How a Ford dealership saved me from a charging disaster my first time driving a Tesla Cybertruck

Graham RapierApr 23, 2024, 23:09 IST

Tesla's Superchargers are still the best in the business. I learned this the hard way when I tried to test the Cybertruck in a town without one, relying instead on unreliable third-party options that don't always work.Graham Rapier/Business Insider

Tesla EVs come with an adapter to charge at non-Tesla chargers.
But that adapter doesn't work with the Cybertruck, Tesla says.

When I got behind the wheel of my 3-day rental earlier this month, I knew driving the Tesla Cybertruck would be unlike any other driving experience.

What I didn't expect was for the attention-grabbing truck to also give me a headache when I tried to juice up. After all, it's Tesla's newest product, the company's superchargers are seemingly everywhere, and EV charging is slowly improving across the board.

Boy, was I wrong.

In all of my naivety (despite editing articles every single week about electric cars and their associated infrastructure challenges), I thought the reporting trip would be a breeze. I would pick up the vehicle, test it out, charge it overnight, stop quickly at a Supercharger on the way to return it, and be on my way.

Not so fast.

Here's where my assumptions went astray, thanks to some design oversight from Tesla and a lack of contingency planning on my part:

I picked up a shiny new Cybertruck, one of the first few hundred made, in a Target parking lot in South Austin.

The Tesla Cybertruck definitely stands out in a parking lot, so it was easy to find. Its charging port is barely visible in the rear wheel well. Graham Rapier/Business Insider

As I settled in and came to terms with the contraption I was now responsible for operating, I made a mental note of the estimated range remaining: 218 miles

The Cybertruck's cockpit is comfortable and ergonomic, even if austere. The dashboard is absolutely massive for unknown reasons.Graham Rapier/Business Insider

The truck handled winding Texas backroads with ease, hugging corners and accelerating astonishingly quickly.

In my first drive, I tested out the truck's different driving modes and got used to the regenerative braking, which preserves battery life by using the motors to slow down and charge the battery with kinetic energy.Graham Rapier/Business Insider

To my surprise, I lost about 20 miles of range overnight. This meant starting the next day with 62 miles in the tank.

In hindsight, my eagerness to monitor the Cybertruck remotely from just a few feet away didn't help the battery life. The Tesla app can control nearly all of the vehicle's functions that aren't driving.Graham Rapier/Business Insider

Unfortunately, the public charger was occupied. Time to get creative.

Tesla supplies a CCS adapter with every new vehicle capable of connecting to older CCS1 plugs. It does not work with the newer, faster-charging ones.Graham Rapier/Business Insider

Before you send me hate mail, there’s an important nuance here: Tesla does, in fact, sell a CCS combo adapter for $250. It doesn't work with the Cybetruck.

Tesla will sell you an adapter to charge at the new CCS2 plugs, but many of its models require a service appointment to make it work. It specifically does not work on the Cybertruck, Tesla says.Tesla

There's one thing you should know about pulling a Cybertruck into a Ford dealership in Texas. You're going to get lots of attention.

Ford also had brand-new chargers that didn't work with Tesla's adapter. Their older one around back saved the day.Graham Rapier/Business Insider

Charging on a car lot with no shade or amenities isn't fun, but it's better than being stuck.

All of the dealership staff had a good laugh about my visit, and they were eager to poke around the truck. Graham Rapier/Business Insider

An open spot this time! Maybe I wouldn't be stranded after all.

This public charging station was installed by local community groups and had two CCS plugs, but one seemed to be offline.Graham Rapier/Business Insider

With (most) of my anxiety squared away, I set out to test another strange task asked of EV owners: Leaving a car for hours.

Most charging requires reversing into a spot. This is how I learned that the Cybertruck's drive-by-wire technology makes that much more difficult than in a normal car.Graham Rapier/Business Insider

As the truck sat in the sun charging, temperatures inside climbed rapidly.

While parked in the Texas sun, temperatures inside the Cybertruck hit 130 degrees. The Tesla app allows remote AC control and security features.Tesla/Graham Rapier/Business Insider

Tesla owners have told me for years that the Supercharger network was a huge selling point, and this trip proved that to be true.

I shopped at Trader Joe's new grab-and-go store in NYC. It's convenient if you're in a rush, but I see why critics aren't impressed.

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