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Tesla Pickup unveiling nears as final truck details take shape
Details about Tesla’s upcoming pickup truck are relatively few and far between, so even small updates are welcome among the all-electric car maker’s community of enthusiasts. That said, CEO Elon Musk recently revealed the final details of the truck are underway and its unveiling should be in two to three months.
“We’re close, but the magic is in the final details. Maybe 2 to 3 months,” Musk teased on Twitter in reference to the Tesla Truck’s reveal timeline.
The last major update from Musk about the cyberpunk-styled truck was given during the recently-held 2019 Annual Shareholder Meeting. During the event, the vehicle’s design, towing capacity, and performance were briefly discussed, Musk specifically noting that the truck’s stats would be comparable or even better than a base Porsche 911. He further estimated its unveiling date to be near the end of summer 2019 which is in line with his most recent comments on the timeline.
To be comparable to a Porsche 911 in terms of speed, the Tesla Truck should have a 0-60 mph time of about 4 seconds. Perhaps a closer rival, though, would be the Rivian R1T pickup truck which is expected to boast a 0-60 mph time of 3 seconds. In terms of towing capacity, however, Musk chose the #1 selling truck in the world for comparison – the Ford F-series. “If the (Ford) F-150 can tow it, the Tesla truck can do it,” he boasted during the Annual Shareholder Meeting.
With such impressive claims in mind, it’s no wonder that the website AutoWise recently found the Tesla Truck to be the most talked about truck on Twitter, beating out the F-150. After an analysis of 100,000 geotagged tweets, AutoWise determined that Tesla had captured the majority of social media conversations on the platform, particularly in the northern half of the US and the two coasts. Notably, the F-150 still remains popular in the south, which may prove challenging for Musk’s unique approach to the Tesla Truck’s design. The CEO has admitted on several occasions that its Blade Runner-inspired form might not appeal to a wide audience, the traditional truck crowd in particular.
Of all the aspects of Tesla’s upcoming truck that has received attention, the starting price has received a lion’s share: $49,000. The amount was revealed during Musk’s recent appearance at Tesla owner-enthusiast Ryan McCaffrey‘s Ride the Lightning podcast, among other details. Incredibly enough, Musk also pointed out that Tesla is looking to offer the vehicle at “well under” $50,000. “You should be able to buy a really great truck for $49k or less,” he said. Rivian’s all-electric R1T pickup truck is said to start at $69,000, but the company’s vehicle design is much more traditional overall, which may be a competitive feature despite the price hike over Tesla’s truck.
One Tesla enthusiast have decided not to wait for the pickup’s unveiling or availability in order to own it and opted to build one using a Model 3 as the base. YouTuber and robot-enthusiast Simone Giertz constructed her very own “Truckla” with some assistance from a few knowledgeable individuals including Tesla rebel mechanic Rich Benoit of the Rich Rebuilds channel. The final design resembled a coupe utility vehicle in the spirit of classic muscle cars such as the Chevrolet El Camino.
Despite only having an abstract glimpse of the front of the Tesla Truck from a photo revealed at the Model Y unveiling (and later via Elon Musk’s Twitter account because no one noticed it at the event), the excitement is clearly quite strong for the vehicle. The timeline appears to be holding steady, so hopefully Tesla and Musk won’t keep the crowd waiting much longer.
Elon Musk
SpaceX nails “Lucky 13” astronaut launch, leaning into Tesla tradition and superstition
SpaceX launched Crew-13 astronauts to the ISS Thursday, setting up a record fast Dragon docking.
SpaceX launched NASA’s Crew-13 mission to the International Space Station on Thursday morning, getting four astronauts to orbit despite a forecast of thunderstorms and gusty winds that had threatened to push the flight to Friday.
Falcon 9 lifted off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 11:10 a.m. ET carrying Dragon Grace, NASA confirmed. On board are NASA commander Jessica Watkins, NASA pilot Luke Delaney, Canadian Space Agency astronaut Joshua Kutryk and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov. The first stage booster, B1101, landed at Landing Zone 40 beside the pad on its third flight after previously supporting Crew-12 and a Starlink mission.
Liftoff of Crew-13! pic.twitter.com/vteT0DXMTh
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) October 1, 2026
It was the first spaceflight for Delaney, Kutryk and Teteryatnikov. Watkins, who flew on Crew-4 in 2022, became the first NASA astronaut to launch aboard a Crew Dragon twice.
Before launch, the crew rode to the pad in Teslas, a tradition on NASA’s SpaceX crew flights since 2020. This time the cars carried specialty plates reading “Lucky 13.” Watkins said the mission patch leans into the number on purpose, as a nod to Apollo 13 and the resilience of that crew.
Grace is now on a short trip to the station. Docking at the forward port of the Harmony module is scheduled for about 7 p.m. ET, roughly 7 hours and 50 minutes after liftoff, which Space.com notes would be the fastest Crew Dragon transit to the ISS yet. Most Dragon flights take around 15 to 24 hours to catch the station. Hatch opening is planned for 8:25 p.m. ET.
The launch came more than two weeks later than originally planned. An oxidizer leak was found in Grace’s propulsion system in August, and NASA and SpaceX added time for tests. That pushed back the return of Crew-12, which has been aboard the station since February and is now set to splash down off Southern California next week. Crew-13 is expected to stay about six months.
