Taking the CYBERTRUCK on a MASSIVE ROADTRIP | Charging was TOUGH

[YDR37]

Video here:



Title spells it out: "Charging was TOUGH". Apparently a lot of supercharger stops and long charging times. Unfortunately no detailed numbers.

Looks like the driving conditions were not always optimal for efficiency -- cold temperatures, tonneau open, speeds of 75-80+ mph during at least parts of the drive.

.

Sponsored

 

[YDR37]

The same guys previously posted another video right after they picked up the Cybertruck in Austin:



They used the vehicle trip planner to plot a route from Austin to Joshua Tree National Park in Southern California, about 1,250 miles west on Interstate 10. Then they filmed the results. Here's what the trip planner recommended for supercharger stops, states of charge, and charging times (I also included the estimated mileage from Google Maps).

Austin TX (start)
Junction TX, 17%, 25 mins (150 miles from previous stop)
Ozona TX, 12%, 35 mins (90 miles)
Fort Stockton TX, 12%, 40 mins (107 miles)
Van Horn TX, 13%, 40 mins (121 miles)
El Paso TX, 13%, 25 mins (131 miles)
Deming NM, 12%, 45 mins (91 miles)
Willcox AZ, 13%, 40 mins (134 miles)
Eloy AZ, 13%, 20 mins (138 miles)
Buckeye AZ, 12%, 30 mins (88 miles)
Quartzsite AZ, 12%, 35 mins (100 miles)
Joshua Tree National Park CA (destination), 15% (95 miles)

Again, these are the stops that the vehicle route planner recommended at the very beginning of the road trip, before they even got on the highway. So the route plan above should be completely unaffected by the way the truck was actually driven. If the route plan seems off, it should be the fault of Tesla's software, not the drivers.

So the route planner called for a total of 335 minutes of charging at ten superchargers, averaging 33.5 minutes per stop. The ten superchargers were separated by an average distance of about 111 miles (not counting distances to the start point and the destination).

So according to the vehicle route planner, the Cybertruck was good for about 111 miles between superchargers at freeway speeds, then it needed to charge for about 33.5 minutes. Assuming a driving speed around 70 mph, that's roughly 90 minutes of driving time followed by roughly 30 minutes of charging time.

If the route planner is representative of actual driving conditions, I can see how that might get tiresome on long road trips.

 

[Fleetwood75]

Am curious to see how the range extender eventually affects all of this…

 

[Eddyrelik]

Watched. Why did they not show any of the consumption rates or any actual useful data? Weird.

 

[HaulingAss]

Watched. Why did they not show any of the consumption rates or any actual useful data? Weird.

Because that's not the kind of EV geeks they are. The details are just not that interesting to most people.

 

[YDR37]

Because that's not the kind of EV geeks they are. The details are just not that interesting to most people.

The guy has made a lot of videos about Teslas, but primarily focused on purchasing and financing, not the tech.

In any case, he has apparently owned, driven, and charged other Tesla vehicles. Yet it seems like he was somewhat surprised by the Cybertruck charging experience on the road trip.

 

[Jhodgesatmb]

The same guys previously posted another video right after they picked up the Cybertruck in Austin:



They used the vehicle trip planner to plot a route from Austin to Joshua Tree National Park in Southern California, about 1,250 miles west on Interstate 10. Then they filmed the results. Here's what the trip planner recommended for supercharger stops, states of charge, and charging times (I also included the estimated mileage from Google Maps).

Austin TX (start)
Junction TX, 17%, 25 mins (150 miles from previous stop)
Ozona TX, 12%, 35 mins (90 miles)
Fort Stockton TX, 12%, 40 mins (107 miles)
Van Horn TX, 13%, 40 mins (121 miles)
El Paso TX, 13%, 25 mins (131 miles)
Deming NM, 12%, 45 mins (91 miles)
Willcox AZ, 13%, 40 mins (134 miles)
Eloy AZ, 13%, 20 mins (138 miles)
Buckeye AZ, 12%, 30 mins (88 miles)
Quartzsite AZ, 12%, 35 mins (100 miles)
Joshua Tree National Park CA (destination), 15% (95 miles)

Again, these are the stops that the vehicle route planner recommended at the very beginning of the road trip, before they even got on the highway. So the route plan above should be completely unaffected by the way the truck was actually driven. If the route plan seems off, it should be the fault of Tesla's software, not the drivers.

So the route planner called for a total of 335 minutes of charging at ten superchargers, averaging 33.5 minutes per stop. The ten superchargers were separated by an average distance of about 111 miles (not counting distances to the start point and the destination).

