Electrek has uncovered a previously unseen Tesla concept made by the lead designer of the upcoming Tesla ‘cyberpunk’ Pickup truck and it looks like it could give us some hints.
We know a lot about Tesla’s plans for its electric pickup truck thanks to comments from CEO Elon Musk.
Earlier this year, he said that the Tesla Pickup truck will cost less than $50,000 and ‘be better than a Ford F150’.
The CEO 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’.
But when it comes to the design of the Tesla Pickup truck, Musk’s comments have been more confusing.
The CEO shocked some when he 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.
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.
We now have a new render, but it’s not just any fan render.
Electrek found out that Tesla designer Sahm Jafari is behind the concept for Tesla’s “Cyberpunk Truck”.
Jafari got hired by Tesla out of the Art Center College of Design in California.
He interned at Tesla while completing his degree and Electrek has uncovered one of his designs meant for Tesla while studying at the prestigious design school that is particularly interesting.
It’s called the ‘Tesla Model Zero’ (pictures via sahmjafari.com):
Obviously, it’s not a pickup truck. Jafari wrote that he meant it as a car positioned under the Model 3:
“A car that slots under Model 3 with the goal of making the electric lifestyle accessible to all. The Model Zero strengthens the brand image toward the entry-level market and opens up the doors to sustainable commuting to nearly anyone looking to get into a new vehicle.”
But some of the design accents of the ‘Tesla Model Zero’ could give us some clues of Jafari’s work on Tesla’s “Cyberpunk Truck”.
For example, the front-end that runs in a straight line all the way up the windshield looks similar to the teaser image released by Tesla:
Musk confirmed that the teaser was the front-end of the Tesla pickup truck.
In order for the Tesla Pickup to achieve a long-range as Musk promised, it will have to either have an incredible battery capacity or be significantly more energy-efficient than the average truck.
An elongated front-end like that could help improve aerodynamic performance and ultimately the efficiency of a larger vehicle like a pickup.
The concept also looks fairly futuristic and the CEO has said several times that the Tesla Pickup looks futuristic.
Although, he also said that it looks ‘cyberpunk’ and “Blade Runneresque” and Jafari’s concept doesn’t have many “cyberpunk” design accents.
Tesla is expected to unveil its pickup truck concept next month (November 2019), which also happens to be when the events of the Blade Runner movie happened.
It was also set in Los Angeles, where Tesla often launches its new vehicles.
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