One of the biggest complaints when Tesla released the Cybertruck’s specs was the range, but according one of the company’s lead engineers, the battery pack may double in size in the future.
At the same time, the company has said it will be deploying a software update soon that will improve the Cybertruck’s charging curve at Superchargers.
When Tesla first announced the Cybertruck in 2019, the company said it was targeting a 500 mile (804km) range. Four years later when the specs were finalized, the Cybertruck was delivered with a 340 mile (547km) range. Tesla did however promise a Range Extender, set to be released later this year, that will push the range to 470 miles (756km), but at a price of US$20,000.
As it turns out, Tesla may have more in store in the future when it comes to the size of the Cybertruck’s battery pack.
Teardown titan Sandy Munro has been taking apart a Cybertruck, and recently focused on the battery pack. After removing the casing it was discovered that there is a significant amount of empty space inside, with some suggesting there was enough space for twice the number of Tesla’s 4680 battery cells that could fit inside.
Sneak peek…video coming soon! pic.twitter.com/VqeygFQD4C
— Munro Live (@live_munro) April 2, 2024
Responding to such a suggestion on X (formerly Twitter), Cybertruck lead engineer Wes Morrill all but confirmed that is the case, saying “I’d say it’s half full…”.
While Morrill suggests it is half full, that doesn’t mean every Cybertruck will get a 246kWh battery pack, and it ever does, it will come at a price. The Range Extender’s 140 mile increase suggests it will be about 47kWh, and that costs $20,000, so another 123kWh of 4680 cells will cost more than 2.5 times that amount. That is of course dependent on when Tesla decides to increase the size of the pack, and how much they have been able to drive down the production costs by that time.
There are also other considerations, like the extra weight of an additional ~1,300 4680 battery cells will have on the performance and handling of the Cybertruck. But if Tesla is able to double the size, the Cybertruck’s range could get close to 700 miles (1,126km) on a full charge.
Cybertruck Supercharging Improvements
Another complaint from early Cybertruck owners is the poor charging curve of the 4680 cells when plugging in at Superchargers. Currently Tesla advertises the Cybertruck can gain 128 miles (206km) in 15 minutes, but according to Drew Baglino, SVP, Powertrain and Energy Engineering at Tesla, an upcoming software update will increase that to 154 miles (247km) in 15 minutes, a 20% improvement over current charging speeds.
Baglino said the software update to improve the Cybertruck’s charging curve will be released later this quarter. He unfortunately did not say whether these improvements will also be coming to the 4680 version of the Model Y, which also suffers from a poor charging curve.
Cybertruck charge curve improvements are coming OTA later this quarter to unlock up to 154 miles recovered in 15 minutes.
— Drew Baglino (@baglino) April 9, 2024
