For the past few months, it’s been all over the news. This week, it was revealed that Tesla will unveil The Tesla Van in 2022 at their facilities in Hawthorne, California!
Here are some of the details we’ve learned so far about this revolutionary vehicle.
Big Announcement
The CEO of Tesla just made a surprise announcement about the company’s next big product. In 2022, expect to see the release of The Tesla Van.
It will have an ‘electric everything’ design and we will use a high-performance electric engine in its most energy-efficient form, said CEO Elon Musk on Twitter.
The body is streamlined and aerodynamic and so is the interior. The van will be released in two models: Commuter (5 seats) and Minivan (7 seats). There are currently no details about price or additional features.
According to Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla himself, we should expect to see the release of The Tesla Van in 2022. Although he has only provided a rough sketch and one photograph via an Instagram account, it’s fair to say that the company is doing something right with its products. Electric cars have been doing well for a while now—in 2017 for example there were 1.2 million electric cars on American roads and sales are growing. Here’s hoping that we’ll be able to test drive The Tesla Van once it’s released. We’ll be sure to let you know if any more details emerge so keep an eye out!
Tesla van Plans
After rumours surfaced and then leaked about an updated version of an electric van from Tesla. No plans have been formally announced by Elon Musk or anyone else at his company. However, a recent tweet that he made suggests that there will be a Tesla van in 2022. Given that we now know his vehicle plans all run on schedule to hit production dates—even if they’re initially set back—we can feel pretty confident in looking into what sort of truck we can expect from Musk down the road. First off, let’s get through what we do know and then dig into some educated guesses as to what we might expect (assuming it is real).
Musk has proven to be very efficient when it comes to turning his visions into real-world products. He had previously posted on Twitter that he intended to build a pickup truck and later confirmed that they would start working on it at some point in 2019. That timeline came true and now Musk says he will make an even bigger electric vehicle in five years or so. This all suggests that there is some merit to these reports and we can expect a new kind of van from Tesla down the road. Still, we don’t know exactly what sort of truck it will be or even if Musk will go through with it after making all those other promises about different vehicles and a couple of rocket launches.
If a van is truly in development, we can expect to see it and most likely be able to buy one by 2022. Musk said during a conference call with journalists that his plans include selling cars in all 50 states by next year. A van would be an ideal vehicle for that and since Musk has proven he can hit deadlines we can assume that it will happen around then as well. However, there’s no confirmation of any of these details and even if it does happen in five years it may not roll out like planned or even meet these specifications. In other words, take everything you hear with a grain of salt until further information comes out from either company.
Where will the Tesla van be made?
According to a Reuters report from April 13th, 2019: Tesla Inc said on Wednesday it is working with Shanghai’s government to set up a manufacturing facility in China that will produce its electric vehicles for domestic consumption. It also plans to set up a joint venture in China for researching and developing locally-produced electric vehicles as well as components such as batteries. Under the terms of an agreement announced between Tesla and Shanghai’s economic planning agency, all locally-produced cars will be distributed by the Chinese company Tencent Holdings Ltd which purchased about 5% of Tesla last year.
It’s been a few years since Elon Musk tweeted that he wanted to build a mini-van version of his Model X. Since then he has been kind of quiet about his vision for an electric van. Now he’s finally given us some information on what exactly it will look like and when we can expect it. In an interview with Chinese news agency Xinhua Musk said Right now we are working on a new version of our electric minibus. He went on to say: We just unveiled Model Y last year and we have plans for a compact SUV called Model Y, which is due out in 2020 and there is going to be something called Model U which will be a bigger cargo vehicle.
When can I buy a Tesla van?
Model 3 Musk has said that it is only a few years until mass-market versions of electric vehicles are widely available. If you can’t wait to drive one yourself, know that a fully-loaded version of Tesla’s new Model 3 will set you back $49,000. By 2022—if not sooner—Tesla should offer affordable options for drivers who want access to all its fancy features. However, given Musk’s track record for delays and unfulfilled promises (most notably in regard to driverless cars), don’t hold your breath. Experts say we should expect a six-year rollout of driverless tech by 2026. When might we see an affordable, self-driving Tesla van?
If you’re interested in driving an electric car but can’t afford one of Musk’s pricey Teslas, know that alternatives are on their way. Starting at around $37,000 for a fully-loaded model (including federal tax incentives), GM’s Bolt is slated to hit dealerships in early 2017. While still expensive compared to gas-powered cars, expect additional EV options from auto manufacturers like Ford and Volvo. But don’t expect to see these vehicles everywhere—manufacturers will be rolling them out slowly as they work out kinks with supply chains and production equipment. Long story short: If you want to drive a Tesla van by 2022 or 2026 (or any time soon), it’ll take more than a little patience and luck.
