The Breakdown: How to Charge Tesla’s Cybertruck in Rural America?

MotorTrend

The give-and-take of electric vehicle ownership includes the paradox of charging stations. On one hand

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00:00 (upbeat music)

00:02 - So one of the biggest challenges of any electric vehicle,

00:10 let alone an electric truck like the Tesla Cybertruck,

00:12 is how you're gonna charge it.

00:14 Tesla has a huge advantage with their supercharger networks

00:16 all over the country, but I would argue

00:18 that probably aren't enough in rural areas.

00:20 Do you think there's probably room for expansion?

00:22 - Yes, but that gets to who is going to really buy it

00:25 in the first place.

00:25 Are they going to be purchased in rural areas

00:28 and used in traditional work truck ways?

00:31 Or will it be seen as entirely different

00:33 product truck category?

00:34 - Traditional truck buyers, they love reliability.

00:37 Electric motors are inherently simple.

00:38 - They are very, very reliable.

00:40 That's something that's really being observed

00:42 with early Model S's, it's just they're just lasting forever.

00:45 - So that's, I think, something that, you know,

00:46 the traditional truck buyer can really get behind.

00:48 - But what's interesting about the Envision superchargers

00:51 that are going to be added to the network

00:53 is being able to charge while trailering something.

00:57 I mean, when you're traveling,

00:58 you're going to a lake or something, pulling a boat,

01:02 you don't want to have to stop and--

01:04 - Oh my God, what a pain in the ass.

01:04 - Take your boat off to go over and charge.

01:06 That's just not gonna work.

01:07 - I just wouldn't go, I mean, at that point.

01:09 - So the charge port is in the same place

01:11 they've always been in Teslas,

01:12 which is the driver's side rear.

01:14 But they did a study all around the country

01:16 at all the superchargers,

01:17 and which ones would there be an opportunity

01:19 to pull a vehicle up, a truck up,

01:21 while trailering something,

01:22 and still access that charger?

01:25 And that's an interesting analysis.

01:26 - That was apparently simpler for them

01:28 than adding more charge ports.

01:29 I know that was an early suggestion,

01:31 charge ports in each corner,

01:32 that makes sense, you can pull right into your spot

01:35 and charge however you see fit.

01:36 So anecdotally, we've heard from Tesla

01:38 that whenever they install a new supercharger

01:40 in a location, sales in that area go up.

01:42 So it would seem to me to make a ton of sense

01:44 to add superchargers in rural areas,

01:46 and I can totally see Tesla doing that.

01:47 - The question is, you know,

01:49 if you build those superchargers, will they come?

01:51 - I don't think rural buyers

01:53 are a huge disadvantage with charging.

01:55 I think if anything, they have an advantage

01:57 that urban buyers don't have,

01:58 in that they typically have the space

02:01 to install their own.

02:02 - Yeah, they're probably not living in apartments, right?

02:05 In those areas, you may have homes

02:07 and power available in your garage,

02:09 in your driveway or whatever,

02:10 so that may work better.

02:12 - Sure. - Yeah.

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