Tesla to Produce Pickup After Model Y Rollout

Tesla CEO Elon Musk confirmed that a pickup truck will be the the company’s next product following the Model Y crossover. In fact, he says he’s “dying to build it.”

Production of the Model Y is slated for 2019. The vehicle is expected to share architecture with the Model 3, which is expected to help bring the vehicle to market faster.

Musk has previously hinted that a Tesla pickup will be a miniature version of the semi truck the company debuted earlier this year. During the Semi unveiling, Musk showed a sketch of a “pickup truck that can carry a pickup truck.”

“By the way, you will actually be able to drive that with a normal driver’s license,” he said at the event. “It’s kind of wrong, but I like it.”

In a tweet Tuesday, Musk said he’s been thinking about the core design and engineering for a pickup for five years.

https://twitter.com/x/status/945713737729634304

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

Further, he said the pickup will be similar in size to a Ford F-150 or slightly larger due to a “gamechanging” feature.

https://twitter.com/x/status/945729229001334784

 

 

[J X 3]

Autonomy will hurt this segment the most as most pickups go to people that don't need one and are very rarely used for their cargo capacity.
If you need one every so often, autonomy will enable quick and cheap delivery so people will be able to simply order online. Ideally the trip to the store and back would take longer than the delivery.
For transporting people , pickups are far form ideal, a small portion of the length of the car is the cabin so very inefficient.

This is not forward thinking, this is not thinking much at all. they are driven by greed, big segment, let's exploit it and they forget to think.
If they had a minibus with different configs, many people, few people and high comfort, freight and maybe a 4th version as a pseudo RV, that would be a far better investment in the future (car as a service with their own fleet), not the past.
Sure if it's a Model Y with an open back, it's cheap to develop but Tesla needs to get smarter. They need to kill this segment, not participate.

 

[mongo]

Autonomy will hurt this segment the most as most pickups go to people that don't need one and are very rarely used for their cargo capacity.
If you need one every so often, autonomy will enable quick and cheap delivery so people will be able to simply order online. Ideally the trip to the store and back would take longer than the delivery.
For transporting people , pickups are far form ideal, a small portion of the length of the car is the cabin so very inefficient.

This is not forward thinking, this is not thinking much at all. they are driven by greed, big segment, let's exploit it and they forget to think.
If they had a minibus with different configs, many people, few people and high comfort, freight and maybe a 4th version as a pseudo RV, that would be a far better investment in the future (car as a service with their own fleet), not the past.
Sure if it's a Model Y with an open back, it's cheap to develop but Tesla needs to get smarter. They need to kill this segment, not participate.

Trucks have utility.
Trucks are built to haul trailers.
Trucks are built to haul messy cargo.
Any vehicle with only the driver is inefficient, regardless of cabin size.
Trucks can have cabin room for 4 easily, and 6 if they are friendly. Along with their gear.
Trucks are the low end of gas mileage. Converting them to electric helps more than converting 35 MPG sedans.
Farmers, horse people, gardeners, contractors, DIYers, SCUBA divers all have reasons to prefer a truck.

 

[Evoforce]

Well, I need one for pulling my 21 foot travel trailer, utility trailer and putting my boat into/out of the lake ever other weekend as well as for construction needs. It needs to be a four door and 4 wheel drive able to dip deeply into water also. I need this vehicle sooner than later and at a reasonable price.

 

[arcus]

Elon Musk just asked for the feedback on features people would like to see in the pickup:

Elon Musk on Twitter

 

[J X 3]

Trucks have utility.
Trucks are built to haul trailers.
Trucks are built to haul messy cargo.
Any vehicle with only the driver is inefficient, regardless of cabin size.
Trucks can have cabin room for 4 easily, and 6 if they are friendly. Along with their gear.
Trucks are the low end of gas mileage. Converting them to electric helps more than converting 35 MPG sedans.
Farmers, horse people, gardeners, contractors, DIYers, SCUBA divers all have reasons to prefer a truck.

Yep they are built for that but not used for that.Pickup trucks are a US anomaly , people having way too much money and buying things they don't need for appearances and out of snobbism. You don't believe me, check sales outside of N America. Only Americans and terrorists love them LOL.
Anyway this is why US pickup truck sales in 5-10 years will be maybe at 20% the current levels, car a a service with autonomous electric vehicles hurts this segment more than any other segment. With car as a service you want to maximize cabin space for comfort.
Tesla should invest R&D and especially production capacity in more forward looking projects.
Making a pickup truck in 2021 is as narrow minded as making an ICE vehicle in 2021.
It's a fast growing segment today mostly US for high volumes, high ASP but it's a small niche tomorrow and Tesla needs to look forward not backwards, they can't afford strategic mistakes given their limited scale.

 

[jelloslug]

Your wish is about to come true. Ford is putting a diesel in the F150.

If it works out like the Ram 1500 diesel, people are going to be very disappointed.