SpaceX rescue mission for stranded ISS astronauts nears end — Here’s when they’ll return home
SpaceX already holds NASA orders for crew rotations through Crew-17, while Boeing is preparing an uncrewed Starliner flight to the station as early as December.
Crew-13 was only the first of three SpaceX launches planned for Thursday, as Teslarati previewed on Wednesday. A Falcon 9 launched its Transporter-18 mission from California today, where Google will be launching its first orbital artificial intelligence (AI) test satellite. Meanwhile, Falcon Heavy is set to launch the classified NROL-97 mission for the National Reconnaissance Office from Launch Complex 39A at 11:53 p.m. ET. Its two side boosters will return to Landing Zones 1 and 2, which means Central Florida could hear up to three sonic booms in a single day. The busy stretch follows Starship’s Flight 14 on Monday, which reached orbit for the first time.
Tesla has moved its Wireless Charging efforts for its electric vehicles forward, as it had a new patent published today, one that it submitted back in March.
The patent describes a system for detecting foreign objects on the wireless charging pad under varying temperatures, aiming to mitigate any undesired results that could come from something being on top of the charging pad.
🚨 Tesla has a new patent application published today, which was submitted back in March, for a Wireless Charging Pad:
“The present disclosure relates to methods and systems that can reliably detect foreign objects on a wireless charging pad under varying temperatures. In some… pic.twitter.com/LIeLfZAuDJ
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) October 1, 2026
The abstract of the patent states:
“The present disclosure relates to methods and systems that can reliably detect foreign objects on a wireless charging pad under varying temperatures. In some examples, an object detector can utilize a set of inductive coils included in resonant tanks, and excite the resonant tanks using signals in a range of frequencies including or near a nominal resonant frequency of the resonant tanks. The object detector can detect a metal object based on resistance of a coil increasing and inductance of the coil decreasing. By analyzing the shifts and/or distributions in resonant frequencies and output magnitudes (e.g., output voltage peaks), the object detector can distinguish between changes of frequencies and magnitudes caused by temperature and those caused by foreign objects to accurately detect the foreign objects.”
The object detection system will utilize a set of inductive coils included in resonant tanks, and “excite the resonant tank using signals in a range of frequencies including or near a nominal resonant frequency of the tanks.” Metal can be detected by an increase in the coil’s resistance and a decrease in the coil’s inductance.
By analyzing shifts or disruptions in resonant frequencies and output magnitudes, the system can detect foreign objects. These types of safeguards need to be implemented through the normal operation of the charging pads.
Tesla says its Cybercab wireless charging efficiency is ‘well above 90%’
Tesla plans to utilize wireless charging with Cybercab and Robotaxi-enabled units to help streamline the fully autonomous experience from A to Z. The last thing the company wants to do is have any sort of small obstruction preventing the rider from experiencing Robotaxi as intended.
Tesla has launched its newest iteration of the Model 3 in China with a slew of new features, including the highly requested V2L (vehicle-to-load) feature and a new interior option.
The Model 3 now has a 16″ front touchscreen with improved resolution, a black headliner, V2L capabilities, Zen Grey interior in the Premium and Performance trims, as the White option has officially been discontinued, and 19″ Dark Nova Wheels, which are standard on the Model 3 Premium only.
🚨 Tesla has launched the Model 3 in China with a variety of new features and specs:
✅ 16” front touchscreen
✅ Black Headliner
✅ V2L Capability
✅ Zen Grey interior (Premium & Performance only)
✅ 19” Dark Nova wheels (Model 3 Premium only)
✅ Zen Grey Interior option… pic.twitter.com/ltTAEIYi2Z— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) October 1, 2026
The touchscreen in the U.S. version of the Model 3 is just 15.4″, so the newly upgraded screen is .6″ larger. Additionally, the Black Headliner, now standard on Model Y vehicles in the U.S., is coming to China.
Additionally, Tesla’s decision to end the white interior option has also made its way to the Asian market, as Zen Grey is the lighter color consumers can now go with. It is slightly different from the previously offered White option:
These options are available in China, Australia, and New Zealand as well, as Giga Shanghai serves those markets, bringing its mass-market vehicles to those countries in the South Pacific.
The Model 3 trims are now priced at:
- Rear-Wheel-Drive – 235,500 yuan (~$35,000)
- Long Range Rear-Wheel-Drive – 259,500 yuan ($38,700)
- Long Range All-Wheel-Drive – 285,500 yuan (~$42,600)
- Performance – 339,500 yuan (~$50,600)
These features have yet to make their way to the U.S., which might upset some buyers, but it is probably a good sign that Tesla will bring these changes to U.S. trims sometime next year. Potentially, these could come even sooner, as they could be used to stimulate demand for the year-end sales push.
Nevertheless, when things start at Giga Shanghai, they usually end up in the U.S. market. Tesla has also already started to install things like the Black Headliner and larger touchscreen in certain U.S.-built vehicles, so these things will be easy to implement across other vehicles in the lineup.
SpaceX nails “Lucky 13” astronaut launch, leaning into Tesla tradition and superstition
Tesla moves forward on Wireless Charging for vehicles
