Tesla Fails Cybertruck Owners Again, Cancels Key Upgrade

The $16,000 range extender battery pack is officially dead.

Photo by: Motor1.com

By: Anthony Alaniz

May 8, 2025 at 3:00pm ET

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Owning a Tesla Cybertruck must be tough. The automaker launched the electric pickup in late 2023 with a range far below what it had promised at launch. The truck was supposed to exceed 500 miles on a single charge, but the production version didn’t even get close to that, so Tesla introduced a $16,000 range-extending battery pack that promised to increase the truck’s range to 470 miles.

Tesla delayed the battery in late 2024, decreasing its possible range at the same time. Now, Cybertruck owners won’t be able to extend their truck’s range at all, because now the optional pack is officially dead.

In the email to owners last night, reported on by our colleagues at InsideEVs, Tesla said it is “no longer planning to sell the Range Extender for Cybertruck.” It also stated that it would refund the $2,000 deposits for the pack that would have taken up a third of the truck’s bed.

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Tesla discontinuing the range extender is yet another L for the Cybertruck. Demand for the pickup has been far below what Tesla had predicted, and it appears that the alleged one million pre-orders Tesla touted ahead of deliveries never turned into actual sales. Tesla launched a cheaper Cybertruck in April, but at a starting price of $72,235, it's still far more expensive than the average vehicle.

The decision to cancel the Cybertruck's battery pack comes as the Tesla brand is facing massive sales declines. CEO Elon Musk attributed its recent abysmal results to politics and “blowback” for his involvement with the Department of Government Efficiency. Year-over-year net income dropped 71 percent, and the lack of a competitive electric pickup truck won’t help either. Our guess is making a battery pack like this might not be especially profitable for the company.