this post was submitted on 08 May 2025
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Tesla has confirmed it has given up on plans to make a Cybertruck range extender to achieve the range it originally promised on the electric pickup truck.

It started refunding deposits for the $16,000 extra battery pack.

When Tesla unveiled the production version of the Cybertruck in late 2023, two main disappointments were the price and the range.

The tri-motor version, the most popular in reservation tallies before production, was supposed to have over 500 miles of range and start at $70,000.

Tesla now sells the tri-motor Cybertruck for $100,000 and only has a range of 320 miles.

The dual-motor Cybertruck was supposed to cost $50,000 and have over 300 miles of range. In reality, it starts at $80,000 and has 325 miles of range.

Archive link: https://archive.is/CGbaE

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[–] killeronthecorner@lemmy.world 159 points 4 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (5 children)

"Thanks for all the $16k loans at 0% shmucks. We've kept the interest we made while rates have been up and now you can have it back while they're dropping. Of course, your money is now worth less than it was when you gave it to us during high inflation. Suck it losers. Love, T E S L A"

EDIT: deposit was $150. Still shitty but not the same impact

EDIT 2: Or $2000? ... tl;dr: shitty

[–] AdamEatsAss@lemmy.world 43 points 4 days ago

Enjoy your overpriced truck that under delivers. At least you look COOL™.

[–] piskertariot@lemmy.world 35 points 4 days ago (2 children)

The deposit for a cyberstuck was $150. The package was valued at $16k.

Being happy about lies being exposed is good, but spreading a false narrative about it is bad.

[–] killeronthecorner@lemmy.world 23 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

Ah I misread this

It started refunding deposits for the $16,000 extra battery pack.

You are correct. People make mistakes, not everything is "a narrative".

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[–] JordanZ@lemmy.world 13 points 3 days ago

From the article in this post…

Last month, Electrek reported that Tesla has quietly removed the range extender from the Cybertruck online configurator, where buyers could reserve it with a “$2,000 non-refundable deposit.”

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[–] gradual@lemmings.world 42 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (8 children)

Is it just me, or is musk profiting off of selling people tech before it's actually ready?

Like, we don't have the means right now to achieve what he advertises, so he lies about it and then 'alters the deal' after taking people's money.

[–] mostlikelyaperson@lemmy.world 16 points 3 days ago

Oh he’s been called out for that for over a decade now, it just got buried under the mass of starry eyed reporting.

[–] OutlierBlue@lemmy.ca 23 points 3 days ago

That's exactly what he's been doing with all his businesses. And it works. Tesla is still hugely overvalued as a company.

[–] LeroyJenkins@lemmy.world 11 points 3 days ago

that's been tech as an industry for the last decade. product releases, then all promised features come as a half baked update a year later... if at all. phones, games, cars, etc all use this strategy now unfortunately.

[–] SpookyBogMonster@lemmy.ml 6 points 3 days ago

Is it just me, or is musk profiting off of selling people tech before it's actually ready?

Today's vocab word is Vaporware

[–] Ledericas@lemm.ee 5 points 3 days ago

selling half-assed tech, basically A scam, which is whole business model.

[–] Azal@pawb.social 5 points 3 days ago (1 children)

So he learned from the video gaming industry?

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[–] Zedd_Prophecy@lemmy.world 4 points 3 days ago

Pray I don't alter it further.

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[–] apfelwoiSchoppen@lemmy.world 83 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (4 children)

The dual motor was originally announced to be US$39,900, not 50,000. It is lies all the way down at Tesla.

[–] MagicShel@lemmy.zip 37 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

I was seriously considering it back then. My wife hated the look and wouldn't let me even consider it, but as someone who likes Back to the Future and Tron, I didn't hate the aesthetic, though it took some getting used to. And I want a comfortably large EV (my compact is too small for my old bones) with 500 miles to avoid range anxiety. A 100 mile distance in the middle of a midwestern winter without a charger at the other end is going to require 500 miles of range to get back home due to heating the battery and cabin, and driving at 80mph. And my longest daily commute was 212 miles round trip before someone asks how often I need to drive 100 miles away in the middle of winter.

I wouldn't say bullet dodged because I was never really close to getting one, but charging three times the price for only 60% range compared to that announcement is fucking insane.

[–] glimse@lemmy.world 22 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (3 children)

How good was that job for you to be commuting for 2+ hours a day?

[–] MagicShel@lemmy.zip 26 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

I was transitioning from being a lotus notes developer to a java developer and I was moving back home to the Midwest from DC. As that job took a chance on me and allowed both, it was a really good fucking job for the moment. It eventually transitioned to hybrid.

We had planned to move to the area but couldn't find a place we liked and kept living with my folks until I just said fuck it and we bought a house near them instead and I dealt with the commute. Then Covid hit and I got laid off on my two year anniversary.

Now, my commute is about 70 miles one way 1-2 times per week (and that's still 3 hours total drive time). That's a pretty typical drive for me. My kids also live kinda near where I work so even if it weren't for commuting, I'd still make that drive quite often. As it is, I drive down the night before an office day, spend time with them and stay over night, and then drive back home about 2pm the next day (fucking hate rush hour in Detroit). But I can't charge at their houses anyway so that doesn't help.

