According to reports, the production of Tesla electric pickup trucks still has a long way to go, and even there is no production line that can produce trucks at present. However, Musk did clarify the body size of the pickup truck on May 23rd.
In a tweet, Musk wrote: "Last night, Franz and I reviewed the design of electric pickup trucks. Even losing 3% is too small. We will basically keep this shape. At some point, we may make a smaller and more compact electric pickup truck for the global market. "
Flaitz mentioned in Musk's tweet refers to Franz von Horja, the head of Tesla's car design.
This change of electric pickup truck is worth noting, because Musk once said that the size of the prototype of electric pickup truck is actually 5% larger. Musk mentioned the possibility of maintaining the existing proportion of the pickup body, but the size was all reduced by 5%. He also mentioned that electric pickup trucks must be suitable for parking in ordinary garages.
Earlier, Musk also said that Tesla may reduce the width of electric pickup trucks by 2.54 cm and the length by more than 65,438+05 cm without affecting practicality or aesthetics.
After the press conference, Tesla opened an online booking for pickup trucks. Surprisingly, despite its strange design, this car has received 500,000 reservations so far (of course, consumers only paid a deposit of $65,438+000, and booking doesn't mean they have to pay for it in the future).
The design released by Tesla is not the final mass production design. In the past two months, Musk has provided some updates about electric pickup trucks through Twitter. He pointed out that the company is adding dynamic air suspension, which can improve the driving experience of unpaved roads. Musk even said that the electric pickup can still float in the water for a while, but he did not elaborate.
Tesla said that it will provide three electric pickups. According to the specifications on its website, the cheapest version is a single-motor rear-wheel drive model, which costs 40,000 US dollars and has a cruising range of 400 kilometers. The Chinese version is a dual-motor four-wheel drive, which can travel 480 kilometers on a single charge. The price of this model is close to 50 thousand dollars.
The third version will have three motors and all-wheel drive, and the battery life will exceed 800 kilometers. The version called "Three Motors" costs about $70,000.
As for the small electric pickup truck that Musk talked about for the global market, when it will be released is still unknown.
Tesla has only one electric vehicle factory in fremont, California, USA, which produces all four types of electric vehicles. The production capacity is already very tight, and it is unable to undertake the production of more models.
According to the latest news from foreign media, Tesla is currently looking for a factory in the central United States to build a factory specializing in the production of electric pickup trucks. It is reported that Tesla initially targeted two cities: Austin, Texas and Tulsa, Oklahoma. It is also reported that Austin is more likely to get this project.
Recently, Tesla had a disagreement with the government of alameda county, California on the resumption of work in the fremont factory. Musk said on Twitter that Tesla's headquarters and future projects should be transferred to other States immediately. Newsom, the governor of California, recently said that he had had a dialogue with Musk and was not worried about the relocation of Tesla's headquarters for the time being.
It is said that Tesla's electric pickup factory may employ 1 10,000 employees. To this end, Tulsa and Austin launched a fierce competition. Recently, the mayor of Tulsa posted a design photo on Twitter, showing that if the Tesla factory landed in the city, the electric pickup truck might be used as a police car in the city.