https://www.telegraph.co.uk/cars/fe...k-know-far-elon-musks-electric-pick-up-truck/
What do the American think of this new vehicle ?
No, this isn't the first all-electric, medium-sized pick-up truck (that honour belongs to tiny Bollinger which has such a thing on its stand at the Los Angeles Auto Show), but Elon Musk's company has finally announced its intention to go head to head with the big American car makers by making a truck to compete in what is by far the largest market in the US.
The launch event was held in Los Angeles, California in front of an adoring audience at the opening of the Los Angeles motor show to the public.
Known as the Cybertruck, it is claimed to have the utility of a truck and the performance of a sports car and will go on sale in 2021 priced from $40,000. It has 500-mile plus range and will accelerate from 0-60mph in 2.9 seconds, although presumably that will not be while towing its claimed maximum capacity of 6,350kg, or with the 6.5-foot long, 2,830-litre load bed fully laden.
Three variants will be launched: single-motor rear drive; twin-motor 4x4; and three-motor 4x4 – and £100 refundable deposits are already been taken on the Tesla website. The vehicle rides on adaptive air suspension and will eventually also be offered with Tesla's autonomous driving system.
A Tesla rendering of the Cybertruck in action.
The ultra-angular, six-seat, 1,587kg payload Tesla pick-up's stainless steel-bodied styling had been inspired by Giorgetto Giugiaro's polygonal "folded paper" design for the 1976 Lotus Esprit, which was also the hero car in the James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me (when it converted into a submarine, remember?).
In reference to the stainless steel body construction, the press material says: "If there was something better, we’d use it."
The other inspirational movie link is the 1981 DMC DeLorean which also had a stainless-steel body, was also designed by Giugiaro and was the time machine hero in the Back To The Future franchise.
The interior provides seating for six (including a small 'jump seat' between the two front seats in the manner of the original Land Rover)
Pick-ups are the most profitable vehicles made by America's big three (General Motors, Ford and Chrysler) and the best-selling vehicles in the US. So you get an idea of the scale, Ford's market-leading F-series pick-up is the world's best-selling vehicle.
Simple, big and powerful, pick-ups perform a role that is usually taken by vans in Europe, as well as being lifestyle vehicles for a hip and trendy outdoors life. They've often been responsible for turning around the fortunes of the American car makers and although Japanese manufacturers have for a long time hungrily viewed this market, vehicles from Toyota and Honda have struggled to fully compete in what is a fiercely patriotic sector.
“We need sustainable energy now," said Musk at the launch. "If we don’t have a pick-up truck we can’t solve it. The top three-selling vehicles in America are pick-up trucks. To solve sustainable energy we have to have a pick-up truck."
If the Cybertruck had been revealed by Ford we'd have had to call it the Angular...
As with all announcements from Tesla, the internet is agog with speculation about the new pick-up, although there are some doubts as to whether Musk's latest move will cut much ice with the traditional pick-up's tough, hard-bargaining markets mainly in the agricultural, construction and extractive industries.
One website noted that although a build-up Twitter activity has been mainly concentrated around the coasts of America, trucks sell best in the vast country's Mid-West and central areas, where perhaps folk are too busy driving their pick-ups to bother with posting tweets.
Musk continues to play to the partisan crowd after metal balls cracked the supposedly bullet-proof window glass
Nor did things go entirely to plan at the launch as Musk demonstrated the Cybertruck's armoured glass, which is claimed to withstand hammer blows and bullets. In a demonstration of the glass's properties he asked a company employee to throw a large metal ball at a side window and it shattered, twice.
"Maybe that was a little too hard," said Musk. "Oh man, it didn't go through, [though] there's room for improvement."
Tesla Cybertruck specifications
RANGE 500-plus miles
ACCELERATION 0-60 mph in less than 2.9 seconds
SEATING CAPACITY up to six adults
BODY CONSTRUCTION 30X cold-rolled stainless steel
LOAD BED LENGTH 6.5 feet
STORAGE CAPACITY 100 cubic feet of exterior, lockable storage including the load bed and under the bonnet
TOWING CAPACITY more than 14,000lb
PAYLOAD up to 3,500lb
SUSPENSION TRAVEL 4 inches in either direction
TOUCHSCREEN SIZE 17 inches
It's futuristic all right - but how will that play with the staunchly conservative pick-up market?
