Well Elon is back on Twitter and overnight announced the date of the Tesla pickup aka Cybertruck unveiling. On November 21st (likely 22nd in Aus), Tesla will reveal to the world what their next product will look like.
Until now, we only have a single teaser image from Tesla to hint at what we can expect. It’s fair to say the image confused most of us, given most thought the image was a shot of the rear tail light, but Musk later confirmed that it was indeed the front.
There’s been plenty of attempts at rendering what the newest Tesla vehicle would look like, but Musk has commented on Twitter that basically nobody is even close.
In terms of design, this certainly feels like the most risky product Tesla has made. The indication is that it’ll look like something out of the movie Blade Runner.
The original roadster was modeled off the Lotus Elise, then the Model S looks like a very nice luxury sedan/sports car.
The Model X did a lot of new things, but is still just a slick SUV.
The Model 3 is a mid-sized version of the Model S, and the Model Y is to be a mid-sized SUV version of the same thing.
The new Roaster is an insane upgrade to the original roadster, but nothing out of this world crazy in terms of the exterior design.
The Tesla Semi offers perhaps the biggest insight into the Tesla pickup, with a whole rethink on what a truck of the future needs to be. The large front piece of glass found on the Semi may also be repeated on the Cybertruck.
One of the biggest areas of interest will be the vehicle’s towing capacity. Remember in the US, they love their pickup trucks and the F150 continues to be the highest selling vehicle in that market. It’s going to take a hell of an all-electric offering from Tesla, to disrupt that.
Musk has commented that the Cybertruck will be more like an Army Personnel Carrier. Well we don’t typically have APCs driving around town, navigating standard roadways and trying to park at the local Woolworths. Like Tanks, they have their purpose, but as a daily driver, they suck. Tesla are clearly aware it needs to have some mass-market appeal, but how much will depend largely on the final design we’ll see in a couple of weeks.
Whatever the design of the newest Tesla vehicle is, it’s sure to be controversial and you’ll either love it, or hate it. Let’s just hope Tesla can land a price point and a production timeframe that means a lot of people can consider that as an option for their next vehicle.
