Tesla’s charging network is not ready for Cybertruck

As Tesla prepares to bring the Cybertruck to roads in the US, it seems like Tesla’s charging network is not ready for the pickup truck.

The Cybertruck is going to be a fresh new entry into Tesla’s lineup. So far, the automaker is only selling sedans and SUVs. A pickup truck is a whole new segment for Tesla, and it comes with its own set of challenges, especially when it comes to charging.

The most obvious is the fact that even though you can tow with other Tesla vehicles, towing is likely going to be a lot more popular with the Cybertruck. However, Tesla’s Supercharger stations are not well-designed for parking with a trailer. In the vast majority of cases, Cybertruck owners towing a trailer will have to unhook before being able to park at a Supercharger stall to charge.

Tesla is clearly aware of the issue, and it is building new stations with a few “pull-through” stalls where you can charge with a trailer without blocking other stations. They look like this (picture by @VanquishAZ):

This is a perfect solution, but it’s going to be a problem for a while because they are right now located at only a small fraction of Tesla Superchargers in the US.

Hopefully, Tesla enables an ability to search for Superchargers with those stalls in the navigation systems in order to make things easier, but you will still be lucky to find one that is convenient for your route until they become standard at most stations, which could take a few years.

The other problem is the charging speed. We don’t know yet the size of the Cybertruck’s battery pack, but it is undoubtedly going to be the biggest battery pack Tesla has ever included in a consumer vehicle to date. That will make charging longer.

The good news is that Tesla confirmed that the Cybertruck works with an 800-volt battery system rather than the current 400-volt system in existing Tesla vehicles.

However, Tesla’s Supercharger network is not 800-volt. The new V4 Superchargers are supposed to enable 800-volt charging, but the new V4 stalls spotted in the US all appear to be connected to V3 400-volt cabinets. This means that Cybertruck owners won’t be able to take advantage of the faster charging capacity at Supercharger stations.

Like the pull-through issue, I am sure Tesla plans to address that with new 800-volt V4 Supercharger stations, but it is going to be a problem in the meantime — and that’s a problem that will affect not only Cybertruck owners but also everyone who uses the Supercharging network because they will keep chargers busy for longer periods of time.

Electrek’s Take

This is not a deal-breaker problem, but it is also not something that Tesla can solve overnight.

I am hoping that Elon addresses it a bit at the event today so we know what Tesla’s plan is, but I think this is going to be a bit of a problem for at least the first year of Cybertruck production.

The good news is that there shouldn’t be that many Cybertrucks produced in the first year, which should help manage the problem. But either way, it’s something to take into account if you are considering Cybertruck ownership.