e
Elon Musk's Secret Master Plan: Tesla Pickup Trucks and "Designing the Machine That Makes the Machine"
Here's why the pickup truck could be a game changer
After days of Twitter teases, Elon Musk finally released his "Secret Master Plan, Part Deux" yesterday, he and Tesla's road map for the future. It's got several surprises in it and shows that he has been thinking big picture all the while.
The document is dense, so we'll tackle his reveals one at a time, calling out what we think you Core77 readers will find interesting. First up, in his section called "Expand to Cover the Major Forms of Terrestrial Transport," he drops this nugget:
Today, Tesla addresses two relatively small segments of premium sedans and SUVs. With the Model 3, a future compact SUV and a new kind of pickup truck, we plan to address most of the consumer market.
A fan's speculative rendering. Credit to non-Tesla-employee Garrett Bradford We've all known the Model 3 was coming, but a pickup truck is an interesting proposal that points squarely towards the mass market. One might assume an economy car would fit the mass-market bill, but it's long been established that the best-selling vehicle in America of any sort is a pickup truck. Specifically, the Ford F-150, which has held the title for over a decade. Last year Ford sold a staggering 780,354 of them.
Enter a caption (optional)The number two and three best-selling vehicles—again, of any sort—were the Chevy Silverado and Dodge Ram pickups, with 600,544 and 451,116 in sales, respectively. That means a single category of vehicle, the pickup truck, comprised the top three sales positions with a combined 1,832,014 units sold.
Enter a caption (optional)We know what you're thinking: How could Tesla possibly produce enough pickup trucks to make a dent in a market of that size, when they're still struggling to meet demand for their Model S and Model X, with 2016 targets of 80,000 and 90,000 vehicles? The answer is Einsteinian, in that problems cannot be solved using the same thinking that created them in the first place. Musk knows this, and that is why "Tesla engineering has transitioned to focus heavily on designing the machine that makes the machine -- turning the factory itself into a product," he writes, emphasis his.
What really matters to accelerate a sustainable future is being able to scale up production volume as quickly as possible…. A first principles physics analysis of automotive production suggests that somewhere between a 5 to 10 fold improvement is achievable by version 3 on a roughly 2 year iteration cycle. The first Model 3 factory machine should be thought of as version 0.5, with version 1.0 probably in 2018.
So yes, he's thinking long-term. And if he can pull it off, it will be more than a production miracle. Consider that pickup trucks today are a lot more efficient than they were even a decade ago, but they are hardly clean-running machines. If Tesla can make significant inroads into this market, the environmental impact alone would be noteworthy. But he'll also have competition to contend with in Via Motors.
Enter a caption (optional)-
oFavorite This
-
Q8Comment
Directory Company Profiles
Core77
Industrial Design
Resources
Industrial Design
Resources
-
Core77 Directory
Find the Best Industrial Design CompaniesGo -
Goddard, Inc.
Goddard Inc. is a full-service engineering and industrial design firm specializing in the developmen...
-
Astro StudiosAstro Studios of California launched in 1994, and since then our multidisciplinary teams have design...
-
andesignlab
ANDESIGN is an industrial design consultancy based in Orange County California and Austin Texas. AN...
-
Open Design
We partner with teams to deliver fresh thinking and award winning products for passionate audiences....
-
Pushstart Creative
What is your future in a connected world? We create impactful strategies and build beautiful connec...
-
Anvil Studios, Inc
Anvil Studios is a product design firm for the real world. Anvil is Treasure Hinds and Greg Janky. ...
-
Endeavor Design
We help transform ideas into compelling products that grow your business.
K
{Welcome
Create a Core77 Account
Already have an account? Sign In
By creating a Core77 account you confirm that you accept the Terms of Use
K
Reset Password
Please enter your email and we will send an email to reset your password.
Comments
Whoever wrote this article has no clue about past and present truck efficiency . My 11 year old truck gets better gas mileage than anything being sold today
Really curious to see how Tesla will break into the US truck market. I don't think anybody's done it since Toyota, and they spent massive amounts not just to deliver a product, but also craft a tough-guy image with over the top marketing and commercials that were stunts of machismo/insanity (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HzegzpTSDI&feature=related). US truck drivers aren't easily convinced to trade in their Fords/Chevys!
Ya but Tesla is also an American company like Chey and Ford so it has that going for it. Plus.. no gas needed
I highly doubt Tesla plans on re-designing the Holden Commodore.
Fugly
I commend Tesla for wanting to make pick-up trucks, but they can't look like that. That is the least manly looking truck ever. The truck would need to have a tank full of testosterone to supplement the batteries. It needs to look like John Cena got into the car factory and sired automotive offspring, or it won't appeal to the same market.
That's not a Tesla rendering, that's a speculative rendering done by a fan.
A fan who doesn't understand usable bed space.