Cybertruck to Enter Baja Endurance Race With All New Air Suspension Says Musk?!

[MO Truck]

I film the Baja 1000 every year (and it's awesome) ... That could be a problem for the bikes... The motorcycles move out of the way when they hear a trophy truck. We'll... actually... now that I think about it they have a device called a Stella that will beep so they will know they are coming. If you like the Baja race check out our movie. It's free.

Excellent video thank you

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[luisma]

I remember an EV buggy trying this a while back, was sort of a gimmick though if I remember correctly.

https://www.roadandtrack.com/motors...baja-racer-is-running-the-norra-mexican-1000/

If Elon is really intending on entering the Baja 500 or 1000 races, then I have some interesting questions:

1. How representative will the truck be of production models? It's relatively common for companies to compete as a branding move, but use a soup'd up version of their product.

2. If it is a production truck, how will the team handle mid-race recharging? Will they only complete a leg of the race so they don't need to charge, or will they do the full race with a mobile supercharger at each pit stop? They may not be competitive needing multiple 30+ minute stops, but just finishing the race would be good publicity.

3. When's this gonna happen? The Baja 500 is in June this year, and the 1000 is in November. If those months hold for the 2021 races, either of those events would be huge marketing opportunities just as production begins.

It'd be sick to see a Cybertruck compete in a Baja, but I'm thinking Elon was making a general reference to the demands of desert off-roading, not actually competing in the race.

I think you are correct, I do not think he will enter the truck in the race but only making reference to the off road requirements for those trucks.

 

[lukefrisbee]

I film the Baja 1000 every year (and it's awesome) ... That could be a problem for the bikes... The motorcycles move out of the way when they hear a trophy truck. We'll... actually... now that I think about it they have a device called a Stella that will beep so they will know they are coming. If you like the Baja race check out our movie. It's free.

yeah. And they have stella not because the Trucks make a no noise. The Motorcyclists can't hear over the noise from their own bikes. So it would be a non-issue either way.

 

[TyPope]

The race is often less than 500 miles. Sometimes you need to go pretty slow even in a truck. It's possible it could complete the entire race on its own battery. You just bring a mobile supercharger and charge it up for a few minutes at a time at each of the pit stops. You might only need to have 2 such chargers. You could just leapfrog it and beat it to the next point it needs to stop (like the chase trucks in Into the Dust.) Also, slower means longer range. The cyber truck will be in a different class than the buggies or trophy trucks (I guessing something like Class 7SX?) or some EV class) so it's conceivable it could win its class if it makes it to the end. Many stock vehicles time out so they may only need to finish in the run time allowed.

It needs to beat all the regular stock trucks out there or Tesla loses some serious bragging rights... Best at everything kind of stuff.

 

[Jhodgesatmb]

oh man.. way to make it feel like an EVEN LONGER WAIT!

I’m scratching the walls already!

 

[Geo]

It IS quite conceivable that the Cybertruck will be able to complete the entire race on one charge. If not, why not an extra battery strapped to the T-rails in the bed? That would be awesome especially if they used one straight off the assembly line!

I hate to disappoint you friend, but the Cybertruck couldn't even cover the 500 miles on one charge if it was hypermiling the whole trip.

And if it was racing, which is a reasonable expectation to the point of entering the race, means covering that rough terrain, would reduce the 500 mile range to an actual of about 150 miles or less.

But there is one way it could do very well, and that is carrying a generator on board, making charge on the fly, literally
That way it would need less fuel stops than ICE vehicles.

Perhaps no fuel stops. As you could load up with enough fuel at the start to gently run the generator.
(No sure, have to think through the math once the battery capacity and weight is known for sure )

 

[TyPope]

I hate to disappoint you friend, but the Cybertruck couldn't even cover the 500 miles on one charge if it was hypermiling the whole trip.

And if it was racing, which is a reasonable expectation to the point of entering the race, means covering that rough terrain, would reduce the 500 mile range to an actual of about 150 miles or less.

But there is one way it could do very well, and that is carrying a generator on board, making charge on the fly, literally
That way it would need less fuel stops than ICE vehicles.

Perhaps no fuel stops. As you could load up with enough fuel at the start to gently run the generator.
(No sure, have to think through the math once the battery capacity and weight is known for sure )

If battery tech improves in the next two years or if they add a big battery for in the bed, it could do it.

 

[Geo]

If battery tech improves in the next two years or if they add a big battery for in the bed, it could do it.

I was hoping that battery tech improves very soon with Elon's announcement next month.
I believe Tesla's battery tech ( which is the best at the moment) which is at about 256 wh/kg may soon be at 300 wh/kg.
That should see the 500 mile range increase to 600 miles, which would be brilliant.
But that still means racing desert terrain range is about 180 miles or less.

If that distance was covered with a 200 kw/hr battery, then carrying an extra 200kw/h battery would still only get you to cover 360 of the 500 miles of the race.
But yes you could just carry multiple battery's, as many as needed, regardless of the weight penalty.

As each 100kw/hr battery's is roughly 1100 lbs, then carrying 2 extra 200kw/hr (if they were rated at 300 wh/kg)
would mean an extra 4400 lbs.
It certainly within the 7500 lbs payload capacity.

That would be quite a penalty and test of the new Exoskeleton and Air Suspension.
( And with all that weight your definetely lowering the racing range to below 130 miles per 200 kw/hr battery. )

But one day we will get to 400 wh/kg or more, then things will get very interesting . . . fast

 

[Geo]

Things that make you go Hmmm about the Cybertruck racing the Baha 500.

