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Thoughts about a platform to support a traditional minivan and the pickup truck

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Although I think that the Model X looks like a fantastic vehicle, Elon described it at the launch as rolling a minivan into the package of what the Model X is. To me, although a good idea, the Model X does not appear to really address that market segment as with full passenger load it looks to me like it would still have less storage space than a typical minivan and I'm not so sure how a full sized roof rack could work with the falcon wing doors.

At other times, Elon has discussed making an electric pickup truck. Electric motors are an obvious selling point given all their torque so if this were to be accomplished there is a huge market for that sort of thing and would take a ton of ICE pollution off the roads.

Looking at pickups and minivans, perhaps a similar length platform could be used for both. If they continue with the battery being floor mounted, such vehicles would also have a lot of space for a battery, thus could perhaps offer increased range, thus losing a lot of the "range anxiety" that the media keeps perpetuating, but that Model S owners keep saying isn't much of a problem at all for typical day to day driving.

I agree that the smaller sedan or coupe needs to be next, and somewhere in there a roadster replacement, but to me, it would seem that hitting the pickup and minivan market segments would also do a lot for removing pollution since these are common popular vehicles that often aren't the greatest when it comes to emissions.

I would be interested in hearing what people think about this, but it seems to me that Elon may (I stress, may because I'm not sure I really have heard all of his thoughts on this) be underestimating how many families would be interested in an all electric full size minivan or (south of the Mason-Dixon line in particular) pickup truck. Then again, it is usually an unwise decision to underestimate Elon.

It just seems to me that Tesla has such vehicles on the back burner, and if they want to take over market share I think they need to move up a bit.

Thoughts? Counterpoints? "Jane you ignorant slut?"

Cheers
 
Honestly I haven't seen that many minivan's rolling around lately so I am not convinced that would be a good market segment to get in. Telsa might have better luck with with more industrial applications like the Transit or Transit connect type of body style's.

I am Waiting for an EV pickup. The model S/X skateboard has the dimensions to pull it off, however without a 5-7k lbs tow rating and 1200 lbs payload the applications for a pickup are limited. Even with a 5-7k towing limit you would need 100-150 kwh packs to have decent range under load. IMHO battery prices are still too expensive currently to pull off a marketable solution. If some of these lab batteries pull off as promised i wouldnt doubt that you would see a tesla EV pickup in 2020.
 
Although I think that the Model X looks like a fantastic vehicle, Elon described it at the launch as rolling a minivan into the package of what the Model X is. To me, although a good idea, the Model X does not appear to really address that market segment as with full passenger load it looks to me like it would still have less storage space than a typical minivan and I'm not so sure how a full sized roof rack could work with the falcon wing doors.

At other times, Elon has discussed making an electric pickup truck. Electric motors are an obvious selling point given all their torque so if this were to be accomplished there is a huge market for that sort of thing and would take a ton of ICE pollution off the roads.

Looking at pickups and minivans, perhaps a similar length platform could be used for both. If they continue with the battery being floor mounted, such vehicles would also have a lot of space for a battery, thus could perhaps offer increased range, thus losing a lot of the "range anxiety" that the media keeps perpetuating, but that Model S owners keep saying isn't much of a problem at all for typical day to day driving.

I agree that the smaller sedan or coupe needs to be next, and somewhere in there a roadster replacement, but to me, it would seem that hitting the pickup and minivan market segments would also do a lot for removing pollution since these are common popular vehicles that often aren't the greatest when it comes to emissions.

I would be interested in hearing what people think about this, but it seems to me that Elon may (I stress, may because I'm not sure I really have heard all of his thoughts on this) be underestimating how many families would be interested in an all electric full size minivan or (south of the Mason-Dixon line in particular) pickup truck. Then again, it is usually an unwise decision to underestimate Elon.

It just seems to me that Tesla has such vehicles on the back burner, and if they want to take over market share I think they need to move up a bit.

Thoughts? Counterpoints? "Jane you ignorant slut?"

Cheers

Can't be ignorant if you're even aware of Tesla!

I bet they will get these things moved to the front burner as soon as they make a profit and can get some of the Model Ss out the door. They are all super busy.

And you might be aware that Ford and Chevy both built a full battery electric pickup. Not all pickups have to have a 12,000 lb towing capacity and a 300 mile range under load! I would expect something more along the Phoenix Electric Pickup that never quite made it to production. Tesla is doing a fantastic job of keeping afloat while so many other EV companies have floundered (volatile stocks??) so I am glad their current business model is working.
 
With a Tesla Roadster and a Model S in my garage and a RAM 2500 (11 mpg) parked in my driveway that I use within a 25 mile radius for work, it's not hard to understand why I'd be first in line to make a reservation deposit on a Tesla EV pickup truck. We're an EV/PV home with 10.8 kW of solar panels on our roof, more than enough to support a third all-electric vehicle. Given the number of pickups sold in the U.S. each year I can't imagine Tesla taking too much longer to tap into this market. By the way, we're far north of the Mason-Dixon Line in Connecticut.
 
I think maybe a scaled-down Model X, maybe a little more boxy, like the Ford Transit Connect (in size and purpose) would make sense. A pickup would be great, but most truck buyers are pretty functionally-oriented. It would have to deliver the goods (no pun intended) in terms of range and payload for it to be a popular proposition.