Tesla claims it can double the battery size of the Cybertruck

Listening to the complaints expressed by its customers, Tesla promises an upcoming update aimed at improving range and charging.

Fact or fiction? With Tesla, the marketing exaggerations are numerous, but some are never verified. Five months after the start of deliveries of the Cybertruck, this enormous electric pickup promised since 2019 has seen twists and turns almost every week. It may not be immediately apparent from this side of the Atlantic, but the Cybertruck mania has fizzled out in the United States. Too expensive, too imperfect (they had to rush to market it), lacking generous range, and too slow to charge, American geeks have never ceased to express their disappointments.

Tesla, faithful to its “test/crash” approach to accelerate product development by relying on customer feedback – even considering them as guinea pigs – is listening. Admittedly, the initial commercial promise was that of a massive pickup whose range would display a round score of 500 miles (800 km). Yet in reality, this is 250 miles, or even 300 miles under the best conditions.

To address this, Tesla has promised the arrival, in 2024, of an additional battery to be placed in the truck bed, the famous Range Extender, priced at $20,000. That makes for an expensive 150 km extra…

A battery twice as large on the way?

The possibility of an increase in battery capacity came from American influencer Sandy Munro, who had fun dismantling a Cybertruck and opening its battery pack. And there, surprise: the available space inside would be nearly double!

When asked, the chief engineer of the Cybertruck confirmed that the battery pack was currently “half full.” Does this mean that Tesla could increase the storage capacity, but perhaps not double it? This would obviously raise questions of cost and mass, as the current 123 kWh battery already weighs nearly 600 kg. Moreover, a battery twice as big wouldn’t necessarily guarantee double the range, as mass is an enemy in the race for efficiency.

What about a vehicle weighing nearly 4 tons and the permissions needed to maneuver it? Its road handling could become nightmarish. Nevertheless, the hypothesis of Tesla eventually replacing the space-consuming Range Extender in the bed with a 160 or 170 kWh battery is relevant.

Another solution on the table

In the meantime, Tesla is working on diverting attention from this range issue: optimizing charging speed. And here, it’s promised that the Cybertruck will soon benefit from a software update. This will enforce a new charging curve 20% more aggressive. The idea would be to increase the range recovered in 15 minutes from 204 to 247 kilometers.

Tesla has hinted that this software update would take place before the end of the second quarter of 2024, that is, by the end of June.

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