Cybertruck Towing Range

[ajdelange]

The strain gauge can also measure the aero drag of the trailer at highway speed to use to help estimate range.

It can't do that. It can only measure the sum of the energy sent to the trailer to overcome drag, acceleration and deceleration, rolling resistance, bearing friction and change in elevation. Once you had a good estimate of the mass I suppose you could back out the inertial and gravitational components and even, perhaps, rolling and bearing resistance but as elevation is hard to measure accurately the drag estimate would not be that good which is moot as you don't really care about that. What you are interested in is the sum: the Wh/mi for the trailer. The strain gauge would give you that.

But you could also just measure how much current is being used to maintain steady state speed and extrapolate. No additional sensors need.

That gives Wh/mi for the combination of truck and trailer. You already get that as all the Tesla's do measure motor power and record and display it in several ways. The whole motivation behind the strain gauge is to get Wh/mi and mass for the trailer. This educates the operator for better planning and improves en route range estimates as discussed in No. 27.

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[Keeney]

he whole motivation behind the strain gauge is to get Wh/mi and mass for the trailer. This educates the operator for better planning and improves en route range estimates as discussed in No. 27.

At the very least, it can give an extrapolation from the last couple of mile as to the remaining range under the same driving (and towing) conditions going forward. Probably already does that.

 

[ajdelange]

I keep forgetting that lots of people here do not currently drive Teslas. Yes, they do currently do that. If the navigation system is operating a graph can be displayed showing miles from departure point to destination along the horizontal axis and SoC on the vertical. To the left of the current position SoC is historical and to the right forecast based on the historical consumption rate and the elevation along the route. As mentioned a couple of times knowing the trailer's mass, which the strain gauge can be used to estimate, makes those predictions more accurate. When the navigation system is not in use only the historical WH/mi data is shown in the graph but an estimate of the remaining range is given based on the instantaneous consumption or the average over the last 5, 10 or 30 miles as chosen by the driver.

 

[Oldman Cybercamper]

I would think wind resistance of the trailer would be a big factor as it requires more energy no matter the weight of the trailer. Up the hill it requires more energy and down the hill it reduces charging.

 

[ajdelange]

I would think wind resistance of the trailer would be a big factor as it requires more energy

It is, of course, a factor. How big a factor relative to the other power sinks depends on several factors.

...no matter the weight of the trailer.

How big it is relative to the other factors does depend on weight as the major factors are the energy (and thus mass) related ones.

Up the hill it requires more energy and down the hill it reduces charging.

I think what you may be trying to say is that more drag force requires more energy from the battery and, in a regime where regen is taking place, deducts from the energy that can be recaptured. But that is true whether going uphill, downhill or level. Drag depends only on square of the TAS (true air speed), drag coefficient, cross sectional are, and temperature,. You can be sure that Tesla does everything they can to eliminate every ounce of drag that they can.

 

[Mule Ferguson]

Model X towing.

 

[Mule Ferguson]

https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/ohmmans-airstream-adventures.83350/page-20

Tesla Motor Club is a good source for information..

 

[Jbordinhao]

My wife and I have a travel trailer, I get crushed on gas mileage in my GMC Sierra. We have a model 3 and we do a lot of trips in it, but when taking the majority of our expenses is gas hence the reason for CT. I’m thinking tri motor. Average trip is 300 miles, and I always stop once to bathroom break and walk dogs. Plan is with 500 mile range, if it’s cut in half to 250, I will have no problem making it half way to my destination. Charge up continue on.

 

[Rthardison]

What are your thoughts on the estimated range while towing with the Cybertruck?> I pre-ordered the 3 motor AWD and am hoping to use it to tow a 10,000 lbs travel trailer. I'm hoping to get 200 miles range while towing, Just hope this isn't too optimistic for an EV.

I think 200 miles is a good estimate. We plan to buy a 7,500 lb travel trailer. I changed my reservation to tri-motor to get over 200 miles instead of less than 150 with the dual motor.

Also, I expect Tesla to allow us to use their semi-truck chargers for the Cybertruck which will make charging with a trailer in tow much easier.

 

[Owner13669]

I have experienced regeneration with my current car; it does add a surprising amount of power back into a battery. The concern I have is with aerodynamic drag while driving in relatively flat areas. One of my life goals is to drive coast to coast in Canada. I plan on executing this trip soon after getting the CT. It is going to be done in stages. The first stage is the eastern most portion of the country where there is not a lot of charging infrastructure at this time. The second stage would be from Ontario to Alberta. When I was playing with route planning software, it had sections that would require speed reductions to make to the next charging location. It was at that time that I came to the conclusion that there would be no way to make the trip in the dual motor CT while pulling a small trailer so, I changed my order to the tri-motor. I am glad that I had the option to make the change while maintaining my order number. I am also grateful that we have a good community of contributors on this forum. The discussions and questions have been very helpful.

Look up the safari condo a2124. Very aerodynamic.

 

[kev12345]

I have a hard time believing the 500 mile claim for the price listed. I think we're going to see 300 miles for $70k so towing may be a real disappointment unless you're willing to go above $100k. Here's hoping this is for real because I think 200 miles with a large trailer is a must as towing will definitely cut these numbers in half if not more.

 

[ajdelange]

With the $100/kWh barrier on the horizon, the ability of the S to do 400 and even the heavier X 351 and cheaper fabrication with the exoskeleton I see no problem with 500 in the TriMotor. All that aside Tesla would never advertise 500 if they weren't dead certain they could make it.

That said an estimate of 200 miles from the 500 mi TriMotor is not an unreasonable one. Loss of 60% is to be expected in a heavy truck especially if grade is involved or high speed is desired. This is why the ICE trucks sold for towing have ranges like 800 mi.

 

[kev12345]

I’m not saying they won’t get 500 miles. I just think the price is going to be sky high.

 

[ajdelange]

Some price creep? Perhaps but nothing astronomical certainly. The new tech (mainly batteries) points to more energy density and manufacturing cost reduction. This ensures high mileage and low cost. That's the way it looks to me anyway.

 

[ProfessorRon]

Has anyone considered Tesla is posting the towing range with a fully loaded trailer ? Tesla rated the semi with a 80,000 load. Thoughts? Would that be a game changer?