Tesla Cybercab battery leak reveals 50% range increase

The retail Tesla Cybertruck specs, like battery size, range on a charge, or electric motor power output, have now been revealed thanks to an EPA filing. The most important Cybercab specification, its battery capacity, turned out to be very close to what Tesla teased three years ago in its Master Plan 3.

There, Tesla's non-existent at the time "compact" was listed as being powered by an LFP battery with a 53 kWh capacity. Tesla was still planning to place this pack in the Model 2 then, a hot hatch or shrunken Model Y of sorts that would have been its first mass-market vehicle.

Instead, it concluded that it could make an even cheaper car and let it roam the streets as a driverless, pedal-less robotaxi that will allow it to scale quickly and yet keep a decent margin on Cybercab production. It kept refining the Cybercab after its announcement, and the final retail version that the EPA leaked the specs of is seemingly way more energy-efficient than the original.

Tesla Cybercab robotaxi battery range and motor specs 

• 48 kWh battery
• 219 hp FWD motor
• 3,113/3,730 lbs curb/GVWR weight
• 326V powertrain voltage

The usable battery capacity of the Cybercab is now pegged at 48 kWh, which jibes with what Tesla intended to put in the Model 2, but the big story is the range on a charge that Tesla has managed to squeeze out of it. The EPA pegs the so-called Equivalent All-Electric Range of the Cybercab at 418 miles, with 375 miles of highway range alone. Needless to say, the actual EPA estimate on the dedicated EV range test is usually 25% lower than the Equivalent All-Electric Range entry, but that would still return a Cybercab range of 300 miles on a charge.

Back when Tesla announced the Cybercab and in several subsequent interviews, Tesla's chief engineer, Lars Moravy, stated that the two-seater sports a range of about 200 miles. The subsequent upgrades in powertrain efficiency and aerodynamics have seemingly extended the expected Cybercab range much further, and while it certainly won't hit the 400-mile range mark with a 48 kWh battery and a curb weight of 3,113 lbs, it would still offer a record for US market efficiency of more than six miles per kWh.

What's more, the stated FWD motor output of 219 hp is quite impressive, too, and should make for zippy acceleration even with the max GWVR weight of 3730 pounds. The Cybercab will have a wireless charging system, which, at this battery size, would take two hours for a full charge. Given that the Cybercab wouldn't need ultrafast charging, Tesla kept its high-voltage architecture in line with the 400V system of the Model 3 and Model Y, rather than equip it with the more modern 800V powertrain of the Cybertruck.

Get the Tesla Universal Wall Connector with 24' Cable on Amazon