We Drove A Tesla Cybertruck Across The Country! Here’s What Happened

Episode 326: Join us as we continue to discuss the electric truck race from Jacksonville to San Diego. In this episode, we are joined by Brandon, Drew, and Kyle who drove the Cybertruck. They worked hard to optimize their trip as much as possible. Join us to learn about their strategies, the road trip experience in a Cybertruck, and much more.
C2C Race Part 1: • Ocean to Ocean EV Truc...
C2C Race Part 2: • Cruising Through The S...
C2C Race Part 3: • Ocean 2 Ocean In Elect...
Thank you again to Brandon (‪@TeslaFlex‬) and Drew (martianwheels.com/)
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kempower.com/america/charging...
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#electricvehicle #cybertruck #tesla

[@Grandma-EV]

Francie Yes! I'd love to see an all-chic team on a future race.

[@sparkysho-ze7nm]

Oh hell nah they couldn’t pass ANY WALMARTS w/out stopping to shop ha

[@Grandma-EV]

On a casual road trip, you are right. I ... um... may have done that. But EV chicks like to win! I definitely could have passed on all the junk/fast food

[@heyfrancie]

Let’s do it!!!

[@777Outrigger]

Yeah, but they probably would have driven to NY instead of California.

[@andrewashmore8000]

Fascinating to learn that at the very start of the race , they thought the cyber truck would possibly be last , yet it came second in the race.

[@sparkysho-ze7nm]

Second an sandbagging

[@2thdocdds]

To be fair, none of the other teams had to work so hard to get that quick. They charged 30 times, sometimes from single digits to mid 30s, tire squealing as they entered a charging station, peeling out when they left. Having to wrap the charging handle to trick the temp sensor into no derating the session, using the lead team's traffic troubles to make up time, etc. By comparison the Silverado team charged 10 times and basically just did whatever you'd normally do on a road trip. No killing themselves getting in and out of a charger, no gaming the charging curve (mainly because you don't have to with how great the Silverado is at charging), no wrapping the charging handle. If the Silverado team had tried as hard as Kyle's team they probably would have been an hour or more ahead.

[@yournumberonepal]

Yeah, but look how much effort they had to put in to get 2nd place. 😂

[@adamcarlson4922]

A pre-owned Lightning is 100% the right buy. It’s an actual truck and is the most comfortable and most usable by most people in most situations. And the used pricing on them makes it actually attainable, unlike the others.

[@andrewashmore8000]

Exactly , i agree with you , could get a nice Lariat for 50k , with a tonne of extras on it , like running boards , powered sunroof screen , large useable frunk , front work station foe food or business use ,

[@wylieecoyote]

The next "cannonball" event needs to have a twist.. just set the destination and stop ONLY where the route planner suggests where to stop for each vehicle and how deep to charge. This would best simulate the experience of a typical user. Most of us are not familiar with the charge curve and when to continue. The test would show which vehicle and planner combination is most efficient for road tripping for the average driver.

[@tomm5936]

Interesting twist but I would have a vehicle with the same spec optimizing like Kyle and see what difference it makes.

[@wylieecoyote]

@@tomm5936 We just saw that. How can we get manufacturers to improve their charge curve if we need to do the research Kyle does and do lots of stops within the optimum parameters? We need to show the most efficient vehicles using manufacturer's stop and charge route planner. That doesn't mean we don't try to figure out the best parameters for each vehicle, but it cannot be the only metric for comparison.

[@adamcarlson4922]

Agreed. If the ‘best’ way to use a vehicle is to only use 30% of its energy capacity and stop 3x as much, then that’s a fail for that vehicle. The charge curve needs to be better, full stop. At worst I should be able to tell the car I don’t care about long term longevity and I just want to charge as fast as possible and blast the electrons in.

[@tomm5936]

@@adamcarlson4922 they won’t allow that due to warranty. I agree with your suggestion though.

