Slashdot Mirror
Tesla Truck 'Quite Likely,' Says Elon Musk (bgr.com)
An anonymous reader writes with this excerpt from Boy Genius Report: If you think Tesla's plan for world domination begins with the Model S and ends with the Model 3, you're sorely mistaken. While the Model 3 is of course the mass consumer vehicle Elon Musk is betting the company on, the Tesla CEO is certainly open to developing other types of vehicles in the future. During a recent interview in Hong Kong at the StartmeupHK Festival, Musk briefly touched on the potential for Tesla to build an electric truck. "I think it is quite likely we will do a truck in the future," Musk said. "I think it's sort of a logical thing for us to do in the future." While this might appear to be outside of Tesla's wheelhouse at first glance – the Model S is a luxury sedan, after all – the amount of money to be made in trucks is immense. To wit, the three best-selling vehicles in the U.S. in both 2014 and 2015 were all pickup trucks.
I had to read a little more carefully (I had the same question) but it does actually say 'pickup truck'.
I'm all for it; I like driving small pickups. What I've wondered all along is why someone hasn't done this already? Seems like a no-brainer to me. You could build the battery packs right under the bed, no problem.
Are YOU using the TOOL, or is the TOOL using YOU? Think about it!
Pretty sure he's not the sole person working on those projects. I seem to recall teams of thousands of engineers also chipping in with a bit of the work.
There are good reasons why trucks get less gas mileage than cars- weight, tire patch, aerodynamic drag. These will not change with an electric truck. Right now the Tesla is on the ragged edge with battery cost, range, charge time etc and these issues will be double on a truck.
love is just extroverted narcissism
Oh yeah, I mean like UDS/Fedex/trash trucks. Not "real" trucks like a semi. I doubt there would be much of a use for semi trucks...the range isn't there.
You can't think of any reasons? Here are a few;
Because renting is expensive. Because renting is very inconvenient, particularly if you have no rental places nearby (as I do). Because rental places don't always have the car you need when you need it. Because sometimes I need to leave on short notice. Because I like to drive my own vehicle, which I am comfortable with, I know how it handles, I bought it because I want to drive it. Because I already have all my stuff in my vehicle and I don't want to move transfer it twice just to go on a trip. Because my vehicle is sitting in my driveway and i can load it up at my convenience, I can start a day before my trip if necessary and I can leave stuff in it upon my return. Because I'd have to sign a contract and be responsible for a vehicle that is not mine. Because if I scrape a fender I have a complete bureaucratic and expensive mess on my hands rather than being able to handle it all myself.
Now, any, many, or few might apply to any given person. I really don't care if they do or don't.
Do you know what the specs for a typical trash truck(3mpg) are and the battery you would need to run such a platform? How would you charge 15 or 20 of these monsters at night? (if you are lucky enough for battery to last during the day) The up front costs would be astronomical.
No need to imagine hypotheticals, you could just ask the guys who are doing it.
They seem pretty bullish on the idea and they've put their money where their mouths are, so to speak.
I don't care if it's 90,000 hectares. That lake was not my doing.