A new all-electric cyberpunk truck may be hitting the streets in the somewhat near future, and it’s being designed and built by Tesla, the company most responsible for the current electric vehicle revolution.
CEO Elon Musk tweeted a teaser image of a part of the Tesla Truck following last week’s Model Y unveiling (after no one noticed during the unveiling), but there wasn’t much to be said about what was actually being portrayed. Musk didn’t provide additional details, and the image itself wasn’t any obvious part of a vehicle, but that hasn’t stopped the Tesla community from tapping into its collective imagination. Several renderings of the upcoming electric truck have been created, and here we’ve compiled a few of our faves.
In a somewhat conventional version that incorporates Tesla’s Aero Wheels, this photo imagines the teaser pic as a bed cover. The glowing trim seems to simply have an aesthetic purpose.
Going for a more robotic vision of the future truck, a render posted by an account naming itself representative of the “Tesla Truck Club” community displayed the teaser pic as the front of the vehicle. The glow lines appear to take the place of traditional headlights, and the truck cab completely boxes in the hood/frunk portions.
Finally, the same Twitter account also posited that the teaser pic was just a more detailed version of a truck render already released by Tesla during the Tesla Semi unveiling. The overall suggestion is that the truck will just be a variation of the Tesla Semi itself, using the Semi’s architecture.
Gathering a few clues about the final Tesla truck look obviously came to order prior to the rendering designs. Perhaps the most well-known description given of the truck is a tie-in to Blade Runner. Musk has famously described it as a vehicle that would not be “out of place” in the film. If you haven’t seen it, “futuristic”, “cyberpunk”, “dystopia”, and “80s” are all the adjectives you need.
The tech-inspired CEO took to Twitter last year to ask the community what it would like to see in a Tesla Truck. Plenty of suggestions followed from the online crowd, but even more importantly were the further truck details provided by Musk:
- Dual motor all-wheel drive
- Crazy torque
- Suspension that dynamically adjusts for load
- Power outlets allowing use of heavy duty, 240V, high power tools in field (no generator needed)
- Cameras
- Onboard neural net
- Ultrasonics
Other details that were revealed over the last year include six seats, 400-500 miles of range per charge, and 300,000 lbs of towing capacity (yes, that’s 300 thousand pounds of torque). Regardless of what the Tesla Truck will look like, its features are certainly impressive, and members of the traditional truck crowd will likely take its credentials seriously once they see what it can do for themselves.
In an appearance on Recode’s Decode Podcast, Musk touted that Tesla’s cyberpunk truck was awesome, amazing, and heart-stopping; however, he also acknowledged that some reconfiguration might be in order if the design isn’t appealing to a wide enough audience. “If there’s only a small number of people that like that truck, I guess we’ll make a more conventional truck in the future,” he said. Musk has also commented about the “look” of Tesla’s truck, warning that it might be “too futuristic for most people, but [he] love[s] it”.
If the Tesla Truck is designed to be compelling enough to do well in the market, the company will have its latest industry disruption at hand. The truck market is currently dominated by vehicles like the Ford’s F-Series which it sold nearly 1 million of in 2018, Chevy’s Silverado, and Dodge’s Ram, each of which sold over half a million vehicles in 2018. All-electric startup Rivian has also noticed the possible potential in the truck market, and has its own R1T truck scheduled for deliveries in 2020. It should also be noted that Ford itself is looking to produce an all-electric version of its popular F-Series as well.
So, when will everyone get to see the actual Tesla Truck? According to Musk, later this year.
Tesla has expanded the footprint of a massive safety feature worldwide with a recent Software Update labeled as 2026.20.6. The expansion of the “Blind Spot Warning While Parked” feature represents the more widespread availability of the feature, which aims to prevent “dooring.”
Dooring is when a driver or passenger opens a car door into the path of an oncoming road user, usually a cyclist or motorcyclist. It is among the most common types of cycling accidents, the League of American Bicyclists says.
For this reason, Tesla created a feature that warns occupants not to open the door because an object is approaching. The feature will sound a chime, and it will also delay the opening of the door to prevent an incident.
The release notes state (via Not a Tesla App):
“If you attempt to open a door while an approaching object is detected in your blind spot (for example, a bicyclist approaching from behind) a chime sounds, and your door will not open upon initial button press. Wait a short time and press the button a second time to override the warning.”
Tesla initially rolled out this feature back in 2024 with the Model 3 “Highland.” However, it remained with the Model 3 exclusively for over a year; that was until Tesla added it to the Cybertruck this past Spring.
Now, it is making its way to the new Model Y, 2021 and newer Model S, and 2021 or newer Model X.
The prevention of dooring incidents could eliminate many injuries to cyclists, especially in an urban setting. Dooring accounts for 10-20 percent of bike-related crashes in major cities, and over 17,000 dooring-related incidents were treated in the U.S. over the course of a decade. These usually involve fractures, contusions, and head trauma.
