In a move rumored since early last month, Tesla appears to have ended plans to build a range-boosting second battery for its Cybertruck pickup.
Electrek reports that Cybertruck owners have begun receiving refunds for the battery booster. An email accompanying the refund explains, “We are no longer planning to sell the Range Extender for Cybertruck.”
Cybertruck Will Fall Well Short of Range Promises
As Tesla teased the Cybertruck’s arrival, CEO Elon Musk was fond of telling potential buyers the truck would boast a range of up to 500 miles between charges.
When it arrived, its maximum range figure was just 362. That’s well below figures from the Chevrolet Silverado EV (up to 492 miles), Rivian R1T (420), and GMC Sierra EV (390).
But Tesla promised a solution — a range extender. Essentially a second battery half the size of the first, it would mount in the Cybertruck’s bed. It would rob the truck of some bed space, and only Tesla technicians could install or remove it. But it might boost the truck up to a more competitive range.
It also cost an extra $16,000 — about the starting price of an entire Nissan Versa.
However, Cybertruck sales fell dramatically after a blistering start. Briefly last summer, the funky-looking truck was the best-selling six-figure vehicle in America. But sales declined quickly, leaving Tesla with a backlog of unsold trucks.
The company removed special-edition Foundation Series badges from unsold Cybertrucks in hopes of selling them at lower prices. It later stopped accepting the Cybertruck as a trade-in.
Also Abandoning Autosteer
The range extender cancellation isn’t the only bad news Cybertruck owners received via email this week. InsideEVs reports that the truck will be “the first Tesla since 2014 to come without Autosteer included in its basic Autopilot package.”
The company is instead offering owners a 1-year trial of its Full Self-Driving (Supervised) driver assistance system, after which they’ll have to pay subscription fees to get the partial self-driving features they were promised.