The Cybertruck's range extender sparks great interest among owners of this pickup

Data collected by one of the most important Cybertruck user clubs shows that at least one in four members and owners of the new electric pickup from Tesla are interested in purchasing the range extender offered by the American manufacturer for this model. And all this despite its high price, the additional weight and the loss of cargo space it entails.

Obviously, this acceptance rate for the Cybertruck range extender may differ from the real one when the sample includes all Cybertruck owners and not just those belonging to this club, but this figure can already give us a very good idea of where things may be heading.

As Tesla explained a few weeks ago, this range extender will occupy roughly a third of the Cybertruck’s cargo area and will weigh around 275 kg, reducing the maximum payload by the same amount. Nor will it be cheap, since everyone who wants to equip this costly component will have to pay an additional 16 thousand dollars.

More reasons to change your mind

This range extender must also be installed by technicians at the Tesla Service Center, who will also need to intervene when the customer wants to lighten the load. It is therefore not a component that the owner can easily install and remove as they see fit at any given moment. It will also require booking an appointment and travelling to the nearest Tesla Service Center each time a change is desired.

The additional weight of carrying the range extender in the cargo area of Tesla’s new electric pickup will reduce, on the other hand, the vehicle’s efficiency and its on-road performance. The time needed to reach 100 km/h from a standstill will be slightly longer, and the distance required to come to a complete stop when braking hard at speed will also increase.

In exchange for all these drawbacks, with the range extender installed Cybertruck owners will see their electric pickup’s range extended by around 200 km depending on the version. Tesla states that the all-wheel-drive version with dual electric motors will increase its range from 547 to 756 km. Meanwhile, in the Cyberbeast version with triple electric motors range will go from 515 km to 708 km.

Although Tesla has not disclosed the total capacity of this range extender, based on consumption and range data it is estimated that it should be around 47 net kWh. This means it would incorporate about 575 cells of the 4680 type.

Finally, it should be noted that although Elon Musk announced his intention to increase the Cybertruck’s range beyond 500 miles -804 km-, it is currently unknown whether to achieve this Tesla will offer a higher-capacity range extender or the company intends to reach this goal through efficiency improvements via software.