Tesla confirmed this morning that it has sent the first production units, manufactured with no steering wheel or pedals, to on-road testing in Austin, sharing video of the first rides with no human controls.
The lack of steering wheels and pedals in the Cybercab aligns with Tesla’s self-certification of Robotaxi as Level 4 SAE, a platform it plans to make widespread through internal vehicles and customer-owned cars that will operate and generate revenue for individuals.
The start of these engineering tests is a major signal for Tesla, which plans to bring driverless, wheel-less, and pedal-less Cybercabs to market in the coming months. With production already well underway at Gigafactory Texas, where the Cybercab is built, there is some inclination to believe the first public rides could happen sooner rather than later.
Engineering tests of the first production Cybercab have begun in Austin pic.twitter.com/fk3KQvcE8a
— Tesla (@Tesla) June 30, 2026
Tesla’s engineering tests will put the Cybercab in real-world scenarios, testing not only the hardware, but more importantly, the software that drives the car around Austin with nobody supervising it within the car.
This is perhaps the biggest part of the internal testing process, especially prior to allowing regular, everyday people to hail the Cybercab for an autonomous ride. These early rides serve as a true benchmark for Tesla: How many rides can it achieve safely? How many miles did it travel consecutively without needing an intervention? What scenarios challenge the Full Self-Driving suite the most?
The proper precautions have already been put into place as well, as Tesla released the First Responders Guide to Cybercab over the weekend, ensuring that emergency services have 24/7 access to Robotaxi Assistance, as well as other boundaries, such as Geofencing features that can be used to redirect autonomous vehicle traffic due to accidents, road closures, construction, or maintenance.
Cybercab seems genuinely close to being added to the Robotaxi fleet in Austin, but Tesla has prioritized safety throughout this entire process. Therefore, we think it could be months before it truly starts giving rides to the public. People have been frustrated with this, but Robotaxi in Austin has a tremendous safety record so far, so the slow rollout has kept people safe and accidents to a minimum.
The most important thing is that Tesla continues to show consistent progress in the Cybercab’s ramp-up toward fleet addition. A few weeks back, we saw the EPA reward the Cybercab a Certificate of Conformity, allowing it to enter the stream of commerce. Then, we saw Tesla add decals, signaling that it was likely about to start testing it publicly. That has now happened.
The next big move will be the announcement of the first rides, so this Summer should be filled with anticipation.
For years, there have been images and videos across social media platforms that have reminded me of when I was a 15-year-old kid teased by “Xbox 720” videos on YouTube. These videos are of the supposed “Tesla Phone” that Elon Musk was secretly developing in between leading Tesla with its electric cars and SpaceX with its reusable rockets.
Would you buy a Tesla phone ? pic.twitter.com/aaTwvvIJit
— Tesla Owners Silicon Valley (@teslaownersSV) October 6, 2023
Although Musk has put those rumors to bed several times, it was never completely out of the realm that he could get involved in cell phones in some capacity. Think outside the box and more macro-level, though. Instead of reinventing the computer, Musk reinvented connectivity by developing Starlink with SpaceX.
It could be something similar, TD Cowen analyst Gregory Williams said in a note last week, where he hinted SpaceX could be gathering some steam to acquire T-Mobile.
Williams said it would be the “clear choice” for SpaceX if it decided to go through with a network acquisition. He also suggested AT&T.
The move would be possible through selling more of its own stock, which would help SpaceX raise the money to purchase T-Mobile, which would cost roughly $300 billion. It could be one of the moves SpaceX makes post-IPO in terms of an acquisition: it already acquired Cursor AI for $60 billion.
Other analysts, like Dan Ives of Wedbush, believe SpaceX and Tesla will eventually merge into one anyway, and that conglomeration could come as soon as this year, some have said.
The implications of SpaceX purchasing T-Mobile are massive. A combined entity would create a truly ubiquitous network: T-Mobile’s terrestrial 5G towers and Starlink’s growing constellation of Direct-to-Cell satellites. This would essentially eliminate dead zones across the U.S. and potentially globally.
SpaceX would instantly become a full-scale facilities-based carrier with satellite differentiation; a huge advantage. This would pressure AT&T and Verizon heavily.
There are also concerns like a potential reduction in long-term competition, and of course, a deal of that size would face intense scrutiny from government agencies.
The strategic fit is compelling due to the existing Starlink–T-Mobile partnership and complementary technologies (space + terrestrial). It could create a dominant integrated communications player. However, the regulatory, financial, and execution hurdles are enormous — this remains highly speculative with no indication SpaceX is actively pursuing it right now.
Tesla expands massive safety feature worldwide in latest update
Tesla sends production Cybercab with no steering wheel, pedals to on-road testing
