Tesla has officially pulled the plug on its much-hyped Cybertruck range extender. The $16,000 accessory, which had been pitched as a way to significantly boost driving range, is now off the table, leaving early adopters without a promised upgrade and further complicating Tesla’s already rocky product trajectory.
According to emails obtained by Electrek, Tesla recently informed Cybertruck buyers that it is “no longer planning to sell” the external battery pack. The company is issuing full refunds for the $2,000 deposits customers had put down, offering little beyond the brief announcement.
The range extender, originally slated to launch in early 2025 (later delayed to mid-2025), was supposed to reclaim some of the range Tesla promised back in 2019. Back then, Elon Musk touted a tri-motor Cybertruck with over 500 miles of range at a price around $70,000. Fast-forward to today, and the best version tops out at 301 miles and costs nearly $100,000.
Even the dual-motor AWD version, priced at $79,990, only delivers 325 miles, while the base $69,990 Long Range model claims up to 362 miles—still far short of the original vision.
The now-canceled battery pack was Tesla’s proposed solution to those compromises. Taking up roughly half the truck’s rear bed, it would have boosted the dual-motor model’s total range to 470 miles—a figure later revised downward to 445 miles before the entire accessory vanished from Tesla’s online configurator in April.
The quiet removal and now formal cancellation reflect not just a logistical change, but a strategic retreat. Whether due to engineering challenges, cost inefficiency, or lack of demand, Tesla has walked back yet another feature once positioned as a game-changer.
The cancellation also lands amid broader struggles for Tesla, both financially and reputationally. Despite Elon Musk once claiming over 1 million reservations, just 35,000 to 50,000 Cybertrucks were sold in 2024, raising concerns about actual demand.
Company-wide, Tesla’s fortunes are on a downslope. In Q1 2025, Tesla’s global sales declined 13% year-over-year, fueled in part by growing backlash to Musk’s political actions and polarizing public persona. Protests, boycotts, and negative press have increasingly weighed down the brand that once defined EV innovation.
