Tesla CEO Issues Pickup Promise, Hints at Full-sized Model

Tesla Motors or, more accurately, company CEO Elon Musk has hinted at the prospect of an electric pickup for quite some time. But neither the automaker nor the CEO ever issued any kind of concrete guarantee on it, even after other manufacturers had already beaten it to the punch.

However, Musk is now officially promising the pickup will be made immediately after the Model Y crossover arrives sometime between 2019 and 2020. Of course, he also promised that Model 3 deliveries would hit its stride before the end of this year. So let’s consider this more of an assurance that Tesla will produce the electric truck and not so much an indication of when you might see one on public roads.

“I promise that we will make a pickup truck right after Model Y. Have had the core design/engineering elements in my mind for almost 5 years. Am dying to build it,” Musk said in a Twitter post from Tuesday.

When questioned as to the vehicle’s scale, Musk claimed it would be similar in size to the Ford F-150 or possible a tad bigger “to account for a really gamechanging (I think) feature I’d like to add.” However, he didn’t elaborate on what that feature might be.

Tesla first announced plans for an electrified pickup truck last July — part of its “Master Plan” to develop a commercial truck, a bus, and the Model Y compact SUV. At the time, Musk said he wanted to see a working prototype of the pickup showcased within 18 to 24 months.

[Image: Tesla Motors]