Tesla Pickup Truck is Elon Musk’s ‘favorite next product’ and U.S. automakers should be afraid

Tesla has only 3 vehicle programs in production, which isn’t many for the average automaker, but it is working on many more to come out in the next few years.

One of the most important new programs is the Tesla Pickup Truck and we now learn that it is Elon Musk’s ‘favorite next Tesla product.’ 

During Tesla’s earnings conference call last week, the CEO said when talking about Tesla’s upcoming product programs:

“Probably my personal favorite for the next product is the pickup truck, and we are going to just do an amazing pickup truck.”

Tesla has already disrupted the premium full-size sedan and SUV segments with the Model S and Model X.

The Model 3 is also undoubtedly disrupting the midsize premium sedan segment in the US at the moment.

But those vehicles are disrupting segments that don’t pull a lot of weight in the US auto industry – at least nothing like pickup trucks do.

The top 3 selling vehicles were the Ford F-Series, Chevrolet Silverado, and Ram pickup trucks in the US last year.

Those vehicles are not only selling well, but they also represent the most profitable vehicle programs for those automakers and the most polluting vehicles.

Now Tesla is putting its efforts to disrupt this important segment, which is otherwise not being electrified by established automakers.

Musk has been quite excited by the idea and even though Tesla has 3 new vehicles that appear to be set to hit the market before the pickup, he now says that it is his ‘favorite.’

The CEO has recently sought suggestions for features to add to the truck under development and he revealed some planned features, like an option for 400 to 500 miles of range, Dual Motor All-wheel-drive powertrain with dynamic suspension, ‘300,000 lbs of towing capacity’, and more.

There’s no clear timeline for the release of the Tesla Pickup truck, but it sounds like it will be Tesla’s priority after the Model Y, which is set to be unveiled next year and go into production in 2020.

Electrek’s Take

I think U.S automakers should be afraid. Tesla did it 3 times and the latest is arguably having the biggest impact on its segment.

To think that Tesla couldn’t do it again with a pickup truck would be taking a big risk in my opinion.

We know that Ford is working on a hybrid F150, but that’s not nearly enough. The fact that they don’t have any all-electric pickup program in the work is insane to me.

I love to see Musk getting excited by the Tesla pickup truck because I am hoping that the unveiling and the start of reservations will kickstart the electric pickup truck industry in the US, which should have a massive impact on the emission from the American transport industry in the long-term.

When do you think that unveiling will happen? My guess is that it will be the ‘one more thing’ at the Model Y unveiling in March like the next-gen Roadster was at the Tesla Semi event. What do you think? Let us know in the comment section below.