Elon Musk presided over the first deliveries of Tesla’s controversial Cybertruck today, and some people are disappointed with the truck’s range. The Cybertruck’s range was initially marketed to max out at 500 miles, but reality must have hit Tesla like a speeding Cybertruck, because the truck’s longest available range is now an estimated 340 miles.
The solution? An optional range-extender battery pack that installs in the Cybertruck’s bed and instantly eats up one-third of the 6-foot-long cargo box, reducing usable bed length to 4 feet. It is claimed to increase the maximum range of the Cybertruck to around 470 miles, much closer to the originally advertised range. That extended range isn’t that much longer than a properly-optioned Rivian R1T which is capable of a maximum claimed range of 410-miles. The highest-end Cyberbeast trim boasts a 320-mile range that is boosted to 440 miles with the range-extending pack, while it doesn’t seem like the battery pack will be offered on the base Cybertruck, which has a 250-mile range.
Without the range extender, the bed on all Cybertruck models is 6 feet long by 4 feet wide, which is significantly longer than the Rivian R1T, GMC Hummer EV and Ford F-150 Lightning, and slightly larger than the Chevrolet Silverado EV’s bed. Given that Cybertruck buyers are not likely to be using their trucks for hauling lots of long cargo, that bed size should be sufficient.
At least the range extender doesn’t impede the retractable tonneau cover, which extends to secure the entire length of the bed, and it doesn’t block the lockable storage box that’s built into the Cybertruck’s bed and offers 67 cubic feet of space. The Cybertruck’s bed also has 120-volt and 240-volt outlets than can provide up to 11.5 kW of juice for your house or power tools.
Pricing, weight, and precise dimensions for the range extending pack are notably absent from the Tesla website, as is any information about how the pack is removable. Batteries are heavy – the Hummer EV’s 210-kWh battery pack weighs more than 2,800 pounds – so the Cybertruck’s additional pack could weigh in at north of 500 pounds. Tesla says the Cybertruck’s max payload is a 2,500 pounds, so this pack will likely impact that capability pretty heavily (pun intended.) Maybe Tesla will come out with a Cybercrane to help you mount it in your Cybertruck’s bed.
