Elon Musk Wildly Claims Tesla Pickup Will Be Superior to Ford F-150 and Porsche 911

From Car and Driver

• Elon Musk discussed the forthcoming Tesla pickup on a podcast and had plenty of interesting things to say.

• He said that the truck would have to start under $50,000 to be competitive, quoting an estimated starting price of $49,000, and said it will have a futuristic, "sci-fi" design.

• Among his more outlandish claims, Musk asserted that the Tesla truck will be better than both the Ford F-150 and the Porsche 911.

If the upcoming Tesla pickup truck is as good as Elon Musk says it will be, it's going to be a real world-beater-but that's a big if. The electric-car company's always confident leader shared some eye-opening assertions during an interview on the "Ride the Lightning" podcast this week, including that the electric Tesla truck will beat both the Ford F-150 and the Porsche 911 at their own games. (We've illustrated our idea of such a vehicle above.)

"It'll be a better truck than an equivalent F-150 and a better sports car than a standard 911," Musk said of the all-electric truck that has been hinted at for over a year now, when he first acknowledged that the company was working on a hauler. Back then, he tweeted it would have lots of torque, dual electric motors providing all-wheel drive, and a load-leveling suspension. He's now expanding on that by saying that it will have "incredible functionality from a load-carrying standpoint" and that it will "look pretty sci-fi." He also clarified that an earlier, extremely vague teaser photo does in fact show the front end of the truck.

All this should perhaps be taken with a grain of salt, especially given Musk's targeted starting price of $49,000-around the same as a Model 3 Long Range. He admitted that certain versions would be more expensive but said, "You've gotta be able to get a really good truck for $49,000 or less." That would put it right in the heart of the full-size truck market and significantly below electric startup Rivian's R1T truck, which is expected to start at $69,000 when it goes on sale in late 2020.

When, if ever, will Tesla's pickup come to fruition? Musk didn't get into any specifics on timing for the truck, so we can't imagine it'll go on sale in the near future. We will keep our ear to the ground for more chatter from Musk, who's sure to spill more tantalizing tidbits leading up to the eventual reveal.

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