Tesla Made a Mistake - The Cybertruck Range Extender Should Have Gone Underneath the Truck Bed

For something thunk up in a middle school study hall, this vehicle has some interesting ideas, some obviously added too late for proper integration or wrong in the first place. The extra battery's one. Another is the greenhouse glass. If it can't be breached from outside, how can passengers get out while their ride is sinking?

I support the range extender going in the back compartment under the bed 100%, even if it means the weight is a little further from the center of the truck, but it would also be a lower center of gravity which is good. I am also thinking if Tesla has line of sight on 20% improvement in their Gen 3 (4?) cyber cell batteries in a year or two, then the range extender could also maybe be half as big, in which case it might be more palatable in the truck bed or vault. But I would still prefer it in the compartment under the bed. Great idea!

The storage compartment may be too small for three range extender, also it would change the weight distribution and this affect driving dynamics

Another great location would be uderneath the rear seats.

Tesla does what Musk wants and he's a nazi lying asshole.

The $30K truck that goes 500 miles is a $70K truck that goes 230 miles.

Who cares where they store "extra batteries" or how far up they make the bed.

They have made their bed. They will lie in it.

For the extender, a battery pack of that size will probably weigh at least 500 lbs. You'd want to distribute that weight as close to the center of the vehicle as possible to preserve handling and safety. Putting all that weight at the extreme rear of the vehicle where the sub trunk is would probably be problematic.

They didn't make a mistake at all. It's called weight distribution and it's very important in motor vehicles. These battery units are VERY heavy.

Speaking from a structural engineering standpoint, the reason for its placement is weight distribution. Placing it in the cargo space would put more weight on the rear tires causing them to wear out faster. Not a mechanical engineer.

The extender is obviously larger than said storage compartment

isn't that compartment meant for the spare tire? That's pretty important regardless of range extender. I guess maybe they could have a "second range extender" option that you can throw in that compartment if you don't carry the spare tire and need another range boost.

I've heard speculation that the reason the range extending pack can't go in that storage area is simply due to crash safety.

The batteries are supposed to be inside the wheel base, between the axles.

Also that storage space looks smaller than 1/3 of the bed space so I don't think a range extender of that size would fit in there.

Having the extender further rear affects steering I'd think. Plus perhaps load balance with that extra weight rear of the rear axle/motor. I'm no engineer, but I'd guess Tesla thought of that too. What's that extender weigh? 600 - 700 lbs?

I'm sure an additional 500lbs behind the rear axle is a no brainer.

First of all do you really think Tesla wouldn't have put the extra battery there if it would have fit?
Second of all it's beyond obvious that the space under the bed is a small fraction of the size of the extra pack they came up with, they need all the volume they can get to provide anything remotely close to the 500 miles of range they initially promised. Even with the huge additional pack taking up over 1/3 of the bed they couldn't hit 500 miles of range. The space under the bed would have barely been good enough for an extra 50 miles of range.