The electric pickup truck we first heard about in part two of Elon Musk’s Tesla master plan will be arriving in the next few years. In an end-of-year thank you to customers for “taking a chance on a new company that all experts said would fail,” Musk took to Twitter to elicit feedback and questions from Tesla fans, and he promised the truck will be made “right after” the Tesla Model Y, an upcoming crossover with an estimated production date of 2019 to 2020.
I promise that we will make a pickup truck right after Model Y. Have had the core design/engineering elements in my mind for almost 5 years. Am dying to build it.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 26, 2017
After vowing to build the pickup, Musk answered more specific questions about its capabilities. He said the pickup would be around the same total size or slightly larger than a Ford F-150, the most popular vehicle in the United States. He explained the larger size could accommodate a “gamechanging” feature he wants to add. No, this vehicle won’t be the giant pickup truck version of the Tesla Semi Musk teased last month. The future of that model is still unclear.
Similar total size. Maybe slightly bigger to account for a really gamechanging (I think) feature I’d like to add.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 26, 2017
Musk didn’t offer a firm release date, but if you factor in the production delays that have hampered the Model 3, it’s safe to assume the pickup won’t be coming this decade. The company’s “affordable” model was supposed to reach full production this year but just started shipping to non-employees two weeks ago. Musk planned to go into “production hell” so Tesla could make 5,000 Model 3s by the end of this year. It is now expected to reach that goal by the end of March. There are some 450,000 people eagerly awaiting their preorders to be fulfilled by the end of 2018.
Similar total size. Maybe slightly bigger to account for a really gamechanging (I think) feature I’d like to add.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 26, 2017
Musk revealed several other interesting bits of information about current Tesla models in his candid Twitter thread. When asked about a second-generation autopilot feature (AP2), Musk boasted Tesla owned the most advanced AI neural network of any consumer product and said the results are “blowing him away.”
He also promised a better navigation app, a setting that turns off Bluetooth auto-connect, windshield wipers that adjust to how much rain is coming down, and a much-improved web browser to replace the current one, which he described as “terrible.”
– Rain sensor (AP2)
— ₿ E N N Y (@bnny_99) December 26, 2017
– All 8 Cameras as Dashcam!
– Ambientlight settings (brightness, footwell front and rear seats)
– Sign Recognition
– music quieter when opening all doors (with settings)
– Disco Mode (Ambientlight to music beat with on/off and brightness)
Twitter user @MCFlashTube posted a Christmas wish list of changes they’d like to see: rain sensors, all eight cameras on the dashcam, ambient light settings, sign recognition, a tweak that makes music quieter when opening doors, and a disco mode. Musk agreed to all of the changes, even entertaining the disco idea.
Most of these features can be added via an over-the-air software update, so if you’re a Tesla owner, expect your car to see big improvements over the next six to 12 months.