Tesla pickup teaser image!

[Domenick]

Elon Musk shared the first teaser image of the Tesla pickup truck tonight. At first I thought it was the bed, but I lightened it a bit and realized it's actually the front.

Elon said it would have a "Bladerunner" vibe to it and, well, I guess you can be the judge of that. To me, it's kind of stealth fighter like. Angular and blocky.

 

[Domenick]

Here's my slightly lighter version.

 

[Pushmi-Pullyu]

Posted at Electrek is a version of the imaged lightened even more, enough that the artist's brush strokes are quite obvious. In other words, far more lightening than the artist ever intended:

The advantage is that you can clearly see, there, that some of those things which people claim they can see dimly, such as a wheel or a window/windshield... well, that's just their imagination.

Congratulations to Elon Musk for creating a very successful Rorschach test!

 

[Pushmi-Pullyu]

Elon Musk shared the first teaser image of the Tesla pickup truck tonight. At first I thought it was the bed, but I lightened it a bit and realized it's actually the front.

I think the viewpoint is looking at the back of the pickup from the rear, showing a hard cover on the bed (to reduce aero drag). There is a LED light strip around the top edge of the back; it's neither a replacement for headlights nor tail lights, but an addition.

The "T" badge suggests that's either the center front or the center back of the truck. Some people posting comments to Electrek suggest the "T" badge is on top of the cabin, which IMHO makes no sense at all. No auto maker puts their badge where you can't even see it when standing on the ground.

But then, that's just my reaction to the Rorschach test. I could be completely, 100% wrong!

 

[Domenick]

Still lots of speculation out there about what the truck will look like.

I came up with a simple formula for artists to consider while they try to create an acceptable rendering. Here it is in image form:

 

[Pushmi-Pullyu]

That's a brilliant equation, Domenick!

But my guess is the Tesla Pickup will look a lot more like the Australian-made Holden VF SSV UTE with optional tonneau bed cover (see photo below) than any render we've seen thus far.

 

[Domenick]

That's a brilliant equation, Domenick!

But my guess is the Tesla Pickup will look a lot more like the Australian-made Holden VF SSV UTE with optional tonneau bed cover (see photo below) than any render we've seen thus far.

I saw the Ute pop up in comments. I think it's unlikely to be this car-like. Ground clearance is an important part of a pickup's character. I imagine the final thing should be able to raise and lower on its suspension, but it's hard to imagine going this low.

 

[Pushmi-Pullyu]

I saw the Ute pop up in comments. I think it's unlikely to be this car-like. Ground clearance is an important part of a pickup's character. I imagine the final thing should be able to raise and lower on its suspension, but it's hard to imagine going this low.

Well of course I could be wrong, but the teaser image Tesla showed that's related to the Tesla Pickup (see my post above, #3 in this thread) looks to me like a vehicle designed to be as low to the ground as is practical to achieve. But quite clearly that same image inspired some very different ideas in other people!

Yes, it's typical for pickups to have higher ground clearance than (for example) a typical sedan. But remember, Elon said that the first-gen Tesla Pickup will look rather different, so much so that he won't be surprised if it doesn't sell well.

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