Cybertruck towing experience and charging limitations on a 1,200-mile Pebble trip
Two weeks ago today I took delivery of our Sky PF in Fremont. My journey began Friday, Nov. 21 from Fort Collins, CO, and I was able to use Full Self-Driving of the Cybertruck to drive over 98% of the 1,200 miles without the need to steer, brake, or accelerate. Total time elapsed from start to stop was almost 24 hours, allowing for Supercharging and approximately 4 hours of sleep.
Upon arrival in Fremont, we met with Pebble staff. Delivery went smoothly and within a few hours we headed back toward Colorado. The total drive time back took 38 hours due to many factors. Overall, the driving experience of pulling the PF with the Cybertruck was as smooth as could be.
Because of the time constraints in getting back to Colorado, I was not able to take things slow and camp along the way. The main goal was a speedy, safe return trip to Colorado. We accomplished the safe part, but unfortunately not the speedy part.
One of the biggest surprises was learning that PF is not able to charge via the Tesla Supercharger network at this time, and that feature will be coming soon. Without being able to charge the PF by Supercharger, I would either have to only charge the Cybertruck at the well-dispersed Superchargers along I-80 and not charge the PF at all, or navigate the far less reliable non-Tesla charging network to charge both the Cybertruck and Pebble.
About halfway back to Colorado, I did unhitch the PF and successfully backed it into an Electrify America DC charger, but after an hour of failed charging attempts I gave up on charging the PF until I got back to Colorado. I found the Cybertruck mapping to each charger to be very conservative in predicting arrival SOC. It must assume that I'm pulling a non-aerodynamic brick of a trailer rather than the sleek aerodynamic trailer of the PF.
I chose to save the PF battery SOC as an emergency backup rather than employ it for better pulling-vehicle range. Overall, I had to stop every 100 to 120 miles at Superchargers to recharge the Cybertruck and then resume the 1,200-mile trip. I did use the PF battery for about 20 miles just to see how easy and effective it was at extending pulling-vehicle range, and was very impressed with the PF propulsion assist when I put it to use.
The trip home was incredibly long and tiresome due to the frequent recharging stops of 30 to 50 minutes every 100 to 120 miles of travel. I look forward to my next trip when I can use the Tesla Supercharger network and will be able to charge both the Cybertruck and PF at the same time.
One thing that went wrong when we arrived home was not getting it charging on home power right away. This delay allowed the PF battery to completely drain to 0% SOC, and getting it charging again required assistance from Pebble support. Pictures are of the Cybertruck and PF somewhere near Sacramento, and another truck moving it at a property in Colorado.
Thanks for the review and congratulations! I’m still trying to decide on moving forward with our PF order. The 100ish miles per charge seems low. I get that in a much less efficient trailer. What speeds was that at?
Keep in mind that because I had 1,200 miles to travel in less than 40 hours, I didn't have the ability to use any of the benefit that the PF battery would have provided if I could have charged it and my Cybertruck at the same time on the Supercharger network. Once you can charge both the pulling vehicle and the PF at the same time, I suspect that I would charge every 220 to 250 miles, shortening my 40 hours to something more like 30 hours. My particular experience is likely an outlier from others who have used Electrify America to charge both vehicle and trailer at the same time.
You should be able to charge your PF using the 240V outlet in your Cybertruck's bed. I believe you should be able to do that while doing DCFC on the Cybertruck. That will give you Level 2 charging at about 7.7 kW (240V/32A). That will fill about 1/6 of your PF battery in an hour.