Don't forget that Walmart did order 30 Tesla Trucks already as part of a test. https://electrek.co/2018/09/06/tesla-semi-new-order-electric-truck-walmart/ That was a year ago, so I'm not sure how that's progressed.
Yeah, Walmart is looking to have their trucking fleet be 20% electric by 2022, which seems pretty aggressive to me. "The company expects to be able to retire diesel trucks faster by adopting the Tesla Semi in its fleet, which it aims to be 20% electric by 2022."
The Tesla pickup is probably as Nettdata stated a proof of concept. If not then my first reaction was that Tesla has not a clue on how to build a pickup for the commercial market. The sloping back is going to make a tool box in the front of the bed impossible to access. There are no stake pockets on the bed to add any kind of rack raise the height of the bed. Chevrolet had ten years ago a hybrid truck that had generating feature and a 110 outlet in the bed. The onboard air compressor is just something to break as you can get ones now that plug into your 12v outlet for less than $50.00. The towing on the Tesla looks good compared to a half ton pickup. Not so good against the Super Duties that Ford and GM have that get rated up to 30,000 pounds. Lastly, until they get their charging times from empty down to less than 10 minutes, I think people will for the most part pick carbon based vehicles to tow. Maybe Hybird Diesels like a train will be the answer.
This is an interesting video: It addresses some of the marketing around the truck (specifically the looks), as well as shows some details around the bed, like the lighting, and e-track rails, etc. TONS more tie-down opportunities than any current pickup.
Just had this same discussion with my step-father. Came to basically the conclusions you did. We’ll never own exclusively electric vehicles until the logistics of charging and range get figured out, and that what we’ll probably see (and own) is a diesel-electric hybrid f-250. Which would be fucking sweet. the Tesla truck is competing with the half tons of the world, on a full-ton platform. I agree that it should be viewed as a proof of concept and not a final form. If it is, then Tesla is screwed. But I imagine we’ll see a final form with the stake holes and open bed that make trucks viable and desirable to the people who actually use them.
I think they did think it through. They know it will never come to market and of it does it will cost closer to $100k. At that point no one will care.
My money is on the only people buying a Cybertruck aren't actually going to use it as a truck; farms, job sites, feed lots etc. will still have Ford/ Chevy/ and a few Rams. I doubt you'll see any Cybertrucks outside the city limits - the UPPER CLASS city limits.
Wasn't the original Blade Runner set in "November 2019"? And, Tesla previews their new vehicle in November 2019? Yeah, it was pretty intentional.
I live in a rural area and I would love it if I could get a one ton electric truck. I do most of my work within 20 miles and my truck is parked at my farm every night. I currently burn a shitload of diesel with my truck pulling stuff around and making short trips. If the Cybertruck beat or matched my F350 in towing capacity and power I'd be seriously thinking about ordering one.
I think you're right, and I think that people are thinking that the market for the CT is the same as an F-150. It's not. But what it is, is a giant step forward with SOMETHING that doesn't suck. Look what Elon did with Tesla and their first cars... everyone shit on him and said it would never work. But he put stuff out there, weathered a ton of pain in the process, and forced some major players to step up their game and come to the table. I would LOVE for any of the "big" automakers to take a chance and do something actually innovative and exciting, but they never will. Well, I stand corrected... they have done so in the past. Spoiler AND FAILED. Fuck off with the Leaf and other shit... bring us something that is exciting, and fun, and GOOD.
Cybertruck vs F-450 tug of war rematch. https://insideevs.com/news/384983/video-tesla-cybertruck-ford-f-450-tow/
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. I'm hoping one of y'all can give me some heartening thoughts before I have to deal with this tomorrow. Driving home tonight my temp gauge went up to about 190, but quickly went back down to about 160. A block from home my low coolant idiot light went on. I backed into my parking spot and my power steering was fucked. Uh oh. I got out of the car and it was steaming. Son of a bitch. I grabbed a flashlight and looked under the hood, yep...there's a coolant leak somewhere. The stream of coolant coming from underneath the car confirmed this. I know LT1 water pumps are notoriously faulty, but do they just randomly shit the bed without any warning? No noise, no leaking, no running hot? The fact that my power steering wasn't responding correctly tells me something above the pump was dumping on it. I'm hoping to hell I just lost a radiator hose.
Just went out and looked at my poor car. The pavement is stained with coolant where I pulled forward and back into my parking spot last night, so it looks like it was really dumping hard. Then I filled the radiator...it took about 1/4 of a gallon, with nothing pouring out. It's going to take a bit more in the overflow tank. Sadly, I can't really see a damn thing from the top and I can't get under it to get a peek, so I'm still in the dark. I'm just glad whatever happened, happened only a block from home.
I'll let one of the mechanics chime in, but the fan clutch shit the bed on my truck a couple years ago, and it acted similarly. It blew off the main hose at a clamp spot. I changed the fan clutch, attached the hose back, refilled the coolant and rocked on.
As I feared.....water pump. And apparently the new low coolant sensor I had put in a few months ago decided to take a shit. I filled the coolant in the overflow this morning and took off for the shop, the idiot light came on,, so I pulled over to top it off. It was full. How the hell the water pump seemingly took out the coolant sensor is anybody's guess... So for the time being I once again have a glowing red light in the middle of my dash. But at least I don't have the LT1's notoriously bad water pump looming over my head anymore. At least for a while.
In good news....the coolant idiot light is off. I'm guessing it must have got some coolant in a connection when the water pump was spitting it everywhere like a fucked up sprinkler. It's off, I'm happy.