Cybertruck fans are no doubt aware by now that Tesla plans to offer an optional second battery pack that will allow them to stretch the range of the EV pickup to 470 miles. What they may not know is Zero Motorcycles has been doing the same thing for a decade now.
Zero calls its secondary optional battery a Power Tank while Tesla’s offering will be called a Range Extender. Keep reading for more on Zero’s Power Tank but we begin with what we know about Tesla’s range extender.
It’s meant to be used for long trips, especially ones involving towing. Telsa CEO Elon Musk says it is a “toolbox-size battery.” He’s referring to a full-length pickup bed toolbox, not the smaller ones you might find at Home Depot.
At the time of this recording, Tesla hadn’t released details but Electrek.com estimates the pack will likely be somewhere around 47 kWh and weigh roughly 700 pounds. Those are guesses based on Tesla’s claim that the additional pack will add approximately 130 additional miles of range.
Whatever the final weight ends up being, it’s clear the extra battery isn’t going to be something you can just unclick, lift out and leave in the garage, raising questions about whether it will have be permanently installed.
If not, one guess is Tesla might offer a battery lift-kit. For example, aftermarket companies offer lift kits for convertibles with removable hardtops. Most of those systems have pulleys mounted to garage beams that allow owners to lift their tops off for winter storage.
Telsa’s Range Extender battery will likely require its own support system, given its weight. Since Tesla batteries also have management and coolant systems it also seems unlikely it will be plug-n-play. But who knows, maybe Tesla’s engineers have another surprise up their sleeves.
Pricing hasn’t been announced although some Tesla html source code tweeted on X indicates the option might cost $16,000. When I did a check of Telsa’s Cybertruck webpage it appeared that line of code had been removed.
Next, let’s look at Zero’s Power Tank. It weighs roughly 45 pounds and adds 3.6 kWh of capacity, which on something as small as a SR/S motorcycle is good for roughly an extra 20 miles of highway range and more in the city. In the case of Zero, the additional battery is a permanently installed dealer accessory. It cost $3,200 at the time of this video’s posting and is offered as an option on most models. But that price doesn’t include the installation labor.
Zero’s Power Tank replaces the storage area in a standard bike, but still leaves enough room to store a wallet and charge a smartphone.
Now that Tesla is following Zero Motorcycles lead in joining together multiple battery packs, what do you think, will the rest of the industry follow suit? Post your comments here.