Tesla Pickup Truck

[jeff_adams]

Autonomy is the handicap in my opinion!

I have thinking about it and maybe I discovery a solution!
A little more investigation and I tell you!

They have been ramping up their hires greatly over the past year. It's pretty hard to work on concurrent projects with a small staff, but it gets much easier with a larger staff. They don't have to be married to the "one project at a time" mantra.

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

Look how fast SpaceX ramped up? you mean 2 years behind schedule? Tesla is still working on the Model S's different versions. They are realizing just how hard it is to make a good car which is the reason for the Model X delay by more then a year (and a half). The Gen III requires a massive investment in battery manufacturing even to consider how they are going to build the damn thing.

My wild prediction is Gen III's 1,000th production car (few cars to investors dont count, those are called Beta cars) will be late 2018 and Tesla will be so focused on Gen III that we wont see a prototype pickup until 2021. The only way this changes is if Tesla does a $3-5 billion secondary offering so they can work on this issues in tandem.

Model X will need AWD.
Model E and Y will need significant cost reduction and scaling of production.
Model P will need ... ?

Development time depends on whether they need anything new,

 

[tdelta1000]

Allow me to say I apologize for bring up this subject again. If TM were to offer a viable pickup truck I think it should have the following:

Name - ???
Size - As mentioned somewhere near that of the F-150 class
Drivetrain -
RWD Configuration: the utilization of two current Model S with the PEU (Power Electronics unit) in the center driving the rear wheels.
AWD Configuration: the same rear setup but in front the current "S" setup.

Fuel (Battery Power): Stacked battery packs of 100kWh, 130kWh and 180kWh

Just thinking out loud.

 

[ElSupreme]

Name: Eta Carinae

Because bigger is better!

 

[tdelta1000]

Name: Eta Carinae

Because bigger is better!

I guess but what do you think of the specs? Are they over the top or not enough for electric pickup truck?

 

[Gwgan]

Name: S-teenthousand

NSFW Awesome Truck Commercial - CollegeHumor Video

 

[roblab]

'Real' pickup trucks begin with a one ton frame, a turbo diesel 6L engine and the stored energy of 35 gallons+ of diesel oil. All else is window dressing, including the F-150.
--

Well, we have pictures of Audubon hauling 70 gallons of diesel in his Model S. There's a start. He's probably doing some Pickup research for Tesla.

Since the battery is considered part of the Model S frame, there's your "one ton frame" already :smile:.

And the 6 liter turbodiesel puts out a tad less than 400 hp. Tesla territory. Of course they rate the torque at near 600 ft lb, but I think most of us here know about torque on electric motors, and Tesla could probably tweak something to up the torque.

On a side note, many "real" truckers think the F150 is a good beginner truck, but only that. Real trucks start at the F250 /2500 level, don't they? Or are you saying the F150 is window dressing? Must be it.

 

[AudubonB]

I am doing pickup research, Rob....unfortunately, not for Tesla. That is, I have been amassing ideas from my cadre of miscreants, but mostly from my own background and experience, in the hopes of being able to present them to TMC. This brings up an important question, however (and worthy of its own thread), as follows:

HOW does one go about presenting ideas to a corporation in a way such that Party B (Tesla, of course) is unencumbered as to owing rights, royalties...any commitment for the donor? I would absolutely not be looking for any monetary or other gain; I do, however, in my own arrogant way believe that I and a number of others know more about what is important in a pickup truck than can any number of pencil-necked Silicon Valley geeks. (ha! take THAT, you multi-gazillionaires, you!)

Because of my reticence with respect to the above, I'm not hugely interested in presenting my ideas in open forum. If, as I have read (here), Tesla refuses even to read paper letters offering ideas to Tesla - in fear of demands for idea-compensation down the road - then it is not much of a stretch to see how the same could apply to ideas presented in this thread.

I have no problem agreeing, however, that F-150s are not considered "real" trucks.

