It appears Tesla may have given us an early look at its pickup truck coinciding with the reveals of its new Semi and Roadster models last Thursday.
A pair of sketches were posted to Tesla’s Twitter feed moments before the Semi was revealed. Although they’re labeled as “early sketches” for the Semi, they actually depict a pickup truck, albeit a massive one. Yes, a Tesla designer has penciled in a Ford F-150 parked in the bed.
The pickup features the same streamlined cab as Tesla’s Semi, although it isn’t as tall. The pickup does have a taller ride height, though, and it only has a single axle at the rear instead of the Semi’s two.
Tesla Semi early sketches possibly preview design of Tesla pickup truck
Designers often play around with ideas by drawing them out, so normally sketches like these wouldn’t necessarily indicate that the depicted vehicle is headed for production. However, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has made some comments on Twitter that suggest Tesla is looking to leverage the Semi’s platform for a pickup.
In September, in response to a question about the pickup truck, Musk replied, “What if we just made a mini version of the Tesla Semi?”
What if we just made a mini version of the Tesla Semi?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 16, 2017
Musk also presented the pickup sketches during last week’s reveal of the Semi where he said, “We created a pickup truck version of the Tesla Semi. It’s a pickup truck that can carry a pickup truck. By the way, you will actually be able to drive that with a normal driver’s license.”
The comments suggest that Tesla’s pickup won’t exceed the specs for a Class 6 medium-duty truck; any higher and you’d need a commercial driver’s license. More importantly, the comments also suggest that there might be more to these sketches than just a designer’s imagination.
Tesla confirmed plans for a pickup in its Master Plan strategy announced in 2016. However, there wasn’t any indication of when we might see the vehicle and the wait will likely be a long one. Beyond the pickup, Tesla also has in the hopper a Model Y crossover SUV, the next-generation Roadster, and the Semi. That’s on top of its plans for energy storage and solar roofs. In other words, it’s going to be busy times at the Californian firm for years to come.
