Tesla Kills Cybertruck’s Range Extender And Autopilot
Tesla has started informing customers that it has canceled plans to launch a Range Extender accessory for the Cybertruck.
The auxiliary battery pack was designed to be installed into the pickup’s bed and increase the range from an estimated 325 to 445 miles.
It was priced at $16,000 and Tesla had been accepting reservations with a $2,000 deposit, but it was removed from the Cybertruck ordering website in April.
Now customers are posting to social media with messages they’ve received from Tesla informing them that the product has been canceled and that they will be refunded their deposit. No reason for the cancelation has been offered.
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Tesla in April also launched a new rear-wheel-drive Long Range version of the Cybertruck advertised with an estimated 350 miles of range. The Cybertruck is classified as a heavy duty pickup and does not get an official EPA rating. When Tesla first unveiled the Cybertruck prototype in 2019 it said there would be a model with 500 miles of range, but it has not yet offered one in that specification.
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Along with the bad news about the Range Extender, Tesla is also informing Cybertruck owners that their vehicles will not be getting the Autopilot feature activated. Instead, they are being offered a one-year free trial of the more capable Full Self-Driving feature, but Autopilot was advertised as an included feature when the Cybertruck went on sale.