Tesla Cybercab Confirmed as Lightest EV in U.S. with 293-Mile Range in New EPA Filing

Tesla Cybercab Confirmed as Lightest EV in U.S. with 293-Mile Range in New EPA Filing

Highlights 

•  The Tesla Cybercab has a 219 hp and 48 kWh battery, which is confirmed for a new EPA application.
• Weighing 3,113 pounds, it will be the lightest EV in the U.S. market today.
• Based on preliminary test figures, there seems to be a range of about 293 miles.

Tesla's Cybercab is just one step closer to mass production. The company has submitted official documents to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which is required to make it a full production vehicle. The documents discovered on Monday, we now know the official weight, output, and battery size of the 2-door robotaxi. We also know Cybercab's maximum test range, although the number has not yet been adjusted.

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Let's start from above.

The documents confirm that the Cybercab weighs 3,113 pounds, which is 700 pounds less than the lightest Model 3. This puts the Cybercab on nearly the same footing as cars like the Honda Civic Touring, which is pretty impressive for EVs, as electric vehicles tend to be much heavier. For example, the Chevrolet Bolt weighs about 3,800 pounds.

The Cybercab also has a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of 3,730 pounds. Given that the GVWR is the maximum total weight of cars, passengers, cargo, and fuel (not a factor here), performing a basic subtraction, Cybercab's payload capacity is 617lbs, it's certainly at the low end for any passenger car — a typical compact like the Civic usually has 800 to 1,000 lbs of payload. Although it is in between, it makes more sense for a 2-door car. With two average Americans and their carry-on suitcases, the Cybercab should still be well below the maximum capacity.

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It's not too sloppy, either. EPA documents confirm that robotaxi will use a single front-mounted permanent magnet motor of 169 horsepower (163 kW) with a tap. Tesla originally promised that perhaps the autonomous cab would not come with a steering wheel or pedals but later added both to the test unit. But no matter who is driving, a taxi needs to be durable enough. To make sure that's enough, Tesla will use a 146 amp-hour battery that runs at 326 volts. When you multiply them together, you get 47,596 wH of energy, or 48kWh, to keep it simple.

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How much range does it offer? Here, the answer is a bit murky. In the tests described in the document, using the EPA test cycle, Cybercab provided a combined (calculated) range of 418 miles. But there, do not get too excited. These are under ideal laboratory test conditions and the EPA requires manufacturers to examine the range to turn them into the real-world figure you see on your window stickers. 

"While regulations allow several optional approaches, the most common approach is to use a factor of 0.7 to adjust all test parameters, including ranges," the official EPA test explainer says. I'm not familiar with the "optional approaches", so let's keep it simple: 418.2 times 0.7 gets us to 292.7 miles of EPA range. One Tesla executive claimed it was "close to a 300-mile range," so that's the sound about the bang on.

These numbers certainly answer some of the main questions I have about Cybercab. But as with all Tesla projects, we keep guessing the 2 biggest questions: When will it (actually) be sold, and what will it (actually) be cost? The last thing I heard is that it is supposed to be released "before 2027" at a price of $30,000 or less. But true robotaxi requires true autonomous driving software. Tesla has tested it in several cities, but we're still far from the national rollout that head honcho Elon Musk has promised for years. Whether he can finally deliver it, and Cybercab before 2027 remains an open question.