This Week in Tesla - Everything We Know About the Tesla Pickup, Tesla Helps Those Affected by California Power Outages

Everything We Know About the Tesla Pickup

Since 2012, Tesla has been steadily expanding their model line, reaching more and more segments. The expansion into the SUV and affordable sedan markets with the Model X & 3 was huge for the company and with the Model Y, they will make a splash in the Crossover SUV segment, making a small yet spacious mass-market electric SUV. The remaining highest-volume segment of the American auto industry lies in that of the pickup truck. Hence Tesla’s decision to make yet another splash in a massive automotive segment: enter the Tesla Pickup.

We only have a limited amount of information about the Pickup as of now, but the little we do have is still enough to get any Tesla enthusiast excited. We think that it will be unveiled some time in November of this year due to a previous tweet from CEO Elon Musk, which he also recently confirmed.

As far as styling goes, Elon tweeted that it would have a sort of Blade Runner “Cyberpunk” truck look. He also confirmed that it would look even more futuristic than the artist’s rendering above. During the Model Y event, there was a very brief teaser image that flashed after the official unveiling, which no one caught until Musk told people that they had missed it and included this picture.

He said that the styling of the truck would be futuristic, and not for all. Seeing as most Tesla owners love the futuristic aspects of the cars, one would suspect that the styling would not limit the sales possibilities of the vehicle. Many did not know how to interpret the teaser image, questioning which part of the truck was being shown.

Concerning pricing, it is said to start below $50,000, which would still be quite a bit more expensive than most base pickup trucks from Ford and Chevy. However, it is after all a pickup truck equipped with great performance, range, and autopilot. To make a truly incredible electric pickup truck is not an easy feat either. To compete in towing capacity, bed space and range would be very tough to accomplish for an electric truck. For one, as many Model X owners who have towed before would know, the battery’s efficiency is severely decreased when towing. For the truck to truly compete with Detroit’s best, it would have to be able to tow big loads for long distances. All in all, everyone is very excited to see what the masterminds at Tesla are able to accomplish with such a blank canvas for them to work on.

Tesla Helps Those Affected by California Power Outages

A big part of Tesla’s business comes from their energy division. Whether it be Powerwalls, solar panels, or utility scale battery pack installations, they always deliver a product that is much smarter than the competition and is aware of its environment. With recent intentional power shut-offs from California electric supplier PG&E, Tesla owners in the area have received messages on the screens of their cars, recommending they charge to 100% while they still have power. The power shut-offs happened in an attempt to stop another catastrophic wildfire from sweeping across California.

In addition to the warning above message, Tesla Powerwall owners in the affected areas have noticed that once a shut-off is announced for their area ahead of time, the power storage devices go into “Storm Watch” mode, which helps them store more energy, which is then only used for essential functionality.

Beyond the messages sent to area cars and the Storm Watch mode activation, Tesla engineers have considered evacuations as well. For those who will be evacuating their power-less homes, Superchargers will be essential. At all Superchargers in the affected areas, Tesla is currently awaiting permit approval to install “Powerpacks” which can store massive amounts of energy and allow for charging of one’s car without the grid, as well as installing solar panels at many Supercharging locations. Tesla is really going above and beyond here compared to other companies by making it easier to either remain in the blacked-out areas or escape them if need be.

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