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In a move likely meant to ascertain demand before starting production, Tesla has quadrupled the reservation price for the Cybertruck’s range extender battery pack. This decision comes amid the collapse of the Cybertruck reservation list.
Tesla famously only required a refundable $100 deposit to reserve a Cybertruck. This helped propel the Cybertruck reservation list to over a million individuals.
However, less than a year after starting production, Tesla has already exhausted the over 1 million Cybertruck reservation list. Ultimately, as Tesla officially retired the Cybertruck reservation program, only 2.5% of reservation holders decided to buy the truck.
Getting less than 30,000 sales from a million-plus-long reservation list is undoubtedly not ideal for Tesla. The first issue is obvious: low demand; however, the mismatch between production capacity and sales is even more worrying.
Tesla has invested billions of dollars to build the Cybertruck factory, with initial tooling for 130,000 vehicles per year and an option to expand that number to 250,000 Cyertrucks annually.
Low sales numbers are bad for any company; however, this mismatch between initial investment and sales can be catastrophic for Tesla. It’s one thing not to make a lot of profit; however, spending billions of dollars building a factory without demand is predictably much worse.
Going back to the range extender battery pack, Tesla appears to have learned from the Cybertruck reservation list debacle, and the EV maker has increased the price to reserve the product fourfold.
If you visit Tesla’s online configurator now, you’ll see that the reservation price for the Cybertruck range extender battery pack has increased from $500 to $2000.
Tesla does not give a definite price for the range extender; however, the company provides a placeholder estimate of $16,000.
A $2000 deposit for a $16,000 product equals 12.5% of the total price. This is a steep percentage to reserve a product; however, even more interestingly, the $2000 deposit is non-refundable.
By asking people to pay a non-refundable $2000 to reserve the battery pack, Tesla should be able to better gauge the number of people interested in purchasing the product. The EV maker can then use this data to better plan out production.
Currently, after a six-month delay, Tesla says the Cybertruck range extender battery pack should start production around the middle of 2025.
As you all know by now, the Cybertruck range extender battery pack is not seamlessly integrated into the skateboard design but will be carried on the bed basically like cargo.
According to Tesla executives, the battery pack will have a 50KWh capacity and will increase the Cybertruck’s range to 445 miles for the All-Wheel-Drive variant and to 415 miles for the Cybertbeast.
Currently, the Cybertruck AWD has an EPA range of 325 miles, and the Cybertruck Cyberbeast has a range of 301 miles. The range extender battery pack will increase the Cybertruck AWD and Cybertruck Cyberbeast’s range by 120 miles and 114 miles, respectively.
The range extender battery pack will increase the Cybertruck’s range by a respectable 35% from the base variants of those vehicles.
So far, Tesla has also confirmed that the battery pack will not be removable and will require permanent installation at a Tesla service center.
Given these facts, on the one hand, it’s obvious that people like longer ranges in EVs; on the other hand, no company has ever decided to put a range extender battery pack that will be carried as cargo and will take up one-third of the bed space.
Since no company has ever attempted to sell a range extender battery pack the way that Tesla is trying to, it’s good for the EV maker to first ensure there is demand before setting up production.
Overall, this is an interesting change of strategy by Tesla. Please let me know what you think about the Cybertruck range extender battery pack. Share your ideas by clicking the red “Add new comment” button below. Also, visit our site, torquenews.com/Tesla, regularly for the latest updates.
Image: Courtesy of Tesla, inc.
For more information, check out: In the End, Only 2.5% of Cybertruck Reservation Holders Decided to Buy the Truck as Tesla Officially Finishes the Cybertruck Reservation List
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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