[@Cyrribrae]

Perhaps. This video was already all charging stops anyway and not all of them at that. The viewing experience might not be any worse. But I think the drivers would be a bit annoyed, knowing they could do better - and they have no agency over it. They don't really control speed, where to stop, how long to stop.. Makes the process really mechanical. I do think it would be more useful to both consumers (who can learn about charge curves) and to manufacturers (who can see where their hardware and/or software fall short) to directly compare a trip planner run vs an OOS optimized run. But.. It'd have to be much shorter lol. Like maybe make it a 24-ish hour ring drive leaving from Fort Collins and ending back at the office. OR. Instead of having to have two identical vehicles, you do an optimized run one direction and then you use trip planner back the other way.. That might work.. (Race to Vegas and back)

[@chetsaxton1526]

If the pack is 800v while driving it needs time to detect the 500v V3. Then time for the high voltage switch gear to split the pack so it can charge on a 500V charger.

[@sparkysho-ze7nm]

Instantaneous when connected to charger contacts are activated in bms

[@MrJbart1981]

How much faster overall do we think the 4WT Silverado wins by? I'm thinking 2 fewer charge stops and holding 250kw+ longer. Maybe an hour faster?

[@ryanfagan4563]

I am still waiting to see a 1000k race with 2 identical Teslas. Both using this strategy of charging, the only difference between the two drivers is Speed. One limited to 70 mph vs one @ 80 mph. Who would win? Speed vs Efficiency?

[@AlexandreMoleiro]

You can do that race virtually in a spreadsheet if you have the consumption data at different speeds.

[@optimagroup11]

Fascinating! Waiting on my Cybertruck!!! Super valuable content for all Tesla and EV enthusiasts, especially future owners. Thanks, and I can't wait to watch more of your Cybertruck episodes! SoCalFreddy

[@gmv0553]

It doesn't take much to please you! The Cybertruck has so many shortcomings! Especially for the cost of $121,000!

[@sparkysho-ze7nm]

109%

[@NitroZakis]

Who doesn’t have shortcomings? This is engineering: you always play a compromise game. Only dumb people expect to see something perfect. Smart people look for things that work best for them.

[@elainebradley8213]

Interesting to have each of the vehicle's engineers in on the conversations.

[@PeaceChanel]

Thank You everybody for All that you are doing for our Planet Earth.... Peace.. Shalom.. Salam.. Namaste 🙏🏻 😊 🌈 ✌ ☮ ❤

[@DrKellieOwczarczak]

How much further did the other trucks end up driving due to the charger locations?

[@chetsaxton1526]

Just curious how much more the 3WT would have won by if: 1) Started at 100% like the rest 2) Started the race at the highway on ramp (so no one would have been stuck at city lights) 3) Didn't inform the others about the highway traffic jam that they got stuck in (CT took the back roads to bypass the jam) 4) Got it's actually peak charging rate of 275 KW-plus (most of the time only reached around 225 KW adding 5 to 10 minutes or more at almost every charging stop). and the big one: The CT was running it's largest battery pack but the Silverado was the 3WT not the 4WT with their max battery pack that they already tested (towing range video) to hit over 350 KW charging (sorry Kyle CT 330KW charging rate that you saw is not the fastest) (and the WT is suppose to hold their rate up to around 50 to 60% - GM needs to troubleshot that issue).

[@NitroZakis]

You think Kyle worships Tesla? 😄 He actually thought the Silverado will blow everyone out of the water and not be nearly-second. GM needs to work on changing issues really. Tesla needs to install V4.

[@chetsaxton1526]

@@NitroZakis Congrats jackass, at no time did i even state anything that refers to kyle as a tesla worshiper, only a correction to just one of his statements in this video.

[@jeffreygeiger3824]

As a chill road tripper with a family and 2 kids, Francie yes we'd love to see an all girls team!! Still optimizing the best of your ability, but maybe not as super sweaty as some of the things done by the cybertruck team! 🤣

[@adamd4137]

Now to see Rivian crush the Silverado time using Tesla and CCS network.

[@gmv0553]

Only in your dreams! Rivian isn't even close to the caliber of the Silverado!

[@tomm5936]

@@gmv0553if they had waited just a few days until the rivian got access to superchargers, I think the rivian would have won. It was not far behind and was hit by bad charging several times and had to use chargers in bad locations. It was way more efficient.

