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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.
Most however seem to drive them because the thing that at some point in time in the future they may need to tow or haul something even though they have never hauled or towed anything ever.
Going by my family, our aging population might be part of the issue. Modern cars are generally built very low to the ground for various reasons. They may be good for normal people. But my grandfather has spinal damage - he can't get into or out of standard modern cars. He HAS to have a van, truck, or SUV that he climbs into, not moving down into. Mom has developed arthritis like symptoms(the medical explanation went over my head), and she can no longer climb out of a car seat - I even have to help here climb out of a movie theater seat. Without assistance she'd essentially have to fall out of the vehicle and then get up. Or drive a SUV where she sits higher. I'm not sure about dad, it might simply be with him that when he bought the truck it was as a second vehicle where the bed was useful, and our family's tendencies to drive a vehicle until it doesn't work anymore(even if we buy new), so he's not trading out of it anytime soon. Of course, an S-10 isn't exactly a penis-replacement truck either.
Take my family experiences, combine with a US population that's getting older, and the 'SUV/Truck' craze might amount to the regulations making such vehicles a little cheaper for their size, combined with that said vehicles, being built higher, are simply easier to get into and out of than modern low-slung cars.
4 wheel drive can be satisfied with Subaru and such.
I don't read AC A human right
Ironically, you're going 50 years back.
The UK had all-electric vehicles doing local milk, bread, etc. delivery since at least the 60's. We call them milk floats.
They were generally lead-acid powered but the newer models use Li-Ion and other technologies, and because they generally did morning rounds, they could charge all day and night to get their runs done early the next morning.
Many a child woke up with the motor-whine and bottle-jingle of the milk float coming down the road. They died out around where I live about 10 years ago, with the advent of local supermarkets and online shopping.
Everything goes in circles.
I'd prefer a Tesla Wagon over a truck. For family usage a wagon is a lot more useful than a sedan or a truck.
If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.