchargers that can charge faster than ever, a big battery is appealing to an increasingly small number of people. It's important to understand that EV pickups with more range are available from GM for not much more than a Cybertruck but they sell in smaller numbers than EV pickups from Tesla and Ford that have smaller batteries. In fact, GM's best selling pickups are not those with the biggest batteries and the longest ranges. That would not be the case if a significant number of people were clamoring for more range!

Tesla's Supercharger Network grew leaps and bounds between the Cybertruck reveal in 2019 and 2025 so I give Tesla credit for deciding a longer range pickup no longer had enough demand to justify, instead of blindly following a path that no longer made good business sense. GM still loses a lot of money on every big battery truck they sell. That's no way to run a business.

 

[YDR37]

Basically this would be like the EV truck equivalent of an external power bank that can be used with an Apple iPhone or Samsung Galaxy or Google Pixel. A power bank is not a seamless addition to your phone: the phone doesn't know if it's there, doesn't know its charge status, and can't connect to it automatically. But plenty of people find power banks to be handy regardless.

The problem with the external "power bank for EV trucks" solution is that a generator can do something similar at much lower cost. The generator probably weighs less too.

And once you've used up all the juice in an external battery, it's just a brick until you've recharged it -- and if you need an external battery, then you are probably in a remote area that doesn't have great Supercharger coverage. Of course, if your generator runs out of gas, then it's a brick until you find a gas station, but chances are that the nearest gas station is closer than the nearest Supercharger.

The "external power bank" would be quieter and could potentially charge faster. But the generator wins in other respects, especially cost. I think every other manufacturer that is working on an "Extended Range" EV is planning to use a generator, not a supplemental battery.

 

[Oden's Beast]

First off, I'm not totally dismissing those who would like a bigger battery or a battery extender, I'm saying it's a small minority of people, and that makes it not a very compelling product for any company to throw a lot of resources at. That's why Tesla dropped the idea.

The reason more people don't need more range is the continuing growth of the Supercharger Network and ever increasing charging speeds. You say you want to camp places where you don't want to worry about being within 100-120 miles of a Supercharger. Here is a North American Supercharger map with a 100 mile radius around each Supercharger Station:

That hole in the North is in Eastern Montana. I've been there, it's flat rangeland. You can still drive your Cybertruck there, but I'm not sure you would want to camp. When I drove through there in 2010 in my F-150, every single person I crossed paths with, about 4 people in 200 miles, waved to me.

The little hole in the center/South is on the border of Kansas and Oklahoma. You can easily drive there too. I don't know, but I doubt the camping is all that exciting.

EVs are dependent upon having convenient charging within the area they operate. As Tesla continues to open new Superchargers that can charge faster than ever, a big battery is appealing to an increasingly small number of people. It's important to understand that EV pickups with more range are available from GM for not much more than a Cybertruck but they sell in smaller numbers than EV pickups from Tesla and Ford that have smaller batteries. In fact, GM's best selling pickups are not those with the biggest batteries and the longest ranges. That would not be the case if a significant number of people were clamoring for more range!

Tesla's Supercharger Network grew leaps and bounds between the Cybertruck reveal in 2019 and 2025 so I give Tesla credit for deciding a longer range pickup no longer had enough demand to justify, instead of blindly following a path that no longer made good business sense. GM still loses a lot of money on every big battery truck they sell. That's no way to run a business.

Again, this a fantastic vehicle, and their charger network is also fantastic... if you're NOT towing any distance. Why do they lean so heavily on its towing ability in their marketing? Because typically truck buyers look at that as a key metric for comparison. Pickup trucks typically can, actually tow (and typically a decent distance).

It does not really matter how many more chargers there are, there could be one every 10 miles (charger availability is not the issue here), as having them available, does not help you with the fact, that you will still need stop at one every 110-135 miles (unless you're really a risk taker on your low charge level). Oh, and when you do need to charge, your battery then takes just as long to re-charge, as if you had just driven it 300+ miles. So, it's a long charge stop, not a 10–20-minute top off.

This is not even adding into the calculation that your actual range is really 80% of that max advertised range number, because as you likely know, that last 20% to go up to 100%, takes much longer (and will really make it brutal on you).

I just did a query; there are currently an estimated 20,000,000 registered light duty trailers in the USA (trailers under 11,000 pounds). If we say, only 10% of these registered owners actually tow more than 150 miles at any given time in a year (complete guess). That still leaves over 2 million trailer owners that need long range capable tow vehicles. If Tesla took just 5% of that 2 million market, that is still 100,000 vehicles (literally more than all CT sales have been as of right now). Not really insignificant to me. Economics aside, there is a reason, Dodge, GM, and Ford's light truck divisions all offer EV trucks with realistically long ranges.

