Tesla Motors Inc has shown that electric vehicles can be a viable means of transportation. Its Model S and Model X are already getting rave reviews in the sedan and SUV categories. Critics have maintained that Tesla’s Model S and Model X are focused on the luxury segments of the auto market and that Elon Musk is making his cars for rich folks. Nonetheless, the norm in the tech space is that cost of R&D of new technology are usually paid for and subsidized by the rich who pay an early premium.
Now, Tesla Motors is already working to change that brand image of being a maker of luxury vehicles as the firm prepares to bring a mass market EV to the market. Tesla is on track to unveil its mass-market Model 3 in March and the firm plans to have the car ready for the market by 2017. However, Elon Musk is looking beyond affordable EVs for his plan to disrupt and take over the auto market. A latest report indicates that Tesla might be planning to start building trucks.
Elon Musk wants to build EV trucks
BGR reports that Elon Musk has briefly hinted on his plan to have Tesla Motors build a truck sometime in the future. Musk was at the StartmeupHK in Hong Kong where he talked about the current state of things at Tesla and the plans for the future. In his words, “I think it is quite likely we will do a truck in the future… I think it’s sort of a logical thing for us to do in the future.”It remains to be seen how easy it would be for Tesla to build a truck considering that trucks are heavier than sedans and they’ll need to lug around cargo.
However, trucks are truly the next logical step for Tesla Motors once it is done with its plan to dominate the auto space with the mass market Model 3. It might interest you to know that trucks offer the firm a good opportunity to get a stronger foothold in the U.S. auto market. For instance, pickups are the top 20 best-selling vehicles of 2014.
In the last two years (2014 and 2015) three best-selling vehicles in the U.S. were all pickup trucks. Ford Motors F-Series sold 630,000 in the first 10 months of 2015. General Motors Chevy Silverado had 10-month sales for 492,000 units as at October, and Fiat Chrysler Automobile N.V. has sold 371,000 units as at October 2015.
Autopilot to transform your commute
In other news, Tesla Motors has released an official video of its autopilot feature. The short video, which can be found on YouTube, shows how Tesla’s autopilot can “revolutionize” a driver’s commute by highlighting the different ways through which autopilot can make a difference. The video starts by showing the recently announced “Summon” feature of the autopilot at work as the driver asks the car to make its way out of the garage to the front door.
The video goes on to show the Model S on the road with the autopilot at work. The autopilot helps the Model S to stay centered in its lane and to keep a safe driving distance from the vehicle in its front and it then executes a lane change by flicking a turn signal stalk. The video went ahead to show the Model S navigating a curve on the road even as it follows the flow of traffic. Finally, the video shows the car executing a smooth auto-park as the Model S parks itself.
