After Tesla exhausted the 1 million Cybertruck reservation list with less than 30,000 individuals deciding to buy the truck, the EV maker has decided to increase the reservation price for the Cybertruck range extender battery pack fourfold.
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.
Well you have a lot of bad…
Well you have a lot of bad news about the Cybertruck. First off, the "low" take rate for reservation holders is largely because of the price hikes from the original $40K base price, to the $113K actual price that people needed to pay for the Cybertruck. Considering the huge jump in price from $70K for the top Cybertruck, 30,000 sales is an incredible success. The newly repriced $63K entry Cybertruck is still not available to buy, so we can't really judge how well that will sell in 2025. As for the battery extender, that was another disappointment from the earlier claims of having 500 miles of range for that $70K price of the top model. Realistically, even though everyone would like more range, the truth is that most current Tesla owners only use about 12% of their battery pack's capacity daily. So most owners do not need 500 miles of daily range. But people who do have special long range needs, or who do towing, or who live in ice cold climates (or all of those things) need more range, and that is going to cost them. The $100K base Hummer has a 315 mile range from its HUGE battery, and you can get a bigger built in battery for $8K more that increases range to 384 miles. The EV Silverado offers those same options for less money, providing more range. But we will have to wait until next year to confirm the prices, capability and availability. Tesla definitely fell short of their planned goals, especially on price. But I think once they offer the base model for $63K next year, they will sell all of the Cybertrucks that they can build in 2025, regardless of whether they offer a $16K extended battery pack or not.
I won't give the Afrikaner…
I won't give the Afrikaner nazi a dime for his vehicles. Trying to buy trump votes in Pennsylvania while holding US government contracts is offensive on top of his racism, antisemitism etc.
I won't give the Afrikaner…
I won't give the Afrikaner nazi a dime for his vehicles. Trying to buy trump votes in Pennsylvania while holding US government contracts is offensive on top of his racism, antisemitism etc.
I ordered two,the base model…
I ordered two,the base model and the three motor one. After three years of waiting and price increase and lack of driving range it no longer holds the charisma it did.
I haven't heard from Tesla for three years and last week received e mail saying I could now order. During that time never heard from Tesla till last week yes I'm bitter did they want my business? If they canceled the program I want my Reservation fees back
They are still selling…
They are still selling everyone they build. I personally wouldn't buy one, but I'll happily reply to clickbait BS.
Until the charging…
Until the charging infrastructure is truly as universally accessible as buying fuel it is hard to see how the cybertruck can be a replacement for an ice pickup. We use pickups for our commercial work and would love to change to ev for that but right now it would be completely disastrous.
I would like to have the…
I would like to have the range for long trips and for towing, but taking up 1/3 of the bed kinda ruins those people that actually want a truck bed. I firmly believe there should be a removable range extending battery option.
I would not own a cyber…
I would not own a cyber truck in it's current iteration. Aside from being overpriced, the vehicle is simply the ugliest thing I've seen on the road. Excepting possibly the Pontiac Aztek.
As to all the listed issues with the range extender battery pack, this adds but one more item of confusion as to why Elon had not adopted the solid state battery for the cyber truck as well as all other Tesla models.
Why don't EVs have solar…
Why don't EVs have solar charging? Regenerative braking was on electric cars in 1903!!!!!
Range is BS because the moment one turns on AC or heat, you lose range. We are still burning fossil fuels for electricity. Not sustainable or green. Hilarious that 'EVers' think they're being green. Guess again 🙄
You don't really have any…
You don't really have any skin in the game for $100, refundable at that.
This is great, it provides…
This is great, it provides one with the opportunity to follow up the dumbass decision to buy a Cybertruck with a second dumbass decision to buy the extra battery. A double dumbass !!
You realize that the list…
You realize that the list included many reservations for the base and dual motor models which have not been released? Therefore the list is still being used...
interesting change of…
interesting change of strategy? Lol
Only someone delusional as Musk could possibly think that 100 refundable dollars is a deposit.
I don't know, all these bait…
I don't know, all these bait and switches have got to catch up to them at some point. This is just another nail in the coffin for the CT.
The obvious reason that 97.5…
The obvious reason that 97.5% opted not to buy the CT is the insane delay and the price.
Throw in the build quality issues, the failed debut with the window breaking (still laugh at that one) and you have a recipe for the low demand.
Curious, do people read this…
Curious, do people read this website and take it seriously? Or is this like those supermarket tabloids that just make reasonable people chuckle? The Cybertruck is third best selling EV in the country. It's sold more than all other EV trucks in Q1 through Q3 (since it's release) combined. That's despite the $100k+ early launch edition being the only version currently available. As they release the lower margin, cheaper variants the sales will increase exponentially.
"Collapse of the Cybertruck reservations". I wish my retirement account would "collapse" the same way the Cybertruck reservations list has. Lmao. 🤡