Blog Tesla Shows New Image of ‘Cyberpunk Truck’

Tesla’s Model Y presentation this week included a brief flash of the electric automaker’s upcoming pickup truck.

Tesla-watchers were hoping, perhaps greedily, that the presentation would include the Model Y crossover SUV and the debut of the pickup. Every Tesla vehicle was rolled out for display, but a pickup was not part of the lineup.

When a Twitter user shared disappointment that event did not include “one more thing,” Musk replied back that the company had indeed showed something else new, but no one caught it.

Turns out that when Tesla wrapped up its Model Y event on Thursday, the soundtrack for the movie “Blade Runner” was played as a teaser image of Tesla’s all-electric pickup truck was shown on projection screens.

“About a minute in, we flashed a teaser pic of Tesla cyberpunk truck,” Musk said on Twitter.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1106714774694297601

Indeed, a new teaser image of what appears to be truck bed can be seen at the end of the presentation.

Musk has been hyping the Tesla pickup for months. He said during the company’s Q4 earnings call that a Tesla-built hauler “might be ready” to unveil “this summer.” Further fueling the anticipation, he said the truck will be something “special” and “not like anything else.”

The timeline for a reveal of the pickup comes shortly after Musk said on Twitter that the Tesla pickup was placed ahead of the Tesla Semi and Tesla Roadster, in terms of “resource priority.”

In tweets on Friday, Musk referred to the vehicle as the “Tesla cyberpunk truck.”

There seems to be a lot of opportunity for an EV pickup truck. Ford, GM and Ram are all planning electric offerings, and upstarts like Rivian and Bollinger are also building interesting new offerings.

Hopefully we get a good look at the Tesla pickup sometime this year.

 

[Electric700]

I like the look, and hope the truck will be super successful when it's fully revealed and launched. There's a big demand and need for a 100% electric Tesla truck with an overall size similar to a Model X or Y.

Tesla surprises again!

 

[whataboutbob]

My theory is that the "pick-up truck" will be a truck bed on wheels, which will follow your Tesla car anywhere you go. Explains why we are seeing literally a black box teaser, and also Elon saying it'll be too futuristic for people.
Alright you heard it here first!

 

[unbelievable]

My theory is that the "pick-up truck" will be a truck bed on wheels, which will follow your Tesla car anywhere you go. Explains why we are seeing literally a black box teaser, and also Elon saying it'll be too futuristic for people.
Alright you heard it here first!

I love that idea, but after a hard day's graft on the building site, when you're sweaty and covered in cement dust, do you really want to get into your nice pristine car? Not forgetting the guys/gals who have been working with you all day who also might want a lift. It's going to be a rugged utility vehicle capable of taking hard knocks and having dust and dirt thrown at it.

If your idea's correct, maybe they're counting on FSD being sufficiently ready by launch to not require a driver? Pretty sure that won't be the case, but still.

Another thing to consider is: when you buy a Tesla, probably the second most valuable purchase you make after your house, isn't some of its value provided by being able to sit in it, appreciate the tech, bury the accelerator? If you can't get in it, isn't it just a very expensive object that you're emotionally disassociated from?

Woah... deep.

 

[⚡️ELECTROMAN⚡️]

Elon confirmed on Ride the Lightning interview that its an image of the front of the truck.

 

[Xenoilphobe]

Sweet.

 

[woodisgood]

If Elon goes through with the whole cyberpunk design "that won't be for some people," it's going to be a big mistake. I'm not one to think I generally know better than Elon but I'm sensing a severe miscalculation here.

Tesla's success has been in part because they gave serious cars (in terms of looks AND performance) to EV buyers, when everyone else was making weirdmobiles. Now you want to give truck buyers (probably the most sensitive crowd when it comes to looks of their vehicle) a weirdmobile?

If you could just make a normalish-looking truck with Tesla design flair and tech, a la Rivian, and price it as low as 50K, it would be complete domination. Why mess this up because you really want to do a blade runner type of thing? Doesn't make sense.

 

[Buckminster]

tesla-truck-teaser-reverse-engineering.pdf

 

[Kuhz]

If Elon goes through with the whole cyberpunk design "that won't be for some people," it's going to be a big mistake. I'm not one to think I generally know better than Elon but I'm sensing a severe miscalculation here.

Tesla's success has been in part because they gave serious cars (in terms of looks AND performance) to EV buyers, when everyone else was making weirdmobiles. Now you want to give truck buyers (probably the most sensitive crowd when it comes to looks of their vehicle) a weirdmobile?

If you could just make a normalish-looking truck with Tesla design flair and tech, a la Rivian, and price it as low as 50K, it would be complete domination. Why mess this up because you really want to do a blade runner type of thing? Doesn't make sense.

My thoughts exactly

 

[Cal1]

I'm afraid Elon will make a Honda Ridgeline mistake. Too small a bed and not enough payload rating. I hated having to worry about whether something will be too tall (because my Ridgeline walls were too short) or too long, or too wide. You really feel stupid trying to put something tall like a refrigerator in the bd. Sure you can do it and secure it against the cab but you still feel/know the walls are too short for real work. When you need a truck, you need a truck and the truck segment expects nothing less. The 4x8 plywood test is pretty big part of the real truck world. Gotta be able to fit between the wheel wells and close the gate. This is actually part of the RT1's problem which will be fine as a gentleman's truck but will have no real impact on the full truck world until they can really compete. Haul as much as the big boys. My next truck will be electric but will probably have to wait a few years until the first sales wave dies down and they start making real ev trucks.

 

[woodisgood]

I get a lot of people are worried it won’t fit their needs, whether that’s as a “serious work truck” or “small hauler.”

