Tesla says its upcoming pickup truck will cost less than 50,000 dollars! Whoa!

Science & Tech

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Tradesmen and the general public have been extremely interested in Tesla’s upcoming pickup truck ever since images of the truck were released at the launch of the Model Y a few years ago. During a recent podcast interview, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has made new statements regarding the pickup truck, including saying that he aims to keep the truck under $50,000.

“We don’t want it to be really expensive. I think it got to start at less than $50,000 – it’s got to be like $49,000 starting price max. Ideally less. It just can’t be unaffordable. It’s got to be something that’s affordable. There will be versions of the truck that will be more expensive, but you’ve got to be able to get a really great truck for $49,000 or less,” Elon said in an interview.

The pickup truck which is still under development has options planned such as 400-500 miles of range on a single charge, dual Motor All-wheel-drive powertrain with dynamic suspension, as well as ‘300,000 lbs of towing capacity’.

That’s right, 300,000 lbs of towing capacity! Ford’s F150 has a max towing capacity of 13,200 lbs.

The design, which has still not been confirmed, will sport a ‘Blade runner-like’ design, and might be unveiled this summer according to the Tesla CEO. 

Musk thinks that some people will think that “it doesn’t look like a truck.” Musk compared the new trucks design to the transition between the horse and carriage and the automobile.

Ford, which produces the F150, the best-selling pickups in the US for decades and won Motor Trend’s 2018 “Truck of the Year” award. Undoubtedly Tesla’s biggest competitor in pickup truck industry, Ford has invested $500 million in the electric truck startup Rivian, and has recently released a statement confirming that they have plans to electrify the F150.

And although the 2019 F150 comes in at the low base price of $28,000, it sucks up gasoline like a vacuum, and the upcoming Tesla pickup is All-electric. Musk also feels Tesla’s new pickup “will be a better truck than an F150 in terms of truck-like functionality, and be a better sports car than a standard [Porsche] 911.

At the base price of $49,000, the Tesla pickup would also be significantly less expensive than the $69,000 base price for the Rivian pickup truck set to be released in 2020.

This ambitious project for Tesla and Musk, as well as for Rivian and Ford is changing the pickup truck industry and may change the world in terms of productivity from individuals using these All-electric trucks such as tradesmen and truck lovers in general.