Tesla’s plans for commercial vehicles are still in the early stages of development.

Front Line 丨 Tesla Mystery Model Award: Electric pickup may be a small bus

Electric minibus rendering image from electrek

Musk said at the Cybertruck launch of the electric pickup truck that this is Tesla’s last new product in the recent period. However, from the Musk’s Tesla master plan released three years ago, Tesla actually has a mysterious model that has not yet been disclosed.

According to Electrek In 2006, Musk once announced the overall plan of Tesla Motors. The plan includes two parts. First, the first part will include the introduction of expensive low-volume cars, large-scale, lower-priced mid-size cars, and solar power. Now it seems that the first part of the vision has been fully realized: Tesla already has roadstar high-end cars, tesla energy, ModelS / X / 3 products.

In 2016, Musk updated the plan’s Part II , which includes two routes for passenger and commercial vehicles.

In passenger cars, Musk proposes to expand solar and energy storage businesses, launch new compact SUVs and pickups. With the launch of Tesla’s Megapack energy storage products, Model Y and Cybertruck, the goals on commercial vehicles have begun to be achieved.

Musk has also seen the use of cars in the future. Under the strong promotion of sharing, the first stage is a form of private car matching such as Uber / Lyft. The second stage, or a longer-term stage may be It is not to own a car and realize true sharing.

He also mentioned in his plan to include self-driving cars in shared fleets.Tesla can do it by itself. Tesla already has technical reserves in autonomous driving technology. The realization of this vision is also related to social, policy, and user factors. Musk envisions it by the end of 2020. , But now looks more advanced.

In commercial vehicles, Musk also previously proposed the development of heavy trucks and high-density urban vehicles. The former was semi released in 2017, and the latter may be electric minibuses based on the Model X platform.

The two are still in the early stages of development: In 2017, Musk stated that he will start production of semi-heavy trucks in 2019, but this progress has been delayed, and 2019 is almost over. Tesla is currently not The production location of semi is clear. Not long ago, Musk also stated that it would delay production of this model to a small extent until 2020.

Compared to semi’s procrastination, Musk rarely mentions the production plan of electric minibuses in public, but Musk has never forgotten to stare at public transport reform.

Musk also has another lesser-known company, Boring Company . Traffic congestion is currently the most troublesome problem in cities. Boring’s business is to rebuild the underground tunnel transportation network. The speed and excavation cost of vehicles in this mode of transportation are better than ordinary underground tunnels. This tunnel is currently in the testing phase and can only be used with models produced by Tesla for the time being.

In addition to proposing special electric skateboards and electric pulleys to enable vehicles to pass through the tunnel, Tesla also released a rendering, which is an electric minibus with passenger capacity.

With the completion of Boring’s first commercial project in Las Vegas at the end of 2020, Tesla’s new electric minibus model may also surface in the near future.