Tesla’s Head of Vehicle Engineering Confirms the EV maker is Working on a 500-mile Range Cybertruck, Explains Why Tesla Can’t Offer it Yet

After the November 30 delivery event, we learned all the final specs of the Cybertruck. And the information we learned about the all-electric truck has been a bit of a mixed bag.

There are some attributes about the truck beyond the stainless steel exoskeleton that are truly revolutionary and that Tesla delivered without even promising.

A New Video Shows a Tesla Cybertruck Getting Rescued by a Ford F-150 After Electric Truck Got Stuck Off-Roading. @Tesla @elonmusk#Tesla
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These include things like the first steer-by-wire vehicle in the world, the first 48-volt vehicle in the world, the first vehicle to connect all components of a vehicle through a single high bandwidth ethernet loop, the first vehicle to be designed from the ground up for Tesla’s 4680 cells and a structural pack, the first Tesla to feature rear-wheel steering and so on.

Related News: MKBHD Releases Cybertruck 2nd Impressions Video – “All the Numbers Except 0 to 60 Mph are Worst Than They Promised, 1st Time That’s True for Tesla” 

All the things I’ve listed above, in addition to being technological breakthroughs, also serve to make the Cybertruck a superior product than the original prototype Tesla showed off back in 2019.

In the real world, all the technological breakthroughs help maneuvering the Cybertruck be a breeze, cut the truck’s weight, help diagnose any issue on the vehicle from a single point, and so on.

We’re excited to see all the engineering advancements that Tesla delivered in the Cybertruck without even promising, however, there are also a couple of crucial specs Tesla promised with the Cybertruck and meaningfully underdelivered.

These are the truck’s range and price. When Tesla unveiled the Cybertruck back in 2019, the EV maker said the truck would have a starting price of $39,900 and the top-of-the-line version would have more than a 500-mile EPA range.

However, what did we get at the end? A 340-mile truck that costs $100,000. And if you opt for the first 1000 “Foundation Series” Cybertrucks with laser-etched 3-headed Cyberbeast insignia and other unique features, the Cybertruck’s starting price gets bumped up to $120,000 and that is still while only offering a 340-mile range.

Tesla Starts Digging Boring Company Tunnels Under Giga Texas to Efficiently Deliver Parts Directly to the Production Line Through Tunnels @Tesla @elonmusk @WholeMarsBlog #Tesla https://t.co/vuMunNJrBD
— Torque News (@torquenewsauto) December 12, 2023

To be fair to Tesla, the Cybertruck comes with a range extender that increases the truck’s range from 350 miles all the way up to 470 miles. However, this addon 50KWh battery pack not only costs an extra $16,000 but also takes away 1/3 of the truck bed making the truck less useful.

Related News: A New Video Shows a Tesla Cybertruck Getting Rescued by a Ford F-150 After Electric Truck Got Stuck Off-Roading

This fact has been a reason behind a lot of negative commentary about the Cybertruck, however, Tesla appears to be still working on a 500-mile version of the Cybertruck to be released at a later date.

The teardown titan, Sandy Munro recently held a blockbuster interview with 5 of Tesla’s top engineering-focused executives. In this interview, we learned a lot about all the “under the hood” breakthroughs that make the Cybertruck a revolutionary vehicle.

Most of the interview was focused on explaining some of the engineering advancements and decisions and to our delight, Tesla executives have gone into detail to explain why Tesla decided to lower the Cybertruck’s range to 340 miles and why the EV maker chose to offer the range extender.

You can watch the interview in its entirety and I’ve linked the video below however, in a conversation between Tesla’s Senior Vice president of Energy and Powertrain Engineering, Drew Baglino, and Tesla's Head of Vehicle Engineering, Lars Moravy, we learned a lot about Tesla’s controversial decision for a range extender.

Tesla’s thought behind this decision is that the average US driver only drives 40 miles a day and on the rare occasion when he/she decides to drive on a longer trip, Tesla has set up a charging network that can top up the Cybertruck from 15% to 85% in just 18 minutes. However, I should say this is only using V4 superchargers that can charge the Cybertruck at 350KW.

So why not just offer a 500-mile range Cybertruck for people who need it without having to use a range extender? Well, range anxiety is still a thing and if Tesla offered a 500-mile truck everyone would flock to that trim just from an abundance of caution.

You might be asking what is the problem with that? After all, it just means more sales. Well, it would’ve been okay for Tesla to offer a 500-mile range Cybertruck, at the end of the day, if the consumers want it and Tesla has the technical ability to manufacture such a truck it shouldn’t matter.

However, Tesla’s battery cell supply is currently significantly constrained. In addition to chip shortages, this is the reason Tesla was forced to delay the Cybertruck by over 2 years.

And as long as the EV maker is cell-constrained, every large battery pack it produces means decreasing the production capacity by a third or even half because there are not enough cells to go around.

This is disappointing however, Tesla is working on audacious plans to ramp up in-house cell manufacturing and as Tesla solves battery constraints in the next 2 years or so, the EV maker will likely start offering longer-range vehicles.

Currently, this is all the information we’ve regarding Tesla’s long-term plans to alleviate the cell shortage and start offering long-range vehicles however, we’ll be sure to keep you posted along the way as the EV maker works towards this goal.

Until then, make sure to visit our site torquenews.com/Tesla regularly for the latest updates.

So what do you think? Excited to learn that Tesla is still working on a 500-mile range Cybertruck? How much would you pay for a 500-mile Cybertruck that doesn’t use a range extender? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Image: Courtesy of Tesla, Inc.

For more information check out: Tesla Starts Digging Boring Company Tunnels Under Giga Texas to Efficiently Deliver Parts Directly to the Production Line Through Tunnels

Tinsae Aregay has been following Tesla and The evolution of the EV space on a daily basis 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.