The Cybertruck uses Tesla’s newest 4680 battery cells, which is Tesla’s first foray into battery cell manufacturing. Naturally, this raises some concerns. Luckily, the first person to travel 15,000 miles in a Cybertruck shares battery degradation details.
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A recent video asking people on the street whether they would consider buying an electric vehicle highlighted one of the biggest concerns the public has when it comes to EVs: the batteries.
In the early days, the public’s concern regarding batteries was range. We recently posted an article showing why a Tesla owner on a road trip is not concerned even though he only has 3 miles of range left, but the closest supercharger station is 7 miles away.
However, in the recent video talking to people on the street, the public's biggest concern about electric vehicle batteries has shifted from range anxiety to battery degradation.
In the video below, several individuals state they would not shift to electric vehicles because “the jury is still not in on how the batteries will do long term.”
Admittedly, electric vehicle battery pack replacement can easily cost more than $10,000, and it is fair that these individuals are holding off on purchasing electric vehicles until they can be certain that after a few years of buying an EV, they will not need to replace their battery pack and be saddled with a hefty bill.
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If you are one of those individuals, you would be happy to know that, at least for Tesla vehicles, we’ve conclusive long-term studies showing how the battery pack handles after extended use.
According to Tesla’s latest Impact Report, the Tesla Model 3 and Model Y retain more than 85% of their battery capacity after 200,000 miles. The average US car owner drives less than 10,000 miles a year, which means 200,000 miles could easily surpass the vehicle's lifetime.
The results are even better for Tesla’s higher-end Model S and Model X vehicles, which retain more than 87% of their charge after 200,000 miles.
This is all well and good; however, how does the data look for the Tesla Cybertruck? The Cybertruck is Tesla’s latest vehicle, so there isn’t good long-term usage information pertaining to the truck.
The Tesla Cybertruck also uses Tesla’s next-generation, in-house-built 4680 batteries, which have yet to be extensively tested in the field.
Luckily for us, the first person to drive more than 15,000 miles using his Cybrtruck has shared information that gives us insight into how the Cybertruck battery degradation is going.
It has only been three months and 15 days since Kyle Conner from the Out of Spec Reviews YouTube channel took delivery of his tri-motor performance Cybertruck Cyberbeast.
Kyle drove his Cybertruck more than 15,000 miles in a relatively short time, including a coast-to-coast drive from Florida to California.
So, how did his battery hold up during that time? According to Tesla, the performance variant tri-motor Cybertruck has a 320-mile EPA range, whereas the dual-motor Cybertruck AWD boasts a 340-mile EPA range.
However, these range numbers are calculated using all-season tires and smaller wheels. The current Foundation Series Tesla Cybertrucks are being shipped with larger 22-inch wheels and off-road tires, which expectedly lower the advertised range numbers.
With the off-road tires, the Cybertruck’s range falls to 318 miles for the dual motor variant and 301 miles for the performance Cybertruck Cyberbeast.
Kyle says that after 15,000 miles, his Cybertruck indicated that the range had fallen, and even at full charge, it no longer reached 300 miles. The YouTuber did not give a definitive number on range degradation but said he had lost about 2% of battery capacity in the last three months.
This reduces his range to 295 miles; if we extrapolate this degradation to 150,000 miles, he would experience over 20% battery degradation. In this scenario, his Cybertruck range would fall below 250 miles.
Having said that, there are three things to keep in mind. First, due to the nature of his job as an automotive journalist, Kyle is an uncharacteristically heavy user. Most people will not drive their Cybertrucks 15,000 miles in three months. As noted above, the average US car owner drives less than 10,000 miles in a year.
For testing purposes, Kyle also drives his vehicle until his Cybertruck battery dies, which causes extra strain on the battery pack.
The second thing to remember is that although a 20% degradation looks bad, 250 miles of remaining range is still pretty good and is more than enough for the use case of 90 plus percent of the population.
The third and perhaps the biggest thing to remember is that electric vehicle battery degradation is not linear. Initially, when you start to drive an EV, the battery sharply degrades; however, these range losses taper off after the initial fall.
This means that although Kyle’s Cybertruck lost 2% of its range in 15,000 miles, it is unlikely to continue losing 2% every 15,000 miles. Factoring in the expected lower degradation number going forward, the Cybertruck will likely be more in line with the Tesla Model 3 and Model Y, which keep 85% of their range even at 200,000 miles.
Overall, if you are concerned about the degradation of the Cybertruck battery, the data we have until now suggests that the Cybertruck is performing in line with other Tesla vehicles.
Also, if you are the kind of person who wants a Cybertruck to be able to go on long road trips, later this year, Tesla will offer an optional $16,000 range extender that will increase the Cybertruck’s range to 470 miles.
Currently, this is all the information we have regarding the Cybertruck battery pack and degradation number; however, we’ll be sure to keep you posted when we receive further information.
Until then, visit our site, torquenews.com/Tesla, regularly for the latest updates.
So, what do you think? Are you surprised to see the Cybertruck lose 2% range in 15,000 miles? Also, what is your biggest concern that is stopping you from transitioning to an electric vehicle? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below by clicking the red “Add new comment” button.
Image: Courtesy of Tesla, inc.
For more information, check out: I Hit a Deer at 75Mph With My Tesla Cybertruck, & My Wife, Sitting in the Passenger Seat, Barely Noticed it—the Deer Bounced Right off Cleanly
Tinsae Aregay has been following Tesla and the evolution of the EV space daily for several years. He covers everything about Tesla, from the cars to Elon Musk, the energy business, and autonomy. Follow Tinsae on Twitter at @TinsaeAregay for daily Tesla news.
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