The thing is there’s definitely a market for the Ridgeline, and there’s also a market for something like an F350, and even a market for Rivian’s adventure truck. I’m fine with it if they hit any of these markets, but I’m worried they’ll alienate ALL of them with a strange design.

 

[Kuhz]

I get a lot of people are worried it won’t fit their needs, whether that’s as a “serious work truck” or “small hauler.”

The thing is there’s definitely a market for the Ridgeline, and there’s also a market for something like an F350, and even a market for Rivian’s adventure truck. I’m fine with it if they hit any of these markets, but I’m worried they’ll alienate ALL of them with a strange design.

True but how many ridgelines vs F-series trucks you see on the road? The ratio is well above 1:10 in my area.

 

[woodisgood]

True but how many ridgelines vs F-series trucks you see on the road? The ratio is well above 1:10 in my area.

Oh I have no doubt the work truck market is the bigger one to go after, if you want to pick carbon footprint or number of vehicles. But the Ridgeline HAS a market, even if it’s smaller.

But what’s the market for a really weird-looking truck, work or not? Is the gas savings and other features you pile in there going to be enough to overcome untraditional looks? Or will people say blech and just wait for Ford’s electric program to spin up, even if that’s many years out?

Seems like an unnecessary risk just to satisfy Elon’s design whim.

It's entirely possible that the weird design allows for some new never-before-seen functionality (i.e. getting a 6 seat cab plus long bed) or aerodynamics that the truck needs to get absurd range. But it feels like they're doing the blade runner thing just because Elon wants to rather than arriving at that design due to functionality.

 

[⚡️ELECTROMAN⚡️]

But it feels like they're doing the blade runner thing just because Elon wants to rather than arriving at that design due to functionality.

I'm guessing they are doing the Blade Runner thing because of aerodynamics.

 

[Cal1]

No one seriously tries to compare a Ridgeline to a F-150, Silverado, etc. Sure you can go for a small segment of the market and hope things get better. Look at the Japanese trucks and how they've struggled trying to get market share. Playing around with a fad truck squanders the opportunity. Tesla doesn't have the luxury of not getting this right. I think that point gets missed by many especially Elon. Funny you'd think at this stage of the company he'd have the maturity to see this. Does he really think they can spend $ on something that is not going to sell in volume. I just don't see a nitche market truck doing anything of real value for Tesla. Guess I'd have to trust they've done their market analysis and can make $ on what ever they produce.

 

[Qbenjamin]

No one seriously tries to compare a Ridgeline to a F-150, Silverado, etc. Sure you can go for a small segment of the market and hope things get better. Look at the Japanese trucks and how they've struggled trying to get market share. Playing around with a fad truck squanders the opportunity. Tesla doesn't have the luxury of not getting this right. I think that point gets missed by many especially Elon. Funny you'd think at this stage of the company he'd have the maturity to see this. Does he really think they can spend $ on something that is not going to sell in volume. I just don't see a nitche market truck doing anything of real value for Tesla. Guess I'd have to trust they've done their market analysis and can make $ on what ever they produce.

I couldn't agree more with your assessment. Honda only makes around 10K Ridgeline's per year, but they can do this since they have a ton of market capital based on Civic and the Accord sales. Tesla needs to make a truck that will be desired by the masses and not just the current niche market. Bad idea to release anything other than a truck that isn't going to compete directly with the F-150.

 

[Buckminster]

I maybe wrong (coming from UK where your pickups look like monster trucks), but this how I see it:

1. $50k suggests it will have a small battery (75kWh? from M3 LR)
2. Therefore lightweight, smaller dimensions than F150, good aerodynamics to achieve 200+ mile range
3. Optimised for a family of 6 picking up Walmart shopping as well as a contractor charging tools
4. F150 cargo capability & long bed length are easy for EV and not incompatible with above
5. Towing will require the bigger battery
6. Serious camping capability
7. Will appeal to commercial buyers internationally - Elon may target Africa as bundled with solar will help with the Tesla mission
8. Serious fording capability / floating
9. Optimised for production in qty
10. "Weird" all glass design (cab forward) - will act as a Tesla lightning rod. Many won't like it (all news is good news) but that is what it takes to deliver everything above

 

[Ken Edwards]

I'm afraid Elon will make a Honda Ridgeline mistake. Too small a bed and not enough payload rating. I hated having to worry about whether something will be too tall (because my Ridgeline walls were too short) or too long, or too wide. You really feel stupid trying to put something tall like a refrigerator in the bd. Sure you can do it and secure it against the cab but you still feel/know the walls are too short for real work. When you need a truck, you need a truck and the truck segment expects nothing less. The 4x8 plywood test is pretty big part of the real truck world. Gotta be able to fit between the wheel wells and close the gate. This is actually part of the RT1's problem which will be fine as a gentleman's truck but will have no real impact on the full truck world until they can really compete. Haul as much as the big boys. My next truck will be electric but will probably have to wait a few years until the first sales wave dies down and they start making real ev trucks.

Amen, I agree 100%
I’m patiently waiting to replace my 2016 RAM 3500 quad cab with 8’ bed and power lift gate (which effectively makes it a 9’ bed).

 

[Vaamo]

Just out of curiosity. Tsla showed video of a car on the beggining and end of shareholder meeting. First It was Model 3/Y in grey(the hood). Then the animation cuts, and there are some new shapes. Haven't found them on any of current unveiled lineup. Seems as the back of the car.

Seems a little like a blade runner design language.

with timestamp

Any thoughts?

 

[mars_or_bust]

It does seem like it could be the back of the blade runner like pickup truck.