Slashdot Mirror
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.
and (just maybe) five years for Ford, et al to jump in, too.
Ford has already made an electric Ranger.
I am becoming gerund, destroyer of verbs.
...is towing capacity. The tremendous torque would make it no problem for power, but range is a huge issue. Buzzing around town light, no problem. But the traditional use of a full size pickup to haul boats, toy haulers, travel trailers and 5th wheels long distance would probably garner almost nonexistant range due to the wind drag and weight. It's hard enough to make that equation work with diesel and gas - I take a significant hit when hooking up the toy hauler trailer.
So you would have a choice of a gas vehicle that will do all those things, or an electric vehicle that is probably only good for short hauls or not towing, and then needing still another vehicle to do towing. A hybrid is a better case for that use, as long as the power is there when you need it.
For all those people that drive them only for a status symbol but don't actually make use of them, then that might be a good market for them.
I use my 7.3L turbodiesel about once a month to pull heavy things like god intended it to, and the rest of the time I'm in my 30MPG car.
I think range will be one of the bigger issues in Texas. Many truck owners put on a lot of miles, especially out in rural areas. You don't generally have the option to recharge inplaces like Vernon, TX, Post, TX or Detroit, TX. And I don't see it as likely in the near future. And these will be particularly tough to sell to anyone who uses them for hunting and such activities, since the destinations are frequently remote.
In SOVIET RUSSIA... erm...NSA AMERICA, the Internet logs onto YOU!
Nissan and Honda have tried to break into the truck market for years but the market is not the same as the car market. Truck buyers are hard to sway away from what they know, love and trust. Ford lovers don't buy Dodge and vice versa.
With electric engines torque won't be a problem but will reliability and durability be issues?
If Tesla succeeds at making a durable truck that gets at least 300 - 400 miles with a decent load capacity, a price tag to compete and more power, I can see some changing their preferred brand.
You probably won't sell them on green-meadows-and-chirping-birds; but (based on the number of insufferable 'our truck uses Butch Power Technology, just like the Hoover Dam, and is made of Steel, just like Big Submarines' advertisements I've endured recently) people who buy trucks like power.
And, if there is one thing electric motors do very, very, very, well, it is torque. Especially if starting a heavy load from a dead stop, the comparison is hardly fair.
It probably doesn't hurt that (particularly among vocational users of pickups), more than a few of them are called upon to deliver a fair amount of cargo, than sit there, potentially charging, while the occupants do construction things or such with the cargo.
Several manufacturers have gotten out of the U.S. small truck market recently. Ford and Dodge both dropped their small and mid-size offerings due to falling sales in the small truck arena. It's a hard market to break into and there's a lot of brand loyalty among the consumers.
I guess we should have stopped taking flights in Boeing air planes after they had electrical fire issues right?
If everybody was as negative as you are towards progress we would still be trying to figure out how to contain fire.
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.
I can see this selling to rednecks. Even they are going solar as opposed to having to deal with the grid.
A Tesla truck has a lot of nice advantages that would be useful, especially for rednecks:
1: Max torque at 0 RPM. This can be extremely handy.
2: No fuel needed, which is a good thing as there is a growing off-grid mentality. Even if the truck trickle charges on a 120VAC, 20A connection via a set of solar panels, it still will be useful. With a larger solar or wind array, a 440VAC charger can be used. Of course, with a redneck, they just sling a generator in the back if worried about range.
3: There is also a very useful feature of an electric pickup truck. Stick an inverter on the batteries, and you have a very large battery for running electric equipment and no obnoxious generator noise.
4: There are times when one idles a pickup truck due to needing heat or A/C. Idling an electric car takes up 0 fuel other than what is used for accessories.
5: Less noise and smell... easier on animals.
Where the hell did you get half the shit you're arguing against? He said a number of people who use pickups for work use them to haul their equipment and materials to the job site, whereupon they use that stuff in the course of their jobs while the truck sits there. Sounds like every contractor, plumber, electrician, and handyman I've ever met. What exactly was your problem with that concept?
.. Presuming it has at least a 1500 lb weight rating, can tow 30,000 lbs, all while maintaining a range of 250+ miles. Oh, and I'll need to be able to go from 0% - 100% charge in less than 30 minutes (preferably less than 5).
In rural Missouri.
An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
I've never seen this as an issue and I live in a rural area with a horrible economy. I don't know where they get the money for it, but every stereotypical redneck around these parts is driving some beater getting 12mpg's or less. And they're always driving. When the nearest everything is a 20-min drive, you think they'd try and combine trips, or stay home more often...nope.
That said, pickup truck != redneck.
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.
Kid-proof tablet..
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:
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.
Some privacy policy Slashdot.