The next-generation Tesla Roadster stole the show on November 16 even as the company introduced its first-ever semi. Both vehicles are impressive in their own right, but the new product announcements didn’t stop there. Tesla briefly flashed a sketch of its upcoming pickup truck, and it’s beyond our wildest dreams. It’s a mammoth of an EV and it stands very little chance of ever becoming a mainstream vehicle. Recent comments suggest we could ultimately see two pickups from the company.
One of them is the truck shown during the Semi event. We’ve heard about the Tesla pickup before, but we assumed it would take the form of a full-size model in the vein of the Ford F-150 and the Chevrolet Silverado. The sketch confirms it will be bigger than the F-150 — much bigger. In fact, the truck will be able to haul an F-150 in its cargo bed. Sketches are often misleading, but this model looks like it picks up where the immense International XT left off, a positioning that suggests it won’t compete in the same segment as the models built by Detroit’s big three.
“We created a pickup truck version of the Tesla semi. It’s 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,” said company co-founder and CEO Elon Musk during the presentation. His comments suggest the concept isn’t merely a wild design study sketched to gather applause during the event. It’s real.
Your guess is as good as ours when it comes to what’s under the sheet metal. The yet-unnamed truck bears more than a passing resemblance to the aforementioned semi truck, but there’s no confirmation the two share any components. International doesn’t make the XT anymore so the production model will compete in a class of one when it hits the market. We’ll have to be patient to find out more specific details such as range, performance, and price, though.
First, Tesla will bring a more conventional pickup to the market. It won’t be able to haul an F-150 because it will be roughly the same size as its immensely popular Ford-badged rival. “Maybe a little bit bigger to account for a really game-changing (I think) feature I’d like to add,” Musk wrote on Twitter. He added he’s had the core design/engineering elements in his mind for almost five years and he’s dying to build it.
The company’s first truck will arrive right after the Model Y, a crossover that will ride on the same platform as the Model 3 and slot right below the Model X. Production of the Y (which hasn’t been unveiled yet) is tentatively scheduled to begin in 2019. Sticking to that timeline, the smaller pickup will likely make its debut before the end of 2019 and enter production in either 2020 or 2021.
Tesla has its work cut out for it in the coming years. It’s still struggling to build the Model 3, its first mass-market car, in sufficient numbers, and we know it’s busily developing the Model Y. Transforming the semi and the Roadster from concept cars to production models will take a tremendous amount of effort. Throw pickups into the mix and Tesla is going to be very busy for the foreseeable future.