By the way, Tesla is currently offering long range versions of some of their S3XY models right now (especially popular being the Model Y and 3 long range). Why though...shouldn't they also be discontinuing those longer-range model options too, because of low sales and all those available super chargers? Or is it because apparently, a lot of people are willing to pay more for longer range versions (even if not towing). AI analysis of 2023 to 2025 Tesla sales data indicates the take rate for long range models is actually nearly 60-65% of their total sales. Hmm, interesting. So, it's cool for their sedans, but not for their "truck". Please, make it make sense to me.

I think (hope) we can both agree on this, the CT is awesome, the Supercharger network is awesome, but for towing long distances, the CT in its present range configuration is not awesome. You've made it very clear that you feel Tesla should not sell a long-range truck, great. I say they currently offer long range sedans, so I wonder why not the truck as well (see...red-headed stepchild reference ?).

I also say that they did offer it to me at my purchase and then reneged on it. So, I think that gives me the (or) some, right to be highly annoyed at Tesla on this particular point.

FYI...I was born in Montana, lived there as a kid, and have half my family there. Driving over 3 hours just to go to the mall was a very normal thing (back when people actually went to malls) !

I think we will continue to agree, to disagree on this range issue, as your as fixed on your opinion, as I obviously am on mine.

 

[YDR37]

By the way, Tesla is currently offering long range versions of some of their S3XY models right now (especially popular being the Model Y and 3 long range). Why though...shouldn't they also be discontinuing those longer-range model options too, because of low sales and all those available super chargers? Or is it because apparently, a lot of people are willing to pay more for longer range versions (even if not towing). AI analysis of 2023 to 2025 Tesla sales data indicates the take rate for long range models is actually nearly 60-65% of their total sales. Hmm, interesting. So, it's cool for their sedans, but not for their "truck".

Actually, Tesla does offer a so-called "Long Range" Cybertruck. It's the RWD version, which can be ordered but isn't widely available yet. Deliveries are supposedly "6-8 Weeks" away.

But "Long Range" in the model name doesn't mean that much; it just sounds better than "Lower Performance". And the claimed ranges of those "Long Range" Models Y and 3 aren't much different from those of the Cybertruck (numbers from Tesla order page):

Model 3, RWD, "Long Range": 363 miles
Model Y, RWD, "Long Range": 357 miles
Cybertruck, RWD, "Long Range": 354 miles

Model 3, AWD, "Long Range": 346 miles
Model Y, AWD, "Long Range: 327 miles
Cybertruck, AWD (not "Long Range"): 325 miles

The Tesla that really does have "long range" is the Model S AWD: 410 miles. So of course, Tesla doesn't use "Long Range" in the name of that model. Go figure.

Please, make it make sense to me.

I can only describe what Tesla does. I can't guarantee that it will make sense.

 

[mongo]

You say you want to camp places where you don't want to worry about being within 100-120 miles of a Supercharger. Here is a North American Supercharger map with a 100 mile radius around each Supercharger Station:

That map configuration can be misleading. To show what routes are available (and also the furthest away from Supercharging you can go) requires setting the radius equal to half your range.
With 100 mile radius, two chargers 199 miles shade the intermediate area, but aren't traversable.

 

[Oden's Beast]

Actually, Tesla does offer a so-called "Long Range" Cybertruck. It's the RWD version, which can be ordered but isn't widely available yet. Deliveries are supposedly "6-8 Weeks" away.

But "Long Range" in the model name doesn't mean that much; it just sounds better than "Lower Performance". And the claimed ranges of those "Long Range" Models Y and 3 aren't much different from those of the Cybertruck (numbers from Tesla order page):

Model 3, RWD, "Long Range": 363 miles
Model Y, RWD, "Long Range": 357 miles
Cybertruck, RWD, "Long Range": 354 miles

Model 3, AWD, "Long Range": 346 miles
Model Y, AWD, "Long Range: 327 miles
Cybertruck, AWD (not "Long Range"): 325 miles

The Tesla that really does have "long range" is the Model S AWD: 410 miles. So of course, Tesla doesn't use "Long Range" in the name of that model. Go figure.


I can only describe what Tesla does. I can't guarantee that it will make sense.

Oh… I’m familiar with it, didn’t think it was even worth mentioning as most of the cool features of the CT are omitted, so I’d never consider buying it..?…true story…same battery, just more range because of less capability, and still less than the promised RE.

 

[YDR37]

Oh… I’m familiar with it, didn’t think it was even worth mentioning as most of the cool features of the CT are omitted, so I’d never consider buying it..?…true story…same battery, just more range because of less capability, and still less than the promised RE.

