Cybertruck range test exceeds official numbers as Rivian R1T and Ford F-150 Lightning beat its 45.1 kWh energy consumption

Tesla's Cybertruck managed to beat its own official range numbers when tested under stanardized conditions at an average speed of 40 MPH and with a 60/40% split between city and highway driving, respectively.

Instead of the 318 miles of range that Tesla lists for the Foundation Series Cybertruck with all-terrain tires, the electric pickup covered 334 miles, actually exceeding the official range numbers.

Needless to say, in a worst case scenario the Cybertruck's range can actually be half of what's advertised, but for the driving habits of the typical US car owner it seemingly meets and exceeds what Tesla and the EPA state.

Tesla's own chief of vehicle engineering Lars Moravy mentioned that a tri-motor Cyberbeast pulling a towering horse trailer, for instance, could witness its official range numbers drop by 50%, and subsequent Cybertruck towing tests confirmed so.

This type of range loss wouldn't surprise ICE truck owners who've had to pull heavy blocky things behind them, either. The test was also carried out with the off-road tires and will be repeated with the all-season ones and aero covers with which Tesla advertises 340 miles of range on a charge.

Tesla will also be selling a 50 kWh extender battery pack "in late 2024" which will cost around $15,000 and will add extra 130 miles of range. Tesla's stated goal for the extender is to squeeze more efficiency out of the Cybertruck's powertrain in order to have its range on a charge hit the 500 miles it promised when its first electric pickup got unveiled.

For now, the Edmunds range test found that the Cybertruck consumed 45.1 kWh of battery charge per 100 miles covered, a tad above Rivian R1T's 42.3 kWh, or the Ford F-150 Lightning's 43.7 kWh numbers in the same conditions.

Get the 80A Tesla Gen 2 Wall Connector with 24' cable on Amazon