Elon Musk has made a career out of over-promising and under-delivering. I guess when your entire model is predicated on getting investors to part with their money you need to be able to spin a good tale.
And it works! Tesla, that scrappy little Silicon Valley upstart, continues to (silently) hum along. Granted, their burn rate is likely responsible for those constant California wildfires, but somehow, someway, Musk is able to get billionaires to roll up their pants, climb aboard the sinking ship, and help bail water (wait? Is this a fire or sinking ship metaphor? Both!)
Consider: First quarter of 2019 saw Tesla lose $700 million, while also throwing $1.5 billion of its cash and cash equivalents out the window. The first loss was in part due to canceled orders after Tesla raised the price of the Model S and Model X. The latter was due in part to pay off convertible bonds at a price tag of $920 million.
Tesla Pickup: An F-150/911 Lovechild?
All this is to say that we should totally take Musky at his word when he evangelizes the forthcoming Tesla pickup. Among those claims, which are completely ironclad and not at all subject to change, should you wish to chip in with a billion or two in funding:
- It will have a range of 400-500 miles
- Will seat six
- Can fit a full-size truck in its bed
- Have an automatically adjusting suspension
- Be more functional than an F-150
- Be competitive with a Porsche 911
- Dual-motored all-wheel-drive
- “Crazy” torque
- Sell for less than $50,000
Now, what’s far more likely is that, eventually, Tesla will sell a $90k truck that offers “crazy” torque and AWD, a 200-300 range battery, and ridiculous acceleration for a vehicle that has no need for it. Eventually, an entry-level Tesla pickup will be released that will still likely be north of $50k and lack most of the features promised.
Yet. Yet, as long as Musk continues to convince investors (and sell carbon credits to “the other guys”) then why not, right? Why not promise the moon (or is that Mars?) and suffer no accountability for failing to deliver.