Tesla sets a new date for the release of the Cybertruck range extender

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Tesla has pushed back the release of the upcoming Cybertruck range extender, as was spotted on the company’s website this week.

On Monday, it was discovered that Tesla’s website order configurator for the Cybertruck has updated the timing for the range extender add-on, noting that production is now slated to begin in early 2025. Tesla was originally aiming to begin production of the range extender in late 2024, and the delay comes as the company has stopped requiring reservations for the launch edition “Foundation Series” Cybertruck.

Credit: Tesla

The range extender is estimated to be priced around $16,000, bringing the electric vehicle’s (EV’s) range up to 440 or 470 miles for the tri-motor Cyberbeast and dual-motor AWD configurations, respectively. The equipment is set to be installed in the bed, taking up about a third of the space, and Tesla recently confirmed that the Cybertruck hardware won’t be removable.

Tesla originally teased the Cybertruck range extender during the company’s delivery event for the vehicle last November, though details were fairly slim at the equipment’s onset.

“Optional pack that fits in about 1/3 of the truck bed,” Elon Musk wrote on X following its unveil. “Still room for plenty of of cargo. It’s meant for very long trips or towing heavy things up mountains.”

Tesla is also preparing to launch other accessories for the Cybertruck that have been teased in the last several months, including the highly anticipated light bar. One Tesla manager recently confirmed that the Cybertruck light bar would be hitting the proverbial shelves soon, with Foundation Series buyers expected to receive it first.

The delivery of Tesla’s Foundation Series Cybertruck is expected to be delivered “for the first year” following the EV’s delivery event, which was held on November 30 last year.

Cybertruck owners have also been awaiting the arrival of Full Self-Driving (FSD) Supervised on the vehicles, which Musk said would likely be happening sometime this month.

Tesla focuses on Cybertruck Foundation Series, drops RWD variant from order page

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Tesla sets a new date for the release of the Cybertruck range extender





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Tesla China delivery centers full of buyers over holiday weekend

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A Tesla Delivery Center in China was full of buyers taking delivery over the weekend, as captured in video footage and bolstered by the holiday and recent incentives.

X user TslaChan posted photos and videos from Tesla’s Beijing Crab Island Delivery Center, as taken during China’s Valentine’s Day celebrations on Saturday. The media shows the center nearly full of couples and families waiting to take delivery on the holiday, and it comes after Tesla recently extended new incentives and loan offers in the country.

The photos and videos show tons of people sitting in the lounge areas, along with a handful of people on a lower level actually preparing to take delivery of the vehicles.

Chan notes that the Beijing Crab Island Delivery Center can deliver over 100 vehicles simultaneously inside its doors when full. He also shared photos of Tesla’s Hangzhou Delivery Center on Saturday, showing the lounge areas similarly packed out with buyers.

Tesla has also been seeing high delivery volumes in China in recent weeks, with the automaker delivering 46,227 vehicles domestically in July from its Gigafactory in Shanghai. The figure represents Tesla’s best first month in a quarter yet in China, though the company topped the figure in June with 59,261 domestic deliveries to end Q2.

Along with the holiday on Saturday, Tesla China recently extended its offer for a five-year, zero-interest loan on Model 3 and Model Y units, now set to run through the end of this month. The automaker initially extended the offer in late June, then set to end at the end of July.

Tesla’s Model Y was officially named the best-selling new energy vehicle in China for the first half of the year, with 207,817 units sold to outsell the second-best-seller by around 30,000 units. Along with Tesla’s Giga Shanghai supplying the local market, the factory also exports vehicles to a number of surrounding countries in Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and others still.

Tesla delivery center in Beijing records its highest delivery volume yet

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Tesla China delivery centers full of buyers over holiday weekend





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Musk shares latest update on Tesla’s FSD v12.5 for HW3 vehicles

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Tesla has been rolling out its latest version of Full Self-Driving (FSD) Supervised, v12.5, over the last few weeks, though only to those with vehicles sporting the newer HW4 computer. While HW3-equipped vehicles are expected to get the release this week week, CEO Elon Musk said over the weekend that the team is still “working on it.”

On Saturday, Musk said that the FSD Supervised version going out to HW3 vehicles will be a “different release number” than v12.5.1.3, which began rolling out on Friday. HW3, dubbed AI3 in the initial post—after Musk’s recent reference to an upcoming vehicle computer as “AI5”—makes up the vast majority of Tesla’s vehicles on the road.

For that reason, many with HW3-equipped vehicles have been curious as to when they would get FSD v12.5, especially as it has been rolling out in waves since last month and is expected to include a number of improvements.

Tesla China FSD approval expected by end of 2024: Musk

“Team is working on it. This will be a different release number,” Musk wrote in the Saturday X post.

The statement comes almost two weeks after the company began the wide release of FSD v12.5.1, and after Musk explained that the new version would first go out to HW4-equipped Model Y units, before being deployed more broadly. Musk also said on July 29 that the estimated rollout for Tesla’s FSD Supervised v12.5 to HW3 vehicles would be about 10 days, meaning that it would have gone out on Thursday if holding to that timeline.

The Tesla CEO has also provided some context as to why it was taking time to get FSD v12.5 out to HW3 vehicles, along with including five times as many parameters as the prior version:

“It takes considerable software effort to optimize the code enough to run on HW3,” Musk said. “It also needs to be validated separately.”

Despite the Cybertruck having HW4, FSD Supervised is still not available in any capacity in the electric vehicle (EV), though it’s expected to go out with v12.5. During an event a couple of weekends ago, Musk said that FSD should be going out to the Cybertruck sometime in August, noting that it was tough to know the exact timing of the release.

FSD v12.5 also features improvements like a combined highway and city stacks into a single stack and driver monitoring that lets drivers wear sunglasses without being nagged. Musk also says the version will be bundled with the release of Actual Smart Summon, though it’s technically a separate code.

Tesla launches FSD, free Supercharging, Premium Connectivity bundle for Model S and X

What are your thoughts? Let me know at zach@teslarati.com, find me on X at @zacharyvisconti, or send us tips at tips@teslarati.com.

Musk shares latest update on Tesla’s FSD v12.5 for HW3 vehicles





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