[@NitroZakis]

It definitely could. Also, I’d use 350kW CCS with CT where there are no V3 SCs.

[@MrJbart1981]

​@NitroZakis according to Kyle CT. Can't use CCS even with an adapter.

[@NitroZakis]

@@MrJbart1981 According to him, you can, but the update enabling it came somewhere around the trip. There is a video of Kyle charging his CT at 330 kW with CCS: kzbin.info/www/bejne/b6q8pnmGfL-ZhJY

[@manuelias86]

I think I’d take the Rivian since it seems like they left the most on the table.

[@sparkysho-ze7nm]

Don’t it

[@berthogendoorn2133]

If I recall you had 2 Super charger versions 2's, if CCS was available that might have helped!

[@EricDrummondBPCP]

First of all really awesome content guys. And then my next question would be because I'm not a fan of sedans or pickup trucks. You think you guys can do a similar competition in SUV style? EVs like the model y and the Kia EV9 so on and so forth. That's more of the style of vehicle that I enjoy. And honestly I'm currently saving up to buy an EV cuz I want an EV to be my next vehicle. That being said, keep up the great work. Have a good one and I'll catch y'all on the next one.

[@urbanstrencan]

Next year you will be adding BYD EV pickup to the race 😊❤ great work with podcast

[@kqschwarz]

I watched the whole 3-episode series and it was clear Drew and Kyle were the two best drivers. To be fair, Brandon was not highlighted much in the videos, so I don't want to say he was bad, but Drew and Kyle were on top of everything. They can be my driver any time.

[@samatwesu]

Is dash cam recording. On CyberTruck? You might need to format usb drive.

[@JF-us4sn]

Frequency of chargers and don't forget, tricking the sensors with wet towels the Entire time! Is that really fair results for the charging? Who knows :D

[@timoliver8940]

So the old adage “less is more” applies to the Cybertruck charging regime - drive less distance to get faster charging.

[@gregyohngy]

Besides the other reasons given, having other KZbinrs that could film and communicate independently made the race better. Each vehicle could have done their own video, but editing allowed real time perspectives of each group. The cost of the trip is also important. Tesla has cheaper electric rates than EV America and that aspect was missed. Rivian had the best energy efficient and that could be the most important factor to some viewers. Was the Tesla Truck cheaper than the Rivian?

[@gmv0553]

They are finding that Tesla superchargers are charging more then the competition chargers for non Tesla vehicles. They sure will not grow the charging business that way!

[@tomm5936]

The Tesla had free charging almost all the way. Kyle used credits on his account.

[@malcolmbennett3555]

given you guys maxed out your strategy was great but the number of stops and dramatic approach seemed to barely beat the Rivian team who with similar fast chargers and closer to highway locations would have been 2nd if not 1st. did you guys eat or use the washroom at all?

[@backdoormanintheend]

What charge rate and charge curve would've made the Lightning with the large battery competitive? Need to retest when GM can use Tesla superchargers and CT can use CCS (in other words, a more level playing ground).

[@chetsaxton1526]

So true and only those two trucks since they are the only ones running 800V battery packs with pack splitting switch gears. And GM needs to check why the 3WT wasn't getting it's 275 KW (plus) charging rate at most of the stops. Several times they showed that it only was reaching 225 KW, this forced them to charge for at least 5 to 10 minutes longer at almost every stop.

[@Nunya-lz9ey]

Get some sleep Kyle!

[@PJWey]

The read “Why we sleep” 😴😉

[@omarastacio3939]

Does the manufacturer directly control the Charging speed or is it determined by the battery chemistry? Can Tesla for example set the charging to 300 up to 80% at say the possible expense of battery health or is that battery pack chemistry limiting it in some way?

[@NitroZakis]

They could. Basically it is possible to charge a CT with 350+ kW up to about 50%, but right now the limiting factor is the thermal management. What you’ve said is totally possible: exchange battery life for speed (like a UI button w/ a warning) but right now Tesla is playing a conservative game. I hope they allow this as an option some day.