That's a fair assessment. Just noting that the RWD CT does have the "Long Range" designation, and it does approximately match the RWD Model 3/Y "Long Range" versions.

Whether any of these models really deserve to be called "Long Range" is another question.

 

[HaulingAss]

I think we will continue to agree, to disagree on this range issue, as your as fixed on your opinion, as I obviously am on mine.

I don't even think we disagree, the issue here is I'm looking at it from a perspective of whether cancelling the range extender was a good business decision, considering that long-range towing in 1/2-ton trucks is a tiny market, and you keep looking at it from a perspective of what YOU (and a small number of other people want).

Camping in remote areas doesn't require a trailer. That's why I provided the map with 100 mile range circles.

In my opinion, towing big trailers long-distances is the realm of, at a minimum, 3/4-ton or 1-ton trucks. Only towing newbies buy a 1/2-ton truck to tow big trailers across the country. And if you want to tow long-distances, a range-extender is not going to fix the trailer problem. It would add an insignificant amount of range and still require charging. It's like you haven't thought this through very well (because a range-extender cuts into your allowable tongue weight and doesn't fix the problem with towing long-distances).

Where I do disagree with you is that you bought a Cybertruck with the promise of a range extender. Tesla doesn't box themselves into a corner like that. When they announce a new product or accessory, it's never a promise, it's simply an inside look into products they are developing. Like every other corporation out there, you will find that in the fine print. And it's just a basic legal principle, people and corporations are not legally liable for forward-looking statements that were made in good faith at the time. When Tesla determined the size of the market didn't justify all the hoops they would have to jump through to bring such a product to market, they cancelled it. And they announced that too. If market needs change, they could change course, however unlikely that is.

In the interim, you can either develop and build what you desire yourself, or select products/accessories offered by others. The GM Sierra/Silverado with the 220 kW battery will tow a large trailer further than a Cybertruck with the cancelled range-extender. Yet GM is having trouble moving them. And always at a huge loss.

 

[HaulingAss]

That map configuration can be misleading. To show what routes are available (and also the furthest away from Supercharging you can go) requires setting the radius equal to half your range.
With 100 mile radius, two chargers 199 miles shade the intermediate area, but aren't traversable.

I believe the "off-grid camping" scenario I was responding to was separate from the long-distance towing scenario. It was @Oden's Beast who put forth the idea that staying within 100-120 miles miles of a Supercharger when in the backcountry was a big limitation. When I'm in backcountry areas I'm generally on roads with a maximum speed limit of 50-60 mph and my Cybertruck gets well over 300 miles of range from a full charge overnight. I responded to the towing limitations separately. People who tow a big trailers a lot, anywhere but short trips, know enough to buy a 3/4-ton to 1-ton truck (or heavier) depending upon the exact application.

The fact that the Cybertruck handles exceptionally well towing heavy trailers right up to it's rated limit (unlike other 1/2-ton trucks), does not automatically make it the right tool to tow big trailers over the open road. IMO, not even the Silverado EV with the 220 kW battery is good at doing that. People who know what they are doing already know this. I'm not sure why @Oden's Beast seems to think a range extender would make a dent in the problem. If the 220 kW of the Silverado can't make it good for towing travel trailers long distances, why does he think a battery range extender would?

It makes no sense.

I'm so glad Tesla didn't try to accommodate a niche use case (heavy, long-distance towing) that would have automatically disqualified it from being a good off-road truck. The Sierra/Silverado's with the big battery are literally incapable of traversing difficult terrain that is a cake-walk for the Cybertruck. This is not hyperbole, it's the honest truth, they are complete dogs off-road, even the Trail Boss that pretends to have off-road aspirations. The Cybertruck is the real deal.

 

[mongo]

Edited after reviewing my spreadsheets ...

It's like you haven't thought this through very well (because a range-extender cuts into your allowable tongue weight and doesn't fix the problem with towing long-distances).

Yeah, a 550 pound range extender would limit max weight towing, but it's the aero that really hurts range. A lighter travel trailer with extender was feasible. Especially with a weight distributing hitch.

Adding an additional 40-50% would do wonders for charging time efficency, even if only to avoid the 80-100% region (and potential congestion fees). 10% arrival margin + 80% cutoff = 70% usable. RE would give us 100%-110% rated within the faster charging region. Great even if not towing. The Supercharger 236 miles from me requires an extra charge stop or driving under the speed limit.

I believe the "off-grid camping" scenario I was responding to was separate from the long-distance towing scenario. It was @Oden's Beast who put forth the idea that staying within 100-120 miles miles of a Supercharger when in the backcountry was a big limitation.

Oops, my mistake.

Sponsored