 

[jelloslug]

Yep they are built for that but not used for that.Pickup trucks are a US anomaly , people having way too much money and buying things they don't need for appearances and out of snobbism. You don't believe me, check sales outside of N America. Only Americans and terrorists love them LOL.
Anyway this is why US pickup truck sales in 5-10 years will be maybe at 20% the current levels, car a a service with autonomous electric vehicles hurts this segment more than any other segment. With car as a service you want to maximize cabin space for comfort.
Tesla should invest R&D and especially production capacity in more forward looking projects.
Making a pickup truck in 2021 is as narrow minded as making an ICE vehicle in 2021.
It's a fast growing segment today mostly US only, high ASP but it's a small niche tomorrow and Tesla needs to look forward not backwards, they can't afford strategic mistakes given their limited scale.

Lol, no. The F-150 has been the best selling vehicle in the US for decades and people are not going to stop buying pickups any time soon.

 

[J X 3]

Lol, no. The F-150 has been the best selling vehicle in the US for decades and people are not going to stop buying pickups any time soon.

Actually people are not gonna buy any cars at all. They are gonna pay a subscription to ride in whatever fits their need at any given time, inside a budget.
Why ,because you can ride in a car that's twice as nice as the one you can afford to own for half the price. Because you don't need a garage anymore and 100 different expenses, because when you need a SUV you request a SUV, when you want a Roadster , you request a roadster and when you want a car with a hot tub, you can get that too.
Anyone that wants to sell cars in 10 years from now, will go under well before that.

 

[jelloslug]

Actually people are not gonna buy any cars at all. They are gonna pay a subscription to ride in whatever fits their need at any given time, inside a budget.
Why ,because you can ride in a car that's twice as nice as the one you can afford to own for half the price. Because you don't need a garage anymore and 100 different expenses, because when you need a SUV you request a SUV, when you want a Roadster , you request a roadster and when you want a car with a hot tub, you can get that too.

That's not going to happen anytime soon either.

 

[skitown]

Yep they are built for that but not used for that.Pickup trucks are a US anomaly , people having way too much money and buying things they don't need for appearances and out of snobbism. You don't believe me, check sales outside of N America. Only Americans and terrorists love them LOL.
Anyway this is why US pickup truck sales in 5-10 years will be maybe at 20% the current levels, car a a service with autonomous electric vehicles hurts this segment more than any other segment. With car as a service you want to maximize cabin space for comfort.
Tesla should invest R&D and especially production capacity in more forward looking projects.
Making a pickup truck in 2021 is as narrow minded as making an ICE vehicle in 2021.
It's a fast growing segment today mostly US for high volumes, high ASP but it's a small niche tomorrow and Tesla needs to look forward not backwards, they can't afford strategic mistakes given their limited scale.

I get where you're coming from, but in rural America, the best way to get people out of their ICE pickup trucks is to show them how lame they are in comparison to a great EV truck. IMO, Tesla Truck is the most exciting product they are working on - and I'm a Model S owner and soon to be Model 3 owner. The reason? Because it's the segment with the most naysayers. Tesla needs to do to the F-150, what it's doing to supercars with the Roadster. Make them look loud, clunky, slow and lame. Tesla needs to prove that pollution does not equal performance. In order for it to actually move the needle, it needs to look awesome, provide utility and be 'sexy' to this user group, just like Tesla's other vehicles appeal to their own segments. No self respecting diesel owner where I live is going to give my Model S or Model 3 the time of day. May as well be a Prius or a Jaguar to them. Totally alien. They'd never want it. Tesla is killing it right now because they are making aspirational vehicles that look like normal vehicles, but have excellent performance. They need to do the same with the Truck, not spend their energy trying to convince traditional truck owner that they should be driving something they don't want.

 

[mongo]

Yep they are built for that but not used for that.Pickup trucks are a US anomaly , people having way too much money and buying things they don't need for appearances and out of snobbism. You don't believe me, check sales outside of N America. Only Americans and terrorists love them LOL.
Anyway this is why US pickup truck sales in 5-10 years will be maybe at 20% the current levels, car a a service with autonomous electric vehicles hurts this segment more than any other segment. With car as a service you want to maximize cabin space for comfort.
Tesla should invest R&D and especially production capacity in more forward looking projects.
Making a pickup truck in 2021 is as narrow minded as making an ICE vehicle in 2021.
It's a fast growing segment today mostly US only, high ASP but it's a small niche tomorrow and Tesla needs to look forward not backwards, they can't afford strategic mistakes given their limited scale.

Tesla's (secret) mission is to accelerate sustainable transportation, not make people buy sensible cars.
If a person does not car pool, the only factor that matters is conversion of L/100km to kWh/100km. If Tesla makes a truck truck people like, they will buy it. It will also accelerate Ford/GM getting EV versions of their truck lines developed.
As for comfort, I fit in my truck. I do not fit in an X or S, I mostly fit in the 3, but it fulfills none of my requirements other than being transportation. I need a vehicle to haul bags of concrete, trash, firewood, tow equipment, plywood, and get me to work.

