Tesla Cybertruck is going to be “able to float for a while,” says CEO Elon Musk, who apparently can’t wait to bring the electric pickup truck to production.
For a while now, Elon Musk has cautiously boasted about the ability of Tesla vehicles to float, or even “act as a boat” for short periods of time.
A few years ago, we posted about a Tesla Model S driving (or swimming) through a flooded tunnel. Musk commented:
We definitely don’t recommended this, but Model S floats well enough to turn it into a boat for short periods of time. Thrust via wheel rotation.
Musk talked about the large, hermetically sealed battery pack at the bottom of the electric car that helps it float for a while.
Again, while it’s not recommended, it helped people gain confidence in the robustness of electric vehicles.
On Twitter last night, Musk was asked if the Cybertruck would be able to cross streams:
Have you thought about Cybertruck’s wading depth? I hunt and fish and sometimes need to cross streams. Can I do it without damaging the truck?
Tesla’s CEO responded:
Yes. It will even float for a while.
Lately, Musk has been positioning the Cybertruck as a capable electric vehicle on- and off-road.
We recently reported on him saying that Tesla Cybertruck will have an updated dynamic suspension geared toward off-roading, and he aims for it to “kick butt” in the Baja race.
Last night, Musk was also asked if Tesla’s Cybertruck will get a heat pump like the Model Y.
The CEO confirmed that it will, and added that he is “dying to make the Cybertruck”:
Yeah, and whole lot more! Aargh, I’m dying to make Cybertruck like yesterday!!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 20, 2020
Tesla has been aiming to start production of the Cybertruck in late 2021, but the automaker still has to build a whole factory to produce the electric pickup truck, and we don’t even know where that will be.
The company is currently “scouting locations” for the “Cybertruck Gigafactory” in the central US, and it is in talks with a few states about incentive packages.
Tesla is expected to announce an official location for the electric pickup truck manufacturing plant soon in order to be able to stick to its 2021 timeline to deliver the Cybertruck.
As for the heat pump, Tesla developed a new one for the Model Y in order to make the electric SUV more efficient in colder weather.
Musk said that the Tesla Model Y heat pump is “some of the best engineering he has seen in a while.”
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