 

[dsm363]

I am doing pickup research, Rob....unfortunately, not for Tesla. That is, I have been amassing ideas from my cadre of miscreants, but mostly from my own background and experience, in the hopes of being able to present them to TMC. This brings up an important question, however (and worthy of its own thread), as follows:

HOW does one go about presenting ideas to a corporation in a way such that Party B (Tesla, of course) is unencumbered as to owing rights, royalties...any commitment for the donor? I would absolutely not be looking for any monetary or other gain; I do, however, in my own arrogant way believe that I and a number of others know more about what is important in a pickup truck than can any number of pencil-necked Silicon Valley geeks. (ha! take THAT, you multi-gazillionaires, you!)

Because of my reticence with respect to the above, I'm not hugely interested in presenting my ideas in open forum. If, as I have read (here), Tesla refuses even to read paper letters offering ideas to Tesla - in fear of demands for idea-compensation down the road - then it is not much of a stretch to see how the same could apply to ideas presented in this thread.

I have no problem agreeing, however, that F-150s are not considered "real" trucks.

How big of a market are 'real' trucks in the sense that they are used for things light duty trucks couldn't possibly do? It seems most people buy trucks to go to Home Depot on the weekends and drive to work and back.
I know many people do need heavy duty trucks for work but it doesn't appear to be the majority.

Maybe go work for Tesla? Eventually they would need your expertise on trucks. In not really sure how you could present ideas to Tesla where they would feel comfortable accepting them. Maybe someone here knows.

 

[AudubonB]

I agree, dsm363, that in urban and many suburban areas your thought that pickups are

to go to Home Depot on the weekends and drive to work and back

, but in "Truckland" - not very different from what some call "flyover country" plus the Deep South (and Alaska and a good hunk of Canadian provinces, too) - pickups are used and used heavily for hauling horses, feed, construction material, recreational boats, camper shells, slide-in campers, Knapheide-style work boxes; utilizing bumper-pull, gooseneck and fifth-wheel hitches; they go off-road and off-trail and over highway.

And that is a lot of F-250 and F-350 (and some F-450 and -550, too!) usage.

 

[dsm363]

Good point. I wonder what market Tesla would go after. I'd imagine building a heavy duty F350 type Tesla pickup would be very heavy and the range would suffer. The F150 is a great selling truck and might be the way to go. Just a guess though. Hopefully they could address both markets somehow with one model.

 

[Electric700]

Tesla Model J truck with 2020 release year anyone? A 400+ mile AWD 100% electric range should be achievable with the battery improvements we're seeing now.

May be after that Tesla could get into producing a 100% electric 700 mile Tesla Model K semi-trailer :wink: I don't see why they couldn't make an electric version of every form of transportation we have. People said the Tesla Roadster was impossible, but look at where we are...

 

[constraint]

Good point. I wonder what market Tesla would go after. I'd imagine building a heavy duty F350 type Tesla pickup would be very heavy and the range would suffer. The F150 is a great selling truck and might be the way to go. Just a guess though. Hopefully they could address both markets somehow with one model.

While I agree F150's hauling capabilities are worthless (1500 to 2000 pounds) lately their tow ratings are more then respectable with some hitting 12,000 pounds (which is scary for a half ton). When Ford came out with the 6.2 and the 3.5, I have been seeing some really heavy loads pulled by these trucks. The trucks are capable machines and outside of horse trailers and 40 foot campers who really tows more then 10,000 pounds besides commercial and racers? The half ton class makes the most sense for Tesla because they have the highest sales volume and typically buyers buy more options (i.e. higher margins). Tesla is already going to have a hard time meeting the F150 sized loads because weight sucks up battery juice like no other. Type in Ike Gauntlet on youtube and watch what happens when a half ton pickup tries going up the Colorado interstate with 10,000 pounds on its back (it might drain a 100 kwh battery pack just going up the hill).

 

[TurboFroggy]

I am going to go out there and say that 98% of all F-150 drivers commute, by themselves to work with no load other than their ass in the front drivers seat, back and forth to work. An electric pickup truck would do this job just fine.