What will it look like?
A lot like a Model X with a flatbed in the back and no front seats. The original concept was unveiled by Nikola Motor Company CEO Trevor Milton at last year’s event, so it has more of a pickup truck vibe than an actual van shape. But other than that, it’s very similar to a Tesla Model X (maybe slightly smaller). It’ll come with Falcon Wing doors just like other Tesla models but they won’t open as wide—just wide enough for most standard items to fit through. And there will be no need for side doors since it’s an electric vehicle—you simply hop in and start driving.
Thanks to its electric powertrain, it will have a range of more than 300 miles per charge. And since it’s a Tesla product you can bet that charging is pretty straightforward. You can either plug it into any standard outlet or use one of Tesla’s Supercharger stations (which are currently free to use for all owners). A 15-minute charge at one of these stations will give you about 180 miles worth of range. But thanks to larger batteries and an overall increase in capacity compared to previous models, a 30-minute quick charge at home should be enough for most commutes so long as you keep your average daily distance within 200 miles.
Will there be more than one version?
Yes. There will be a 7-seater and an 8-seater model. While no details are available yet on power, as expected, it’s all-electric and will have at least a 200-mile range. The price is expected to be between $70K and $90K.
For reference, that’s about half of what a fully-loaded Model X costs. It will cost closer to $50K in China, where import tariffs are high on electric vehicles. Just like other Tesla products it will be able to support self-driving features and have supercharging stations around the world when it launches in 2022. If you’re interested in owning one of these new van models you should act quickly if you want to take advantage of any tax credits being offered by your local government. Getting in touch with a tax advisor can help determine if they apply to your specific situation before they run out!
What range will it have?
A question that I am sure is at top of my mind for many buyers will be what range it has and how long it takes to charge. Unfortunately, right now no one knows. My guess is that Tesla will follow their model of slowly increasing range with each generation just like they did with their Roadster and Model S/X lines before them. If I had to take a guess though I would say that it has a range somewhere between 200-300 miles and would take 2-3 hours to charge from empty on a 240v 50kW charger. It might even have faster-charging capabilities using an upgraded wall connector or some form of CHAdeMO adapter which could result in a much shorter recharge time.
The range is an important factor in deciding what type of EV you want to buy but it shouldn’t be your only consideration. As battery technology improves and range increases, charging times will get shorter. While a 300-mile range may sound impressive now, a 500-mile car coming in 5 years from now won’t seem quite as awesome if it takes twice as long to charge or costs twice as much to fill up with electricity. You also have to consider how fast you drive, how far you go each day and whether or not you have time for frequent charges.
How much will it cost?
Elon Musk has big plans for his company and appears to be following through on them. In fact, if you look closely at his Twitter profile, you’ll see that he’s been teasing us about a new announcement for a few days now. The most recent hints are a picture of what looks like an electric van from behind with its tail lights on and pictures of cars driving in front of a green screen with someone hiding behind them holding up what appear to be fake buildings—an obvious nod to something involving transportation but exactly what we don’t know yet. Whatever it is, we can be sure that Musk will unveil it soon enough—on Twitter at least.
In any case, Musk has promised to reveal exactly what his company is planning in just a few days. (We’ll update you as soon as he does!) In fact, he promised that he would unveil more than one new product in 2019. If we are only getting one announcement from Musk and his team in 2019 though, you can bet it will be a big one! Still no word on whether or not Musk himself will answer questions about whatever it is that he plans to announce but I wouldn’t get my hopes up if I were you.
Is this really happening or is it just speculation?
Nobody knows for sure whether or not a Tesla van is in development. One thing’s for certain: we do know that Elon Musk isn’t giving up on his quest to bring clean energy to our roadways. When he laid out his vision of an electric-vehicle future back in 2015 (his Master Plan Part Deux), one of his most ambitious goals was to replace all fossil-fuel-powered vehicles with EVs by mid-2022. It seems like something big must be coming in order to make that happen, so yes—the possibility is there that a new class of Tesla vans will soon be rolling down America’s roads.
But back to that big thing that’s coming in order to make Musk’s prediction come true. There have been no recent hints about what exactly it is we should be expecting. What we do know is that Tesla has already planned several new models—and that at least one of them will likely be an SUV-style vehicle with three rows of seats and a hatchback tailgate. What other vehicles might we see? And when will they be revealed? All of these questions remain to be answered as we continue waiting for whatever it is Musk has up his sleeve. But rest assured, whatever it is—the future of our roads just got a whole lot cleaner.