 

[J X 3]

I get where you're coming from, but in rural America, the best way to get people out of their ICE pickup trucks is to show them how lame they are in comparison to a great EV truck. IMO, Tesla Truck is the most exciting product they are working on - and I'm a Model S owner and soon to be Model 3 owner. The reason? Because it's the segment with the most naysayers. Tesla needs to do to the F-150, what it's doing to supercars with the Roadster. Make them look loud, clunky, slow and lame. Tesla needs to prove that pollution does not equal performance. In order for it to actually move the needle, it needs to look awesome, provide utility and be 'sexy' to this user group, just like Tesla's other vehicles appeal to their own segments. No self respecting diesel owner where I live is going to give my Model S or Model 3 the time of day. May as well be a Prius or a Jaguar to them. Totally alien. They'd never want it. Tesla is killing it right now because they are making aspirational vehicles that look like normal vehicles, but have excellent performance. They need to do the same with the Truck, not spend their energy trying to convince traditional truck owner that they should be driving something they don't want.

Used to somewhat agree with that but this argument assumes those people are rational and I don't think that's gonna be true for so many.
So if you ignore those , the potential customers are mostly the ones that can be transitioned to car as a service. To be clear, not saying that nobody needs pickup trucks, plenty do.
It also somewhat ignores the fact that Tesla needs to invest wisely. As a marketing thing ok but is that the project with the most returns.
If they do make it ,there is a danger they focus too much on aero like they did with the X that's not gonna fly, it needs to look ferocious.
Your comment also reminds me about the weight these things need to be able to take. Will be interesting to see what range Tesla can afford with the max payload.Range when towing matters too.

 

[J X 3]

Tesla's (secret) mission is to accelerate sustainable transportation, not make people buy sensible cars.
If a person does not car pool, the only factor that matters is conversion of L/100km to kWh/100km. If Tesla makes a truck truck people like, they will buy it. It will also accelerate Ford/GM getting EV versions of their truck lines developed.
As for comfort, I fit in my truck. I do not fit in an X or S, I mostly fit in the 3, but it fulfills none of my requirements other than being transportation. I need a vehicle to haul bags of concrete, trash, firewood, tow equipment, plywood, and get me to work.

What you are saying has nothing to do with what I am saying. The game changes from car ownership to car as a service, this type of vehicle doesn't fit car as a service and btw I'm gonna block you because words and facts seem to be going through you and i got no desire to keep doing this again and again.

 

[skitown]

They have to go after the F-150 crowd. It's the most popular vehicle in North America. I see no way around it.

2018 Ford F-150 -- Can 32 Million Americans Be Wrong?

If it takes any of its design direction from the concept sketch that Franz did for the Semi Reveal (and to date all of their cars look very much like his sketches), then I'd say it's pretty ferocious. Basically looks like a Unimog which is the ultimate in over-the-top trucks these days. There are some running around where I live, and they are ridiculous.

 

[Xenoilphobe]

I want a Velociraptor type machine.

 

[Xenoilphobe]

I’d take a UNIMOG too

 

[mongo]

What you are saying has nothing to do with what I am saying. The game changes from car ownership to car as a service, this type of vehicle doesn't fit car as a service and btw I'm gonna block you because words and facts seem to be going through you and i got no desire to keep doing this again and again.

Of you are limiting your use case to commuting, maybe. But it doesn't need to fit into car as a service to be a viable business case. Businesses have fleets of trucks. Hunters use trucks. Most people with a small boat, jetski, snowmobile has a truck (or full sized SUV). Once Tesla has the high end sedan, SUV, mid range sedan, CUV, sport cars, and semi categories covered, why not make a truck? It seems like not doing it is the narrow minded viewpoint.

People like myself who live in rural areas with winter need a vehicle that can make through miles of unplowed roads in winter. It's also the only decent type of vehicle to go get diesel for the tractor or gas for the chain saw (unless you pull a trailer).

 

[Barklikeadog]

Actually people are not gonna buy any cars at all. They are gonna pay a subscription to ride in whatever fits their need at any given time, inside a budget.
Why ,because you can ride in a car that's twice as nice as the one you can afford to own for half the price. Because you don't need a garage anymore and 100 different expenses, because when you need a SUV you request a SUV, when you want a Roadster , you request a roadster and when you want a car with a hot tub, you can get that too.
Anyone that wants to sell cars in 10 years from now, will go under well before that.

I think we should just skip this subscription service and go right to the tubes.

 

[TheTalkingMule]

I'd like to see a beast of a contractor truck to take over that entire market. We've seen industrial/heavy fleet demand shifts the minute costs become attractive. No need to wait for popularity to build, etc.

Put a massive battery in it with the ability to run tools directly off the truck. No more generators, no more compressors. One of the bed rails should hold a fold-out 2kW solar canopy. Charge the truck all day and provide a shaded work area off one side of the truck.

 

[PV-EV]

My 98 F150 has 222k miles and the original clutch and I will drive it until the day I can buy a Tesla pickup truck and I will never look back.