Tesla Planning an Electric Pickup Truck, Says Elon Musk

cartechboy writes "Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk says the company will make an electric pickup truck to compete with America's best-selling Ford F-Series pickups. Musk made the comment yesterday at the end of an interview at a tech conference in New York. Surrounded by questioners, Musk was asked if Tesla would ever make commercial fleet trucks (like for UPS or Fed Ex) and he responded that a consumer truck would be the company's best answer, because America's pickup truck sales numbers don't lie — that's what buyers want, and if Tesla wants to replace the most gasoline miles possible, that's what they should build. Musk said it will be about five years before the company builds its pickup however, giving it time to focus on another hurdle: breaking into the pickup market. Texas is where trucks rule, and Texas, as we know, is the Bermuda Triangle for Tesla." That also gives me five years to save up for one, and (just maybe) five years for Ford, et al to jump in, too.

Comments

Ford

[wiredlogic]

and (just maybe) five years for Ford, et al to jump in, too.

Ford has already made an electric Ranger.

Re:Ford

[Algae_94]

A lot of it is related to CAFE regulations. The newest CAFE regs are based around a vehicles footprint size - the area enclosed by a rectangle with the wheels as vertices. This is also why full size trucks with regular cabs and short beds aren't really a thing anymore. They need the larger footprint provided by a longer bed.

Basically larger vehicle footprint = lower acceptable fuel economy. The Rangers and other smaller trucks could easily be redesigned to meet the new standards, but they don't sell in large enough volumes to warrant the R&D expense.

Funny enough, these midsize trucks sell very well outside of the US. This is why Ford still makes a Ranger for those markets. In the US, you have Toyota Tacomas, Nissan Frontiers, Honda Ridgeline, and maybe next year the Chevy/GM Colorado/Canyon will be brought back.

Squandered Research

[ScottCooperDotNet]

Like GM, Ford also squandered its early technology in the EV area.

Ford Ranger EV, 1,500 produced, model years 1998–2002.
GM EV1, 1117 produced, model years 1996–1999. They also had the small truck S-10 EV variant.
Toyota RAV4 EV was produced from 1997–2003, and is now back in production with Tesla.

Is anyone surprised that a Japanese company had longer foresight than the American ones? Thank you Wall Street.

Re:market

[adolf]

Point 2 isn't feasible. unless some new undiscovered technology is found, all EVs suffer from reduced battery life the more the batteries are recharged. To get maximum battery life, you need recharge them when they are almost drained and bring them to a full charge.

This is a myth. Please stop presenting it as fact.

Indeed, what you describe is the very worst way in which you can treat any rechargeable battery.

Re:market

[bledri]

Tesla, itslef states that battery life is dependent on the number of charge/discharge cycles and reccommends against frequent charging when the battery is relatively "full."

Citation please, because the Model S Owner's Manual says the exact opposite:

The most important way to preserve the Battery is to LEAVE YOUR MODEL S PLUGGED IN when you’re not using it. This is particularly important if you are not planning to drive your Model S for several weeks. When plugged in, Model S wakes up when needed to automatically maintain a charge level that maximizes the lifetime of the Battery.

There is no advantage to waiting until the Battery’s level is low before charging. In fact, the Battery performs best when charged regularly. Never allow the Battery to fully discharge

Maybe the confusing is with the MAX charging option. As part of its battery management, Tesla intentionally does not charge to 100% unless you explicitly request it on the charging menu. People on the forums are still getting over 200 miles on the standard charge. With the MAX charge they're getting over 250 miles and the common practice is to use MAX for road trips. As long as you are using the standard charge settings, you can plug it in all the time and not worry about it killing the battery.