Let us start from the premise that Elon Muck is a wild man. He and his team at Tesla are pushing relentlessly to the advent of electrified and sustainable transportation.
To that end, Tesla unveiled the Model Y this past week. As discussed in an earlier post, the Model Y is designed to be Tesla's mass market entry into the sport utility vehicle market. Like the Model 3, the Model Y will be priced competitively ($39,000 to start) and will have some impressive stats (300 mile range and a 3.5 second zero to sixty time). All indicators point to this being Tesla's most popular car.
During the unveiling, Tesla showed off each of its production cars, from the Roadster to the Tesla Semi. Nonetheless, spectators and speculators were hoping for a "one more thing" moment a la the late, great Steve Jobs.
Seemingly, Elon disappointed. He talked about the history of Tesla, showcased the old cars, unveiled the new model and left the stage. No surprise announcements ... no Tesla Truck. Or so everyone (including Wall Street) thought.
In the wake of that strange disappointment, Elon tweeted on Friday that the world had missed a hidden teaser during the event. Surely, this message sent fans back to the video to watch for some masked signal. Some commentators thought, bizarrely, that Elon's custom-made Tesla Nikes were the sneaky product announcement. Others tried to parse a comment made by Elon regarding an extension of the Supercharger network through remote parts of the world. Despite the crowd-sourced efforts, apparently no one came to a credible conclusion.
Instead, Elon took to Twitter to clarify the hidden message. Apparently, as the live stream of the Model Y event ended, the credits from the movie Blade Runner were shown. One minute into the video, Tesla flashed the above teaser image. The concept rendering is meant to show the forthcoming Tesla Pickup Truck, that Elon has variously described as "cyberpunk" and as being at home in the Blade Runner universe. Who else but Elon could launch a product like that?
It is unclear, obviously, what the image actually shows in terms of styling and design. A few commentators have speculated that the band of lights are rear brake indicators and that the image is intentionally skewed so that the viewer can't identify the truck bed. My money, though, is on those lights being headlamps and on the Truck have an immensely sloped front-end, more reminiscent of the Tesla Semi than the Model S.
I have been pondering two things since watching Elon post the Truck image online: (1) did Elon decide to affirmatively tease the Truck after market close on Friday instead of during the event itself just to monkey around with SEC and the short market and (2) how long do we have to wait for the Tesla Pickup to be unveiled and put into production?
Join In
Comments (13)
I love it! It looks mean, futuristic sleek. Just shut up and take my money already!
Yikes.
- In the latest incident to take place while a Tesla car was on Autopilot.. Multiple dashcams show a Tesla Model S accelerating into slow-moving traffic
- In early December, a Tesla Model S slammed into multiple police cars .. The driver... engaged his Autopilot before the accident.
- A Tesla Model S crashed into a parked firetruck on a Utah highway ... Autopilot mode sped up prior to the accident.
- In March 2018, a driver was killed when a Model X with Autopilot engaged hit a barrier..
Tesla's website, as a reminder, states: “Autopilot is intended for use only with a fully attentive driver who has their hands on the wheel and is prepared to take over at any time.” So, naturally, when Elon Musk demonstrated Autopilot... he did just the opposite.
www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-03-21/dashcam-shows-dramatic-tesla-model-s-crash
Add that to how they treat their employees. Beautiful company.
Not sure how this relates to the Truck post, but, I’m happy to engage. Tesla is super clear about the limitations of Auto-pilot. Most of what you say here demonstrates a limited understanding of the functions of Autopilot, with due respect. ...
Read morea lot of words, however doesn't change the fact that the system accelerated into a crash. Doesn't change the fact that the CEO is a douche. Doesn't change the fact that the company is a ponzi scheme.
None of that disillusions the faithful, I...
Read moreAre you sure that's not the new Tesla bar of soap?
I'd buy Tesla Soap. No doubt about it.