Photo: YouTube screenshot
Tesla has three very important models that should have already been launched or were supposed to come out this year: the Semi, the Cybertruck, and the Roadster.
Elon Musk has just cleared up the situation regarding two of them. The Roadster would suffer another delay, pushing its release back to 2022 (and we all know what that usually means for Tesla - 31 December 2022), whereas the Cybertruck is said to have its first few deliveries by the end of this year "if we get lucky."
The Semi is also in limbo. After its initial presentation more than three years ago (during the same event where the new Roadster also made its first appearance), the all-electric class 8 truck is reportedly ready to begin production. However, there's an issue with the supply for the company's new 4680 battery cell, which means that, like the Cybertruck, we might only get to see a handful of Semi deliveries this year.
Well, despite the fact this bottleneck - one that Musk has been warning all EV makers about - would obviously affect any other new model as well, some people are still inquiring about them. It happened again during a recent TSLA earnings call when Joseph Spak, an analyst for RBC Capital Markets, asked about the prospect of a Tesla van.
Not in the position to promise anything specific, Elon Musk offered a predictably vague answer (via Teslarati): “I think Tesla is definitely going to make an electric van at some point.” In the "Tesla Master Plan Part 2" released in 2016, Musk said "heavy-duty trucks and high passenger-density urban transport [vehicles]" were in the works and would be revealed "next year."
It's almost five years later, and the latter is nowhere to be seen. With the recent delays in the commercial launches for both the Cybertruck and Roadster and the relatively poor reception of the company's "Battery Day" last fall, Tesla needs something big to keep the investors' interest high. A van may not be as glamorous as the Roadster, but just imagine how many businesses would welcome a decently priced commercial vehicle that would drastically reduce running and maintenance costs.
At the moment, though, Tesla has enough on its plate, and it's just too obvious for Musk to even try to dissimulate it. After years of promises and delays, it's time for the company to deliver, and three very important models (each in its own way) are already queued up. The van will have to wait its turn, and it's not at all clear when that's going to come.
The Semi is also in limbo. After its initial presentation more than three years ago (during the same event where the new Roadster also made its first appearance), the all-electric class 8 truck is reportedly ready to begin production. However, there's an issue with the supply for the company's new 4680 battery cell, which means that, like the Cybertruck, we might only get to see a handful of Semi deliveries this year.
Well, despite the fact this bottleneck - one that Musk has been warning all EV makers about - would obviously affect any other new model as well, some people are still inquiring about them. It happened again during a recent TSLA earnings call when Joseph Spak, an analyst for RBC Capital Markets, asked about the prospect of a Tesla van.
Not in the position to promise anything specific, Elon Musk offered a predictably vague answer (via Teslarati): “I think Tesla is definitely going to make an electric van at some point.” In the "Tesla Master Plan Part 2" released in 2016, Musk said "heavy-duty trucks and high passenger-density urban transport [vehicles]" were in the works and would be revealed "next year."
It's almost five years later, and the latter is nowhere to be seen. With the recent delays in the commercial launches for both the Cybertruck and Roadster and the relatively poor reception of the company's "Battery Day" last fall, Tesla needs something big to keep the investors' interest high. A van may not be as glamorous as the Roadster, but just imagine how many businesses would welcome a decently priced commercial vehicle that would drastically reduce running and maintenance costs.
At the moment, though, Tesla has enough on its plate, and it's just too obvious for Musk to even try to dissimulate it. After years of promises and delays, it's time for the company to deliver, and three very important models (each in its own way) are already queued up. The van will have to wait its turn, and it's not at all clear when that's going to come.
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