One of the most anticipated pickup trucks coming out over the next year is the one from Tesla. The rumors and crazy/stupid renders we see come across the interweb are sometimes intriguing, and sometimes just ridiculous. Most of the info comes from quips and comments emanating from the mouth and tweets of Tesla CEO Elon Musk. It’s great that he lets slip tidbits that help us put the pieces together. Some of it seems braggadocious, but generally, he does what he says he’s doing, or rather what Tesla is doing. 

InsideEVs has some quotes and comments we’ve culled to narrow down what seems realistic from far fetched. What you can count on is getting all of the info we know about the upcoming Tesla pickup here as we filter the rumors from the ridiculous. 

Price

There have been numerous comments from Musk indicating the sweet spot for the Tesla pickup is right around $50,000. He says that is the “affordable” price one should pay for a truck. Of course, we heard similar price speculation about the Model 3 being $35,000. You can see that didn’t even come close. So, while we’d like to think 50 Gs is the number we wouldn’t be surprised to see it over $70,000.

Range

On this point, we are more apt to believe the rumors we keep hearing that the Tesla truck will have a range around 400-500 miles. We also know Tesla is working on a million-mile battery pack. That may come later as a way of keeping interest high after the initial surge of publicity and sales. Needless to say, if such a breakthrough in battery development were to come about it would be more than a game-changer for the truck market.

Layout

Each wheel will have its own motor. Musk has stated the suspension will electronically adjust based upon the load and road conditions. In the past Musk has said 300,000 pounds is the goal for maximum towing load. 

Design

The Tesla truck can’t look traditional. If there is one thing missing in truck design it’s that all pickups look basically the same. The design should be radical and polarizing and with Musk saying it would not look out of place in a Bladerunner world we hope he’s right. While we don’t expect it to look like our lead sketch, expect almost anything in the looks department.

Can Tesla Wait This Long?

Actually not that long. Musk is quoted saying the release will be in November, probably at the LA Auto Show. But the time from initial release to actual delivery is another thing. We know that multiple vehicles are being developed in tandem with the pickup and all of them carry importance to Tesla so we would guess anytime from early summer 2022 to the beginning of 2023. 

By then the Rivian R1T electric truck will have been released. With that in mind, we would expect Musk is insisting on specifications much greater than anything that comes out be it from Rivian or one of the major truck manufacturers like Ford or Ram. 

With Ford having recently invested in Rivian, this will surely jumpstart the production of an electric F-150. Though Ford is behind on electric truck development relative to Tesla it is not unreasonable to think Ford may have an electric truck with a Ford emblem by 2022.