Tesla Truck to be unveiled this summer

Discussion in 'Cybertruck' started by Domenick, Jan 31, 2019.

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  1. Tesla is quite likely going to unveil its all-electric pickup truck this summer. With as much as 500 miles of range in top spec, it's bound to be a breakthrough kind of vehicle.

    There's not really a whole lot known about it beyond that it will have groundbreaking range and, according to Elon Musk, room to fit tall people (as big as André the Giant) in the driver's seat.

    News of the announcement came during the 2018 Q4 call with analysts. Musk has said before that Tesla would build the pickup after the Model Y. He has also said the Tesla Truck is the vehicle he's most excited about.
     
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  3. Azjohnny

    Azjohnny New Member

    I came across this rendering.

    DtMfg_IXgAAonL_.jpg
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 9, 2019
  4. Jamal Qattan

    Jamal Qattan New Member

    I would like to know, the truck towing capacity and limitations, please.
     
  5. Azjohnny

    Azjohnny New Member

    Tesla hasn't released any info on towing but a good rule of thumb would be half
     
  6. Pushmi-Pullyu

    Pushmi-Pullyu Well-Known Member

    That is, about half the range when towing even a modest sized trailer at highway speed. At least, that's what happens when you use the Model X to tow. Perhaps the Tesla Pickup will be better optimized for towing, but frankly I will be surprised if Tesla can improve that much. Battery packs still have very limited ability to store energy, which is why EV designers go to such great lengths to decrease drag. Kinda hard to decrease the drag of something you're towing!
     
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  8. Pushmi-Pullyu

    Pushmi-Pullyu Well-Known Member

    We have yet to see anything from Tesla regarding what the Tesla Pickup will look like, aside from a rather cryptic concept drawing that seems to be serving as a Rorschach (inkblot) test for those looking at it.

    However, over on the InsideEVs news site, someone posted to comments an image of a Australian-made car/pickup crossbreed which I'm guessing is far closer to what the Tesla Pickup will look like than any of the renders we've seen to date. Below is a different image of the same model: the Holden VF SSV UTE with optional tonneau bed cover:

    [​IMG]

    I'm guessing that's not a full-sized pickup bed, tho. The Tesla Pickup may have a longer bed on it.

     
  9. In a tweet, Elon said 300,000 lbs, but I'm pretty sure he was exaggerating just a little bit. So, we probably won't know the actual number until the reveal later this summer, possibly early fall.
    Musk-towing-tweet.jpg
     
  10. Pushmi-Pullyu

    Pushmi-Pullyu Well-Known Member

    Umm... more than just a little bit! A fully loaded tractor-trailer rig has a maximum weight (gross weight) of 80,000 lbs. So 300,000 lbs would be the equivalent of four 18-wheelers, each at almost maximum load! Anybody who really believes that anything remotely in the class of a "light truck" will be tow-rated at that capacity... well, they must be smokin' some really fine weed!

    No doubt Tesla can do a stunt demo where a Tesla pickup pulls a 747 airliner, or some other absurdly large object, weighing ~300,000 lbs, at very low speed for less than a mile on very flat pavement. Tesla already did that with the Model X. (Mr. Google says it was a Boeing 787; see below.) But a stunt is just that -- it's not a tow rating.

     
    Last edited: Jun 4, 2019
  11. ITown

    ITown Active Member

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