Tesla wants to build a pickup truck after 'Model Y'

[Greg S]

Electric vehicles are steadily improving and gaining in popularity. Unfortunately for those who enjoy driving larger vehicles, there are no equivalent options in fully electric vehicles. Elon Musk could change that over the next few years with the introduction of a mid-size pickup truck.

Musk recently asked for feedback from Tesla owners on Twitter. The eccentric CEO wanted to know, "How can we improve further?" Over 10,000 responses were given with feature requests and modifications for future generations of Teslas. Ideas ranged from simple requests to improve Bluetooth streaming to a cheesy "disco mode" to synchronize interior lighting with music.

In true fashion of offering exceptional customer service, Musk replied to many customer inquiries directly. Out of the many great ideas and oddball suggestions, the standout remains the response indicating the likelihood of a Tesla pickup truck.

I promise that we will make a pickup truck right after Model Y. Have had the core design/engineering elements in my mind for almost 5 years. Am dying to build it.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 26, 2017

Even though the engineering work may be already completed for an electric pickup truck, Tesla still needs to deliver thousands of Model 3 vehicles that have been ordered in addition to the Tesla Semi before releasing yet another new vehicle. In further responses, Musk says the Tesla pickup will be similar in size or slightly larger than a Ford F-150 to account for a "game changing" feature.

For now, we know that the Model Y is a crossover vehicle meant to fall in line between the Model 3 and Model X and should launch in 2019. It is expected that the new pickup truck mentioned will be officially unveiled within the next two years but there is no telling what endeavors Tesla may take on in the near future.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/72471-tesla-wants-build-pickup-truck-after-model-y.html

 

[Kotters]

And our two favorite posters will be here shortly to complain.

 

[IAMTHESTIG]

Ugly...

 

[Uncle Al]

Well, when you consider the cost of anybody's pick up truck these days, I have to imagine the Tesla version will go well over $100K and closer to $200K and yes I agree, it is rather ugly too ....

 

[yRaz]

Well, when you consider the cost of anybody's pick up truck these days, I have to imagine the Tesla version will go well over $100K and closer to $200K and yes I agree, it is rather ugly too ....

well while I don't find basically any Tesla vehicles attractive, I don't find the truck offensive in any real way. looking at the model 3, I'm fairly confident that they could have base models in the 50-60k range which would actually make them a real competitor with most trucks you see on the road today.

The real thing I would love about an all electric truck is the torque. Torque is the most important performance factor in a truck and electric motor would put it right in diesel territory only it would be at 0 RPM instead of ~1500 RPMs. Maintenance on an electric truck would also be SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper than a diesel. Emission regulations and the failure rate of DPF filters(and cost of replacement) actually make the idea of an electric pickup quite appealing over that of a diesel.

Not saying a Tesla pickup would be for me but I'm really interested to see where it would fit into the market

 

[Theinsanegamer]

I'd love a full electric long range pickup. Something the size of a tacoma with 400+ mile range would be amazing.

Well, when you consider the cost of anybody's pick up truck these days, I have to imagine the Tesla version will go well over $100K and closer to $200K and yes I agree, it is rather ugly too ....

Why though? Trucks are expensive to build because they do not share parts. They are BOF in a world of unibody vehicles, they are RWD in a world filled with FWD vehicles, ece. Tehir frames, engines, transmissions, and body panels cannot be shared with anything else, and they cost more to make a s a result of less scaling of manufacture. They also require a ton of additional engineering to make them safe enough to pass modern day safter requirements and to meet fuel economy and emissions regulations while also being able to tow several times their own weight safetly while also being comfortable yet durable and be able to do this for hundreds of thousands of miles to satisfy company fleet purchases....

whew. Deep breath.

Tesla doesnt have as much of said issue. The powertrain from a model S is already powerful enough for a 1/2 ton truck, they already have massive batteries, and they could easily get away with building a unibody truck or a truck that shares components, as nobody expects to off-road a tesla. Tesla doesnt need to design new motors, they dont need to worry about emissions or MPG, They dont need to buy ZEV credits to offset truck MPG, so the only real extra cost is the BOF construction if they go that route. At $100k, a tesla truck would already be competing with top of the line F-450 king ranches in price, so I doubt they would be anywhere near $200k.

That being said, I would rather musk slow down and figure out how to manufacture something properly first. The model 3 has been nothing short of a disaster production wise, and the issue is far from fixed. Musk needs to realize that old factory conventions exist for a reason, and that quality control is going to matter a lot more for mass production vehicles, and fix teslas cash flow problem before pursuing even more models.

 

[cliffordcooley]

I'll pass on the uni-body bed.

Trucks are expensive to build because they do not share parts.

That's the part I dislike the most, because there is little reason why they can't share parts.

Seriously a water pump has only one function, there is no need in having thousands of designs for the same function. And that is just one component that needlessly raises the price.

 

[yRaz]

I'll pass on the uni-body bed.

That's the part I dislike the most, because there is little reason why they can't share parts.

Seriously a water pump has only one function, there is no need in having thousands of designs for the same function. And that is just one component that needlessly raises the price.

depends on if it is electric or belt driven. If it's belt driven then it needs a new design to be mounted to the engine. The pump would also need to be built more robust to handle the extra torque a truck engine. The other parts is that a bigger engine needs a bigger pump to handle the cooling.

Chevy is actually pretty good about this, the Vortec V8 engines are just an LS derivative so basically all GM V6 and V8 engines share atleast SOME parts. But aside from that it's pretty hard to share parts between a FWD turbo 4 cylinder and a RWD NA V8.

 

[cliffordcooley]

The pump would also need to be built more robust to handle the extra torque a truck engine. The other parts is that a bigger engine needs a bigger pump to handle the cooling.

I didn't say there should only be one pump. I said there is no need in having thousands of different designs. I can understand having a few dozen to handle the different work loads. There are so many that are nearly identical, and they are so close they could have been identical.

 

[yRaz]

I didn't say there should only be one pump. I said there is no need in having thousands of different designs. I can understand having a few dozen to handle the different work loads. There are so many that are nearly identical, and they are so close they could have been identical.

The only manufacturers that really try are GM, Honda and Toyota. It is my opinion that that is where their reliability comes from. They a robust design and use it as much as possible. It's just like the first generation Honda CRV and similar year Honda civic were almost identical and both of them are 300,000 mile cars. The new CRV's share many parts with the Accord and Honda Odyssey.

Isn't too much that can be done about sharing parts with full sized trucks and tiny hatchbacks though. Crystler, Ford and VW Group are the current real offenders of this but Ford reliability has gone up significantly in recent years so I guess it's worth tolerating if you must have a Ford.

Mercedes can be pretty bad but if you own one I don't think you're too worried about cost of repairs, lol.

 

[Rippleman]

Well, when you consider the cost of anybody's pick up truck these days, I have to imagine the Tesla version will go well over $100K and closer to $200K and yes I agree, it is rather ugly too ....

so as much/more then their big rig? You should rethink your guess.