Elon Musk briefly talked about and sort of “pitched” the idea of the Tesla electric pickup truck, now also known as the “Tesla Cybertruck,” to the US military.
Tesla’s CEO made the comment during the “Air Force Space Pitch Day” in San Francisco yesterday.
He was primarily talking about his efforts at SpaceX, which is already working with the US Air Force, but the CEO also briefly pitched the idea of the Tesla electric pickup truck to the military branch:
We are going to come out with the Tesla pickup truck, or we call it ‘Cybertruck’ — I mean it looks like an armored personnel carrier from the future.
It’s the second time Musk referred to the Tesla pickup’s design as looking like “an armored personnel carrier from the future.”
Musk added during his speech in front of the crowd:
You might want to try it. You might like it or might not. I like it. It’s gonna look like it came off a movie set when it goes on the road.
It’s one more hint at the design of the Tesla pickup truck, which has been a bit of a mystery.
Musk previously said that the Tesla Pickup Truck will have a “really futuristic-like cyberpunk Blade Runner” design without explaining what that meant, other than saying that “it won’t be for everyone.”
On top of the comments not being clear, Musk didn’t really help anyone when he released a very cryptic teaser image for the pickup truck during the Model Y unveiling earlier this year.
Most people didn’t even understand which part of the electric pickup truck was shown by Tesla in the teaser image.
Musk later confirmed that it was the front end of the truck.
Some amateur designers tried to interpret what it would look like based on the teaser image and Musk’s comments, but the CEO said that he hadn’t seen one render that looks like what Tesla is working on.
As for the specs, Musk has also been hyping those up for the pickup truck.
Tesla’s CEO has previously sought suggestions for features to add to the Tesla 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, as well as “300,000 lbs of towing capacity.”
Earlier this summer, he said that the Tesla Pickup truck will cost less than $50,000 and “be better than a Ford F150.”
Musk said that Tesla plans to unveil the “Cybertruck” later this month.
Update: Musk said that he wasn’t “pitching” the idea of the truck to the military but to the crowd of entrepreneurs. He added that the Air Force doesn’t buy APCs. The former might be true, but the latter is not accurate. The Air Force buys APCs and other kinds of ground vehicles.
Electrek’s Take
Looking like an armored personnel carrier and being an armored personnel carrier are two different things.
With that said, it does make sense for the military to go electric, and they have been considering it.
Tesla’s Cybertruck itself might not be a great solution for the army, but the electric platform that Tesla built to make the truck might be a great option to create many different vehicles.
With Elon already having experienced working with the military through SpaceX, it might be easier for Tesla to navigate the military supply world.
It could be an interesting development for the company.
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