Towing With the Tesla Cybertuck Is Possible Over Short Distances
It’s time to answer a serious question. Can the Tesla Cybertruck do actual truck stuff? Is it a real truck or just for city folks to show off with? Well, drivers have been putting the Tesla Cybertruck to work and testing its limits.
How much can the Tesla Cybertruck tow?
The Tesla Cybertruck can tow up to 11,000 lbs. That’s short of its original 14,000 lb target and on par with electric truck rivals. The Rivian R1T can tow up to 11,000 lbs and the Ford F-150 Lightning can tow up to 10,000 lbs.
One brave man named Zack, from JerryRigEverything on YouTube, borrowed A Tesla Cybertruck to see how far it could tow with a maxed-out towing capacity.
The Cybertruck model was the dual-motor option with all-wheel drive and off-roading tires. It has an estimated range of about 320 miles.
Zack charged the Cybertruck overnight for 100% of its range. While connecting the trailer, which was loaded with a Humvee, the Cybertruck dropped to 308 miles of range.
But it didn’t automatically readjust the range estimate with a loaded trailer like the Rivian R1t and F-150 Lightning do.
The trailer and Humvee weigh in at 10,400 lbs and the tongue weight pushed things up to 11,000 lbs. At the beginning of the test, the truck lost nine miles of range after traveling four miles.
The Cybertruck has trailer brakes and a towing mode that’s a little lacking. It doesn’t have an animation of a loaded trailer on the screen, doesn’t show the trailer, and doesn’t provide stats like how much power is being used or trailer brake gain.
Towing with the Cybertruck is pretty vague, but powerful. The F-150 Lightning and Rivian R1T show battery temperatures, the elevation, a compass, and estimated trailer weight.
The Cybertruck shows only your speed and a green light when the regenerative brakes are gaining power. Also, each of these trucks accelerates from 0 to 60 mph in about 12 seconds with a fully loaded trailer.
They made it 90 miles and mostly traveled at speeds of 65 to 70 mph. But they almost didn’t make it to the closest charging station while running out of juice and reduced their speed to 50 mph and had to actually disconnect the trailer to access the charging station.
The Rivian R1T was put through the same test and made it 100 miles. The Ford F-150 Lightning was tested on a day with warmer temperatures and reached 130 miles before running out of range.
So the Cybertruck can tow a fully loaded trailer, just not very far. It may surpass 100 miles with warmer temperatures. It’s not better than its electric rivals and not that far behind in terms of range, but the towing tech and visibility could be improved.