 

[dsm363]

While I agree F150's hauling capabilities are worthless (1500 to 2000 pounds) lately their tow ratings are more then respectable with some hitting 12,000 pounds (which is scary for a half ton). When Ford came out with the 6.2 and the 3.5, I have been seeing some really heavy loads pulled by these trucks. The trucks are capable machines and outside of horse trailers and 40 foot campers who really tows more then 10,000 pounds besides commercial and racers? The half ton class makes the most sense for Tesla because they have the highest sales volume and typically buyers buy more options (i.e. higher margins). Tesla is already going to have a hard time meeting the F150 sized loads because weight sucks up battery juice like no other. Type in Ike Gauntlet on youtube and watch what happens when a half ton pickup tries going up the Colorado interstate with 10,000 pounds on its back (it might drain a 100 kwh battery pack just going up the hill).

Tesla would need to do a very good job of educating people about things like this which they haven't always done. As a Home Depot run/commuter truck with occasionally pulling a horse trailer or a small trailer I think an electric Tesla truck with massive amounts of torque and AWD could do quite well. A F350 or F450 replacement might not be worth going after at this point.
If someone feels confident they can haul their small boat to the lake or go pick up lumber at Home Depot while getting 60+ mpge (making this number up of course as I have no idea how efficient it would be) I think it could still sell in some decent volume. Nothing like the F150 simply because of cost though.

 

[purplewalt]

I am going to go out there and say that 98% of all F-150 drivers commute, by themselves to work with no load other than their ass in the front drivers seat, back and forth to work. An electric pickup truck would do this job just fine.

Agreed.
Occasionally there is a toolkit in the bed, most of the time it is only the Driver.
Sometimes a light trailer with mowers and yard equipment.

If they need to carry a really large load, they use a larger flat-bed truck for dry-wall and studs.

Pickup trucks are a huge market in and of themselves.

 

[igotzzoom]

There would need to be a significant breakthrough in range, or a total re-think of the charging model. If it's used for towing, it would cut the effective range in half. Maybe a joint-venture with Airstream to build a battery-pack "pusher" trailer that would double as a range-extender. Maybe a partnership with KOA or another "destination" for installation of destination/superchargers.

Don't get me wrong. I'd LOVE to see a Tesla pickup, but it many ways it's a totally different animal than a passenger car.

 

[Omer]

Meet Sparky, Nissans Leaf-based, Frontier-bedded EV parts hauler [w/video] - Autoblog

It's cute

 

[AudubonB]

Kinda cute. At least it's not represented as a pickup, but as a "parts hauler". I would call it the El Camino of the EV world, downsized. Pretty limited - but not non-existent - usefulness.

 

[roblab]

While I agree F150's hauling capabilities are worthless (1500 to 2000 pounds) lately their tow ratings are more then respectable with some hitting 12,000 pounds (which is scary for a half ton). When Ford came out with the 6.2 and the 3.5, I have been seeing some really heavy loads pulled by these trucks. The trucks are capable machines and outside of horse trailers and 40 foot campers who really tows more then 10,000 pounds besides commercial and racers? The half ton class makes the most sense for Tesla because they have the highest sales volume and typically buyers buy more options (i.e. higher margins). Tesla is already going to have a hard time meeting the F150 sized loads because weight sucks up battery juice like no other. Type in Ike Gauntlet on youtube and watch what happens when a half ton pickup tries going up the Colorado interstate with 10,000 pounds on its back (it might drain a 100 kwh battery pack just going up the hill).

But remember, the truck comes down the hill again. In an electric, a huge part of the upward loss is regained through regen. In a gas truck the huge amount of pollution and waste exhaust emitted going up the hill is offset by burning up your brakes on the way back down.

When driving on the level, the weight is not the problem, as we see with near 5000 lb Model S. It is aerodynamics. The love affair with the "powerful" looking squared off nose with the huge grill will slowly change when the intelligent truck driver sees that they can go off road, tow, haul, or just drive to work, on a very small percentage of what their good ol' boy neighbors spend. And it doesn't blow coal or make noise. That's the problem I see. It doesn't LOOK tough. Like James Bond. Refined, controlled, powerful, but not a truck driver.