Tesla CEO Elon Musk has recently indicated on Twitter that the company is developing new electric vehicles and according to his latest tweet, they plan to introduce a brand-new semi-truck in September, whereas the pickup will arrive about two years after that. Musk hinted at the big truck in July last year when he displayed his “Master Plan, Part Deux.” However, he had been interested in pickup trucks years before, when they were looking for a good site for the Gigafactory.
On Thursday, Musk tweeted: “Tesla Semi truck unveil set for September. Team has done an amazing job. Seriously next level.”
The size of the truck remains unknown, just like anything else and so far we have only the information that an electric truck is coming. However, that Master Plan released last year notes: “We believe the Tesla Semi will deliver a substantial reduction in the cost of cargo transport, while increasing safety and making it really fun to operate.”
Tesla is not the sole carmaker that tries to electrify commercial cars, and the hybrid buses are already used around the world. Some other companies that are working on zero-emission trucks are Nikola Motor Co. which has recently shown its hydrogen fuel-cell semi, Toyota, which works on a similar concept and Daimler AG that displayed a prototype battery truck in November 2016.
When we talk about semi-truck and pickups, the biggest issues the company will tackle are range and charging time. So it is possible that Tesla will use the similar platform that underpins Model S and X and place the battery in the floorboards. The other possibility is the use of swappable batteries, which makes sense for pickups and even semis.
What else is coming?
Musk also tweeted that the planned Roadster would be a convertible and that the production-ready Model 3 will be presented in July when it will also be assembled. Musk has promised that the Model 3 will increase company’s production from 100,000 units in 2016 to 500,000 in 2018.
Some other projects which are in the pipeline include an SUV that will be based on the same architecture as the Model 3. This SUV will be named the Model Y, and with it, Tesla will complete the line of S-3-X-Y vehicles.
Follow us for more details.
