Surprise! Tesla’s Delayed Range Extender Won’t Add as Many Miles as Expected

The Tesla Cybertruck failed to fully live up to the sky-high expectations set by the company’s CEO Elon Musk, and it’s beginning to look like the same will be true of its main accessory.

Tesla has quietly downgraded the range boost that its battery-powered pickup will get from the upcoming Range Extender, according to Electrek. And, if that wasn’t bad enough, the product has also been delayed.

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For the most part, the Cybertruck is what Musk promised it would be back in November 2019. It’s burlier than any Tesla before it and has an angular design unlike anything else on the road. But there was one major area where the EV missed the mark—driving range (though some might add timeliness and price to that list). When the pickup finally arrived last fall, two years later than originally announced, its range was nowhere near what had been quoted by Musk.

During the Cybertruck’s unveiling, Musk said that the top-of-the-line tri-motor variant, which has since been named the Cyberbeast, would be able to travel 500-plus miles on a single charge. It was a bold claim and, it’s since turned out, an inaccurate one. When the production version of the Cyberbeast debuted during a glitzy delivery event last fall its range clocked in at just 320 miles (a number that’s since been reduced to 301 miles).

To make up for the miss, Musk announced that Tesla would eventually sell a Range Extender for the Cybertruck. The device is basically an extra battery pack that would take up about a third of the pickup’s bed and would provide an additional 150-miles of range. That would allow the Cybertruck to travel up to 470 miles between charges.

Or at least, it was supposed to. Electrek noticed earlier this week that Tesla had downgraded the listed benefit of the Range Extender. The EV maker’s website now says that a Cyberbeast equipped the Range Extender will be able to drive an estimated 415 miles between charges, meaning it provides 114 miles of added range, or 54 miles less than was promised last fall. The device also won’t be available early next year, either. Instead anyone in need of some extra range will have to wait until mid 2025 for the accessory.

Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Robb Report.

When it is finally available the Range Extender is expected to cost an estimated $16,000. That means if you want the longest-range Cyberbeast available you’re looking at a total of $120,000. That puts the price at $50,000 more than the tri-motor Cybertruck was supposed to cost—and without the promised 500 miles of range.

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