Test Shows the Model X Has Better Range Than the Cybertruck When Pulling the Same Trailer

Victor Tangermann
·2 min read

Weighed Down

Despite being designed to pull trailers that weigh many thousands of pounds, Tesla's Cybertruck is seemingly not great at the whole towing thing.

Case in point: Geneva Long, founder and CEO of all-electric RV maker Bowlus, found that a Model X could tow the company's Volterra trailer significantly farther than the supposedly mighty Cybertruck.

In a LinkedIn post first spotted by InsideEVs, Long revealed that the Tesla Model X, which has a range of 330 miles, covered a respectable 235 miles while pulling the RV. The Cybertruck, however — which has a similar range — only covered 160 miles.

If confirmed, it could be yet another sign that the Cybertruck is a lot more of a status symbol than a pickup truck designed to do actual rugged truck things.

Hare and Tortoise

There could be a number of reasons as to why the brutalist pickup fared much worse. For one, it weighs considerably more than a Model X. However, its 123 kWh battery pack also has a leg up on the Model X's 100 kWh battery.

Then there's the kind of driving the Cybertruck had to do. As InsideEVs points out, Long's methodology isn't entirely clear, with the CEO claiming that 65 percent of the miles the Cybertruck covered were on a highway. We also don't know which exact Model X variant Bowlus used for its test, or if there were any environmental factors at play, like cold weather or significant headwinds.

Nonetheless, the divisive Cybertruck has already disappointed with its less-than-stellar claimed range of just 340 miles on a single charge. In reality, that number dips well below 300 miles on a single charge — and that's without a heavy trailer.

We already know that towing has a huge impact on the range of EVs, whether they're trucks or passenger vehicles. Some F-150 Lightning owners have found that towing an Airstream RV cut the truck's range by half. A recent test of a Cybertruck pulling a similar RV averaged a range of about 160 miles, more or less corroborating Bowlus' findings.

At the same time, considering the Cybertruck was designed to "go anywhere" and "tackle anything," we didn't exactly expect it to be outdone by a much older and smaller SUV.

More on the Cybertruck: The Cybertruck's Battery Pack Is Half Empty, a Teardown Found