So according to the vehicle route planner, the Cybertruck was good for about 111 miles between superchargers at freeway speeds, then it needed to charge for about 33.5 minutes. Assuming a driving speed around 70 mph, that's roughly 90 minutes of driving time followed by roughly 30 minutes of charging time.

If the route planner is representative of actual driving conditions, I can see how that might get tiresome on long road trips.

That is in line with our trip from the Bay Area to Denver last January. About 10 stops over 2 days and about the same distance. Also the same on the way back. Model Y LR driving about the speed limit the whole way. I think it says more about winter driving with a BEV than about the Cybertruck.

 

[Jhodgesatmb]

I don’t know about everyone else but that is a 2-day trip for me, and that changes the calculus a bit. That said I’d say it does add about 2 hours per day.

 

[cvalue13]

In any case, he has apparently owned, driven, and charged other Tesla vehicles. Yet it seems like he was somewhat surprised by the Cybertruck charging experience on the road trip.

this, I think, is indicative of reality that “Tesla people” are rooted in charging sedans.

BEV trucks do not behave like sedans.

the size of sedans means increased speed doesn’t effect rage as much (same with temperatures, humidity, winds, etc.). The weight means eg PSI and rolling resistance doesn’t effect range as much. And of course the sedan batteries t be to be materially smaller, with faster charge times.

So, like this guy’s realization, folks who have been extrapolating from their eg Model Y’s performance to the CT performance (eg they’re both rated for about the same range”), are going to need a recalibration.


in a BEV truck, you have to be more conscientious and preparing for a ping distance trip. Over-inflate the tires. Pre-condition. Think hard about what speed you are comfortable traveling. And, think about how you plan your trip to mitigate the resulting effects.

On that last point, if the above were a two day trip you be sure to overnight at an L2. If the day you’re arriving at your location you’ll need to go shopping for groceries, do that stopping instead on one of the last couple of charge stops before your destination - you’ve no longer spent an “extra” hour getting there, you’ve instead just spent the hour you were already going to spend shopping *after* you got there. Etc.


OR, for most drivers, you realize that for 90%+ of your year driving around town or on smaller road trips (eg 3hrs), the truck will perform like a sedan (because you charge at home, or only once).

And for one or long-distance, cross country, trip - you rent a sedan, or take your sedan.

 

[YDR37]

That is in line with our trip from the Bay Area to Denver last January. About 10 stops over 2 days and about the same distance. Also the same on the way back. Model Y LR driving about the speed limit the whole way. I think it says more about winter driving with a BEV than about the Cybertruck.

I punched the same Austin-Joshua Tree route into ABRP, assuming a MYLR. Sure enough, I got a very similar list of 10 stops.

But there was one noticeable difference. The MYLR route plan only included 179 minutes of charging time, or an average of 17.9 minutes at ten stops. As noted above, the Cybertruck route plan averaged 33.5 minutes at ten stops.

So yes, the ranges are similar during winter driving on the freeway — but apparently the 123 kWh battery of the CT needs significantly more time to recharge than the 81 kWh battery of the MYLR. Which does not seem too surprising.

 

[YDR37]

this, I think, is indicative of reality that “Tesla people” are rooted in charging sedans …. folks who have been extrapolating from their eg Model Y’s performance to the CT performance (eg they’re both rated for about the same range”), are going to need a recalibration.

That’s exactly what the route planner comparison is saying.

 

[cvalue13]

That’s exactly what the route planner comparison is saying.

it’s an interesting exercise for sure

I’m curious what you used for these sorts of settings?

because the default in ABRP appeared to have been ~3.1mi/kWh @ 68mph, which seems materially over expectations/reason

I adjusted to first 2.4mi/kWh (in a beast) with 68mph thmax

then 2.1mi/kWh still @68mph

Others are likely more agile with ABRP to start to dial in ABRP’s current ‘alpha’ assumptions instead to a range reflecting the ‘real world’ data coming in - from optimistic to pessimistic

 

[YDR37]

ABRP was not used to generate the Cybertruck route plan above. The Cybertruck route plan is a “real world” example, generated at the beginning of a road trip using the in-vehicle route planner. The results were shown in the video in post #2 in this thread.

So the assumptions for the CT route plan are those made by Tesla’s own software. I have no idea what those are, but I assume that Tesla has a good understanding of the CT’s capabilities and limitations.

I only used ABRP to generate a Model Y LR route plan for comparison, using the default settings. I assume ABRP is reasonably well calibrated for MYs at this point.

I wouldn’t trust ABRP for the Cybertruck, at least not yet.

 

[MyKidCouldDrawThat]

I don’t know about everyone else but that is a 2-day trip for me, and that changes the calculus a bit. That said I’d say it does add about 2 hours per day.

Realistically it should be. I could do it one stretch on 3 tanks of gas, but I would not be happy.

Sponsored