Tesla Pickup Truck

[jordanthompson]

I agree. would a electric pickup short out if you forded a river? You would have to engineer in watertightness

Are you saying that they don't engineer "watertightness" into ICE vehicles exposed to inundating water? Of course they do. There are all kinds of electrical connections that may be exposed to submersion. Of course if you take an off-the-shelf electric motor and assume it will run under water, it won't. The same techniques used to waterproof an ICE would need to be applied to a motor used in similar conditions. Submarines use motors to drive them.

 

[YoungStranger]

Are you saying that they don't engineer "watertightness" into ICE vehicles exposed to inundating water? Of course they do. There are all kinds of electrical connections that may be exposed to submersion. Of course if you take an off-the-shelf electric motor and assume it will run under water, it won't. The same techniques used to waterproof an ICE would need to be applied to a motor used in similar conditions. Submarines use motors to drive them.

YUP.I am positive that they would design in watertightness- but it would have to be specific to that vehicle. I suppose it all depends how deep you want to go!

 

[vfx]

Tesla should replace their duramax ranger vans with these!

Except the very purpose of them is to drive long distances...

 

[smoothoperator]

Except the very purpose of them is to drive long distances...

There will still be a gas savings, since the ICE is used solely as a generator so the RPM fluctuations will be minimal. The only wildcard is the towing capacity with this powertrain. With all the new service centers coming online, I do not think there is a place in America that is more than 400 miles away from a service center.

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

Except the very purpose of them is to drive long distances...

Ah, so that's why they want the supercharger network.

 

[SCW-Greg]

Hmm. And then this came out today, from an interview with FVH...

Tesla entry-level all-electric car and truck could be in the works | Digital Trends

 

[AnOutsider]

Hmm. And then this came out today, from an interview with FVH...

Tesla entry-level all-electric car and truck could be in the works | Digital Trends

Looks like the article is based on the article in this thread. No real new info.

 

[SCW-Greg]

Looks like the article is based on the article in this thread. No real new info.

Oops, my bad. You're right. Scanned over the original article too fast.

 

[SCW-Greg]

I'd buy one or two of them if they had enough torque to pull a full 20' cattle trailer or something like a 32' offshore fishing boat. 4x4-type capability would also be nice. I wouldn't be interested if it were just a street-type "city" pickup. It would need to be powerful enough for a work truck with a decent amount of range while pulling heavy loads.

Knowing that the performance version of the Model S delivers 416HP and 442 ft-lbs of instant torque to the real wheels. The Standard model delivers well over 300hp. Then the model X takes that and adds 4x4 capability.

I'm thinking they can make a 4x4 truck with some mind-blowing power and speed. However, engineering will need to be factored in for real world wheel travel, and road clearance too.

 

[domenick]

...
Pickups do not sell over here. The segment is probably less than 1% of the total market. If they do decide to make one in the near future, I hope the market for pickups is significantly better in the US.

In June, 924,129 pickup trucks were sold in the U.S.

Tesla would need a very small percentage of that to be wildly successful.

It would be quite a challenge, I believe, to produce a sufficiently streamline design that also retains the "masculine" aspect that draws American buyers. I don't think they could just chop an X. (Though that is how I illustrated the post I wrote about it.)

 

[Yggdrasill]

In June, 924,129 pickup trucks were sold in the U.S.

Tesla would need a very small percentage of that to be wildly successful.

It would be quite a challenge, I believe, to produce a sufficiently streamline design that also retains the "masculine" aspect that draws American buyers. I don't think they could just chop an X. (Though that is how I illustrated the post I wrote about it.)

View attachment 8065

According to the site you linked about 163k pickups were sold in the US in June. 924k is the year to date figure.

But that makes for about 2 million pickups per year. If Tesla were wildly successful with a pickup they might sell 20,000 per year, so they could be wildly successful if they took 1% of the US market.

That's quite plausible, actually.

 

[domenick]

According to the site you linked about 163k pickups were sold in the US in June. 924k is the year to date figure.

But that makes for about 2 million pickups per year. If Tesla were wildly successful with a pickup they might sell 20,000 per year, so they could be wildly successful if they took 1% of the US market.

That's quite plausible, actually.

Holy crap, you're right. Number should have been 162,527.

 

[dsm363]

Like many large cars, some people don't really need them but want them for the occasional trip to Home Depot or to the garden shop. For those people, something like this would be perfect. They'd still get to drive their pickup as the daily driver but not have to waste so much energy (gas).

 

[hj-45]

I would rather see an El-Camino type vehicle on the drawing boards. Pontiac was going to give it a try again by importing a Holden ute before they were axed by the recession. If only people used a truck for what you NEED a truck to do in the US.

 

[ElSupreme]

If only people used a truck for what you NEED a truck to do in the US.

Drive your two kids to school, then drive yourself to work in an office building? That is what we use trucks for in Marietta/Atlanta.

 

[dsm363]

Drive your two kids to school, then drive yourself to work in an office building? That is what we use trucks for in Marietta/Atlanta.

Same in Texas and probably everywhere in the US. People like their pickups so I think a good number would jump at the chance to have a pickup and not had a 14 mpg vehicle at the same time.

 

[hj-45]

Funny we are talking about trucks. My co-worker in the next cube just asked the Ford dealer if they finance service repairs. His Ford F-350 diesel needs new head gaskets and was quoted $2700. Makes me smirk covertly. Although he does have the truck to tow a 5th wheel camper, he still wastefully uses it as transportation to work.

 

[jerry33]

Although he does have the truck to tow a 5th wheel camper, he still wastefully uses it as transportation to work.

That's pretty common because it's cheaper to pay for gas then purchase a second car (and the associated maintenance).

 

[ETM]

how about ground clearance? if this is going to be used on construction sites or even off road, the battery could be severely damaged if pounded against rocks and rubble. correct? the battery is very sensitive i imagine.

 

[dsm363]

how about ground clearance? if this is going to be used on construction sites or even off road, the battery could be severely damaged if pounded against rocks and rubble. correct? the battery is very sensitive i imagine.

I would imagine Tesla would go after the more light-duty/daily driver pickup than the heavy-duty haul tons of stuff construction pickup. Many people seem to like having a pickup even though they probably don't really need one. They like the utility of being able to go to Home Depot once a month in their truck but it gets used as a daily driver the rest of the time. There is nothing wrong with this of course it's just that they've selected a rather inefficient vehicle as their daily driver. A Tesla pickup could be the best of both.