The writing was just about on the wall for the Cybertruck vary extender final month when Tesla eliminated the choice from its web site. Now, it’s formally scrapped it and is refunding the $2,000 deposits that clients put down for the $16,000 battery pack.
“We’re now not planning to promote the vary extender for Cybertruck,” Tesla stated in a message to clients on Wednesday, including, “Because of this, we might be refunding your deposit in full.”
The Cybertruck vary extender was designed to deal with Tesla’s failure to ship on the promised ranges for the outlandish pickup when it launched towards the tip of 2023, and would’ve added about 120 miles to the car’s vary. For instance, the tri-motor model of the Cybertruck was anticipated to have greater than 500 miles of vary however solely presents 320 miles.
Tesla’s response was to spice up the vary utilizing a separate battery pack — the vary extender — that might’ve been put in within the pickup’s mattress by a Tesla technician. The automaker initially stated the pack would launch in early 2025, although towards the tip of final 12 months it modified it to “mid 2025.”
The adjustments to the vary extender’s launch schedule signifies that of us who dropped a deposit for it have but to obtain it. And now they by no means will.
Tesla unveiled the Cybertruck in 2019, promising a futuristic electrical pickup with daring, angular styling. Whereas the Elon Musk-led automaker initially focused a 2021 launch in North America, manufacturing confronted repeated delays because of design and manufacturing challenges earlier than lastly beginning at Gigafactory Texas in 2023.
Deliveries to the primary consumers began in December of the identical 12 months, however they concerned the dual-motor and tri-motor “Cyberbeast” variants, with those that preordered the single-motor Lengthy Vary mannequin nonetheless ready for it.
However the Cybertruck seems to be struggling, with solely 6,406 items delivered within the first quarter — lower than half the gross sales achieved within the earlier quarter. The lowered demand has resulted in about $200 million value of unsold stock amid experiences of 1000’s of unsold vans.
The car faces high quality points, excessive pricing — the accessible fashions begin at $80,000 — and rising competitors, making it difficult for Tesla to spice up gross sales. The autumn in Cybertruck gross sales seems to mirror Tesla’s broader gross sales decline, which some have attributed to the damaging public notion stemming from Elon Musk’s political actions and controversies.