What do the American think of this new vehicle ?
No, this isn't the first all-electric, medium-sized pick-up truck (that honour belongs to tiny Bollinger which has such a thing on its stand at the Los Angeles Auto Show), but Elon Musk's company has finally announced its intention to go head to head with the big American car makers by making a truck to compete in what is by far the largest market in the US.
The launch event was held in Los Angeles, California in front of an adoring audience at the opening of the Los Angeles motor show to the public.
Known as the Cybertruck, it is claimed to have the utility of a truck and the performance of a sports car and will go on sale in 2021 priced from $40,000. It has 500-mile plus range and will accelerate from 0-60mph in 2.9 seconds, although presumably that will not be while towing its claimed maximum capacity of 6,350kg, or with the 6.5-foot long, 2,830-litre load bed fully laden.
Three variants will be launched: single-motor rear drive; twin-motor 4x4; and three-motor 4x4 – and £100 refundable deposits are already been taken on the Tesla website. The vehicle rides on adaptive air suspension and will eventually also be offered with Tesla's autonomous driving system.
A Tesla rendering of the Cybertruck in action.
The ultra-angular, six-seat, 1,587kg payload Tesla pick-up's stainless steel-bodied styling had been inspired by Giorgetto Giugiaro's polygonal "folded paper" design for the 1976 Lotus Esprit, which was also the hero car in the James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me (when it converted into a submarine, remember?).
In reference to the stainless steel body construction, the press material says: "If there was something better, we’d use it."
The other inspirational movie link is the 1981 DMC DeLorean which also had a stainless-steel body, was also designed by Giugiaro and was the time machine hero in the Back To The Future franchise.
The interior provides seating for six (including a small 'jump seat' between the two front seats in the manner of the original Land Rover)
Pick-ups are the most profitable vehicles made by America's big three (General Motors, Ford and Chrysler) and the best-selling vehicles in the US. So you get an idea of the scale, Ford's market-leading F-series pick-up is the world's best-selling vehicle.
Simple, big and powerful, pick-ups perform a role that is usually taken by vans in Europe, as well as being lifestyle vehicles for a hip and trendy outdoors life. They've often been responsible for turning around the fortunes of the American car makers and although Japanese manufacturers have for a long time hungrily viewed this market, vehicles from Toyota and Honda have struggled to fully compete in what is a fiercely patriotic sector.
“We need sustainable energy now," said Musk at the launch. "If we don’t have a pick-up truck we can’t solve it. The top three-selling vehicles in America are pick-up trucks. To solve sustainable energy we have to have a pick-up truck."
If the Cybertruck had been revealed by Ford we'd have had to call it the Angular...
As with all announcements from Tesla, the internet is agog with speculation about the new pick-up, although there are some doubts as to whether Musk's latest move will cut much ice with the traditional pick-up's tough, hard-bargaining markets mainly in the agricultural, construction and extractive industries.
One website noted that although a build-up Twitter activity has been mainly concentrated around the coasts of America, trucks sell best in the vast country's Mid-West and central areas, where perhaps folk are too busy driving their pick-ups to bother with posting tweets.
Musk continues to play to the partisan crowd after metal balls cracked the supposedly bullet-proof window glass
Nor did things go entirely to plan at the launch as Musk demonstrated the Cybertruck's armoured glass, which is claimed to withstand hammer blows and bullets. In a demonstration of the glass's properties he asked a company employee to throw a large metal ball at a side window and it shattered, twice.
"Maybe that was a little too hard," said Musk. "Oh man, it didn't go through, [though] there's room for improvement."
Tesla Cybertruck specifications
RANGE 500-plus miles
ACCELERATION 0-60 mph in less than 2.9 seconds
SEATING CAPACITY up to six adults
BODY CONSTRUCTION 30X cold-rolled stainless steel
LOAD BED LENGTH 6.5 feet
STORAGE CAPACITY 100 cubic feet of exterior, lockable storage including the load bed and under the bonnet
TOWING CAPACITY more than 14,000lb
PAYLOAD up to 3,500lb
SUSPENSION TRAVEL 4 inches in either direction
TOUCHSCREEN SIZE 17 inches
It's futuristic all right - but how will that play with the staunchly conservative pick-up market?