[@sparkysho-ze7nm]

Any team member care to explain th sweet spot between energy density and power density and th weight of th government motors product

[@sparkysho-ze7nm]

Next time participants should not be allowed in same truck to optimize different. Strategic planning

[@sparkysho-ze7nm]

Ha chilly Chipole’ same same tehehe

[@realev21]

Was the cost of the vehicles charging across country captured?

[@tomm5936]

The Tesla got free charging until one of the last stops because Kyle gets so much credit.

[@realev21]

@@tomm5936 it doesn't tell you how much money you saved?

[@tomm5936]

@@realev21 I don’t know I don’t drive Tesla.

[@tomm5936]

I would like to see the next race in cars which are in similar price range and attainable for more normal people, say a budget of e.g. 50k. The Lucid or Taycan as examples are nice but most of us will not have the budget for one. Also Drew should not be on Kyle’s team, every car should have similar level of experience with EV road trips.

[@addickland5656]

Ngl it´s bit frustrating that the whole awesome video set was basically made obsolete in between filming and uploading by the changes multiple cars received to their charging systems. Not sure if I´m annoyed at Kyle for not waiting a few DAYS to make it a more up-to-date video that would actually reflect the current experience to potential customers, or at the companies involved for releasing these vehicles without making sure all their charging ducks were already in a row. Maybe a bit of both. Because even though I loved the videos, correct me if I´m wrong but the Rivian, Tesla and probably even the Ford or GM could now all do this trip faster than in the recent video right? ´Cause that sucks.

[@sparkysho-ze7nm]

@ 23 : 18 DONT try this at home or while racing across I-40 this week 👍

[@sparkysho-ze7nm]

Viewers these women an men are thoroughly trained professionals

[@sparkysho-ze7nm]

@ 18 : 18 ……….leaving cables dangling over th top of chargers

[@dennisschlieckau8723]

Francie, Kyle always harps on Teslas Charging curve. He never seems to factor in Teslas risk exposure to Battery Warranty costs. Tesla is Conservative in that regard. Look how much MSM was constantly making High Profile stories out of Tesla battery fires a 4-5 years ago. They are extremely rare events. You should suggest to Kyle to repeat the race once the CT range extender is available against the other pickups with their Max Pack configurations.

[@sparkysho-ze7nm]

@ 2 : 53 …………since they make airplanes HA

[@caraziegel7652]

wondering what percent of EV drivers watch and would recognize Kyle!

[@andrewashmore8000]

It just occured to me , to make this race work , drivers needed to sleep while in transit. And yet despite the size of all the trucks , not one of them could be configured for someone to stretch out fully and sleep in transit. Feels like a design miss for all the trucks.

[@quangvinhnguyen333]

20,000 miles around US by the newest evs VF8 in 45 days by himself without any rescue service Part 1 : kzbin.info/www/bejne/l4qWh4SFZdl7d5o Part 2 : kzbin.info/www/bejne/q57FeWOfmJagmqc

[@shahzadiqbal1976]

I would love Kyle to take the f150 lightning and show his magic on how to optimize the driving and see if this vehicle can win this race.

[@gmv0553]

😂😂😂 never beat the Silveradoev!

[@tomm5936]

Kyle did on the race from NYC to Florida.

[@Ryzac2]

CyberTruck team should have been penalized for charging etiquette 👎🏻

[@Michael-db4sn]

Cybertruck a competitor to Porsche EVs? Kyle you need sleep

[@_shreyash_anand]

For road tripping? No. A Taycan would do that trip WAAAY faster

[@XKS99]

Didn’t Model S beat the Taycan and Lucid in the race to Vegas?

[@bmisantone]

So I must be daft for not understanding that you are seemingly praising GM for building the least efficient of the 4 vehicles.... so they just crammed a battery nearly two times larger into the truck and they are champions. Seems counterintuitive for being praiseworthy.

[@davidws5439]

Cooling the sensors is VERY BAD. Tesla should contact you and tell you to stop doing this. BAD PANDA 🐼

[@dandaigle4546]

so far nothing mentioned about using a wet rag to cool the plug

[@dandaigle4546]

you guys are way too critical of the lighting, they maintained the max speed and were every bit as good as the rest of the gang, stop bashing them, how did i do Dave???? :) we best budds?