Adam Jonas of Morgan Stanley has written that he thinks the Tesla Cybertruck could end up being a “Cult” Car with only 50,000 to 100,000 per year production volumes. This is despite over 1.5 million reserved Cybertrucks.
Nextbigfuture has calculated that a Tesla Cybertruck will be able to beat the range of a gas-powered Ford F150. This is based upon the calculated Tesla Cybertruck specifications with the assumption they will use Tesla Semi technology. A Ford F150 has a 23 gallon fuel tank and gets 460 miles of range without carrying anything and gets 207 miles of range with payload. F150 handles 8,200 lbs of towing and maximum payload of 1,985 lbs. The F-150 Platinum has a 36 gallon tank. The platinum has a range of 324 mile range with a heavy load.
Tesla Cybertruck will also use several Plaid motors (like the Tesla Semi) and a 1000-volt powertrain. These are optimized to not lose range under load. Cybertrucks with Semi motors and powertrain should have 200 miles of range with full loads with 85 kWh batteries and 250 miles with 110 kWh. A 180 kWh pack should give 500 miles empty and 400 miles under class 4 load.
A Tesla Cybertruck with a 180 kWh pack pulling a combined vehicle and payload weight of 15,000 lbs would beat the gasoline Ford F150, Ford F250 and Ford F350. The Tesla Cybertruck would outclass the Rivian and the Ford Lightning.
Adam Jonas predicted the Tesla Cybertruck will weigh over 7000 lbs. The Tesla Semi has vastly lighter weight and more range than all competing electric Semi trucks. The Tesla Model Y and 3 have superior range and weight than all competing electric cars. Tesla Cybertruck has exoskeleton and powertrain are all designed for lighter weight and more efficiency. Tesla Cybertruck will be using adapations of the plaid motors used in the Semi and the Model S and X. This already is known to have abundant power and light weight.
I matched the formula for energy used by the Tesla Semi for their recent 500-mile video-recorded delivery of 81,000 lbs. Tesla is about 13% from optimal assuming they drove at 60mph on their 500-mile test. If they drove at 52mph then they were 27% from optimal. Optimal based upon known aerodynamics and other parameters. The formula is at the bottom of this article.
A Tesla Cybertruck that is able to match the Tesla Semi at 13% from optimal energy usage while towing or moving loads would surpass a Ford F150 range while towing with a 110 kWh battery pack.
I have used a formula for calculating the energy usage for an electric vehicle based upon its weight, speed and aerodynamics.
Instagrammer, Ftronz, posted a picture and video of a beta production Tesla Cybertruck.