Facts:
Model S with 100 kw/hr battery weighs about 4950 lbs and has just had the range extended to 390 miles.
Cybertruck by truck classification declared by Tesla cannot weigh more than 6500 lbs.
We know the heaviest CT is the Tri- motor with the biggest range, 500 miles PLUS !
We know through Motor trend that the Tri - motor simply has 2 battery’s stacked on top of each other.
Counter intuitive to heavy 3mm thick bullet proof Stainless. CT is very light for a truck because of Exoskeleton design.
(putting aside battery weight)
Weight of 100 kw/hr battery in Model S weighs roughly 1100 lbs.
Elon wants CT suspension to be Baja racing capable, if not actually wants to outright race the Cybertruck,
( which is problematic from a battery point of view)

Approximate Extrapolation:
CT Tri motor will weigh approx. 6200 lbs ( incl. 2 x 100 kw/hr, 1100 lbs batteries )
CT Dual Motor will weigh approx. 5100 lbs ( estimate 1 x 100 kw/hr battery )

Maybe like the Semi, where Tesla is quoting range figures of 500 miles, thats based on towing a fully loaded trailer,
that perhaps Tesla is being very coy about what the PLUS means in the quoted range for the Cybertruck.

And we still don’t know what exactly Battery day is going to deliver.
So I would venture to speculate that the :

Cybertruck Tri motor will do around 680 miles unloaded.
Cybertruck Dual motor will do around 380 miles unloaded

Which would make racing the Baha 500 much more feasible.

Deluded, wishful thinking, or could it be about right ?

 

[Cybr on]

Maybe like the Semi, where Tesla is quoting range figures of 500 miles, thats based on towing a fully loaded trailer,
that perhaps Tesla is being very coy about what the PLUS means in the quoted range for the Cybertruck.


Cybertruck Tri motor will do around 680 miles unloaded.
Cybertruck Dual motor will do around 380 miles unloaded

Which would make racing the Baha 500 much more feasible.

Deluded, wishful thinking, or could it be about right ?
[/QUOTE]

Deluded? No way! Wishful ? ? Umm nothing wrong with that. “I say dream” My money is with Elon.
Is he being Coy? Hmmmmm. Maybe some weight there. Seems very very probable. Honestly, like you mentioned, that “+” is the key pointing towards a special battery day announcement. But, this does not take away the fact that I thought those days staying up at night as a child wondering what the heck that particular gift is under the tree Truly is. Have an idea .. a very good one. But, still not sure.. The anticipation ?.

Elon, is amazing and I just love the man dearly for being bold and an out of the box thinker and tinker who says “why not” “let’s give it a try”if it does not work, let’s try again. I traded in my platinum explorer for a model 3 !!! best day of my life! telling FORD thank you, but no thank you! Nothing like sitting on your ASS making it seem like your busy. funny.. I remember the guy who sold the car to us distinctly he said Ford stands for “first on race day” hahah hahahahaha ummmm nope... the other day I looked at a guy in a mustang while at he light and his eyes said it all.. brought back the memory of the salesman lol..
companies like ford , they missed their chance. Got caught on their heals!! Missed it. Fumbled on the one yard line. Sorry , but they had advantage over TESLA. He has the Freshest safestfastest, most comfortable, state of the art tech.. ummmm TESLA is the FUTURE!

 

[TyPope]

I was hoping that battery tech improves very soon with Elon's announcement next month.
I believe Tesla's battery tech ( which is the best at the moment) which is at about 256 wh/kg may soon be at 300 wh/kg.
That should see the 500 mile range increase to 600 miles, which would be brilliant.
But that still means racing desert terrain range is about 180 miles or less.

If that distance was covered with a 200 kw/hr battery, then carrying an extra 200kw/h battery would still only get you to cover 360 of the 500 miles of the race.
But yes you could just carry multiple battery's, as many as needed, regardless of the weight penalty.

As each 100kw/hr battery's is roughly 1100 lbs, then carrying 2 extra 200kw/hr (if they were rated at 300 wh/kg)
would mean an extra 4400 lbs.
It certainly within the 7500 lbs payload capacity.

That would be quite a penalty and test of the new Exoskeleton and Air Suspension.
( And with all that weight your definetely lowering the racing range to below 130 miles per 200 kw/hr battery. )

But one day we will get to 400 wh/kg or more, then things will get very interesting . . . fast

Hmm. I guess I was figuring on a steady 60mph kind of range... I still think it could finish the race though maybe not at super speeds. Though, if you could do the whole race with just one or two quick charging stops, maybe you could go faster. Hopefully, battery day will announce something about lighter, more sense batteries.

 

[outdoors_jp]

Tesla is innovative. By entering motor sports I could see it pushing their vehicle development as well as battery and charging development. After all, isn’t that why companies pour so much into sport racing? I’m not sure what the regs are for the Baja. Could they plan accordingly and swap batteries instead of refueling? Mobile DC charging and some kind of configuration that breaks up the batter into small pieces that can all be charged independently at once for quicker charge? Any idea how long trucks are down for fueling/repairs on the Baja? Is it enough time to charge? I guess I don’t see this as they don’t have what it takes to run the Baja. I see is as what do they have to do to get er dun!

 

[lukefrisbee]

Truthfully? I think outdoors_jp just convinced. I've been thinking that even Elon should just re-look at his whole "First Principles," and let someone that wants to do the Baja thing do it with a cyber... Keep the engineer boys on making the cyber best for the masses.

 

[Jessedostie]

For everyone who thinks the Cybertruck will be heavy... Have you seen this?

 

[Ehninger1212]

I’m scratching the walls already!

RIGHT?1 My friend who reserved a CT at the same time as me couldnt wait... he is picking up his M3P some day this week. He got the exact car he wanted which had been returned after 302 miles. Tesla offered him a $1260 discount! Lucky Guy..