I drive a PHEV because there isn't an EV out yet that can get me there and back. Though I finally have a plug at work if I get in early enough.

[–] glimse@lemmy.world 15 points 4 days ago (2 children)

Now that's dedication. I'd probably have driven myself into a ditch by the 3rd month of that (but I haaaate driving)

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[–] FelixCress@lemmy.world 109 points 4 days ago (1 children)

However, Tesla had devised a solution to bring the range closer to what it originally announced: a separate battery pack that sits in the truck’s bed. Tesla called it a “range extender.” It costs $16,000 and takes up a third of the Cybertruck’s bed.

You cannot make this shit up 😂

[–] KingGordon@lemmy.world 30 points 4 days ago (3 children)

Imagine how easy it would be to be if elongated muskrat kept his mouth shut.

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[–] IndustryStandard@lemmy.world 38 points 3 days ago (1 children)

How about giving up on the Cybertruck

[–] utopiah@lemmy.world 31 points 3 days ago (1 children)
[–] ikidd@lemmy.world 12 points 3 days ago

It could be $15 and have the range of an ICBM, it can still sit on the lot and scare the kids walking by.

[–] Plebcouncilman@sh.itjust.works 35 points 4 days ago (21 children)

Ima be honest, I like the design of this thing. I’m big into brutalism and the Delorean is one of my favorite car designs of all time. I was really hoping this would be good, but it has turned out to be one of the worst products in recent history in any category. It’s up there with the humane pin.

It makes me a little bit sad because I will never be able to live out my cyberpunk fantasy of driving an electric truck made out of bare metal manufactured by a technofascist corporation.

[–] slaneesh_is_right@lemmy.org 4 points 3 days ago

I don't know man, the hyundai ioniq 5 has way more delorean vibes than the cyber truck. The cyber truck just actually looks like how i was drawing cars as a child.

[–] utopiah@lemmy.world 8 points 3 days ago

up there with the humane pin.

Funny, or sad, how quickly we collective manage to forget bad grifts.

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[–] trk@aussie.zone 49 points 4 days ago

Tesla and unfulfilled promises.... Only slightly less an iconic duo than Tesla bad news and stock price going up.

[–] Showroom7561@lemmy.ca 6 points 3 days ago

Longer range so it can get stuck further from home? 🤭😀👍

[–] mle86@feddit.org 19 points 3 days ago (2 children)

How hard can it be to produce a simple battery pack, for a company that is in the business of designing and producing battery packs no less...

[–] JordanZ@lemmy.world 34 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

Think the end of the article pretty much nails it.

Tesla needed to install and remove it at a service center. Owners couldn’t remove them themselves. I think it was pretty much dead on arrival at $16,000.

But I think it could also be as simple as it’s not worth producing due to demand – both due to insufficient people reserving it and not enough Cybertruck buyers to create a market for the range extender.

Therefore, the range extender is dead for the same reason that the Cybertruck RWD now has the same battery pack as the AWD instead of a smaller pack for less money: the Cybertruck is a commercial flop, and it’s not a high-volume program enough to justify making several battery pack sizes, including a removable one.

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[–] acockworkorange@mander.xyz 16 points 3 days ago (3 children)

Why the third motor? One for each of the front wheels and one for the rear?

[–] endeavor@sopuli.xyz 58 points 3 days ago (1 children)

One runs front wheels, one runs rear wheels and third one powers the mental gymnastics it takes to be a tesla owner in 2025.

[–] DoubleSpace@lemm.ee 13 points 3 days ago (17 children)

Two in the back, one in the front. There's also a two and four motor version.

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 12 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Two in the back, one in the front.

The Shocker

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[–] Valmond@lemmy.world 20 points 4 days ago (2 children)

$16.000 just to get what you paid for?

Some people sure have a lot of money to spend.

[–] lmuel@sopuli.xyz 13 points 4 days ago

Not quite.

$16k to get closer to what they promised lol Probably won’t do that much considering the added weight

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[–] SpicyLizards@reddthat.com 19 points 4 days ago (1 children)

"Tesla confirms it has given up" is the headline I want

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[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 9 points 3 days ago

Why implement a new feature for a product nobody is buying?

[–] GregorGizeh@lemmy.zip 14 points 4 days ago (5 children)

Tesla now sells the tri-motor Cybertruck for $100,000 and only has a range of 320 miles.

The dual-motor Cybertruck was supposed to cost $50,000 and have over 300 miles of range. In reality, it starts at $80,000 and has 325 miles of range.

So, the cheaper model with two motors (why even) has a larger range than the full price model with three motors™®?

LMAO.

[–] ExcessShiv@lemmy.dbzer0.com 16 points 4 days ago (4 children)

two motors (why even)

To have mechanically independent FWD and RWD, this is actually pretty standard for all AWD BEVs and not just Tesla.

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[–] Coreidan@lemmy.world 10 points 3 days ago

Grifters grifting

[–] ABetterTomorrow@lemm.ee 10 points 4 days ago

Surprised they haven’t given up on Musk

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