Elon Musk Calls Ram 1500’s Towing Capacity ‘Puny’ While Tweeting About Tesla Pickup Truck
Musk, as usual, is setting the bar high for future products—but will the upcoming Tesla pickup meet the hype?
Tesla CEO Elon Musk spent his morning throwing some shade on Ram trucks, calling the vehicle's best-in-class V8 towing capacity "puny," and presumptuously insinuating that such capacity must be enough to haul materials to build children's toys. The remarks were made in response to another Twitter user's claim that he hauls heavy steel beams every day in his Ram truck.
The 2019 Ram 1500 has a towing capacity of 12,750 pounds, but that's nothing—according to Musk—when compared with Tesla's upcoming pickup. Previously, the CEO has stated that Tesla's all-electric pickup will have a towing capacity of 300,000 pounds.
In case you're getting deja vu over what looks to be a classic Elon statement, you're not alone. Musk has made similar statements before, first targeting Porsche's 350 kW charging capacity by calling it a "children's toy" amid the hype of Tesla's V3 Supercharging stations being announced. Upon release (more than two years after his taunting tweet), Supercharger V3 was announced to have a charging capacity of 250 kW, limited by the Model 3's battery system's voltage. This may be revealed to support higher charge rates later on with the future offering of Tesla's vehicles.
Musk has set the bar very high for Tesla's upcoming pickup, but the real questions should surround just how much it will sustainably tow, and at what cost to the overall range and drivetrain wear. The pickup was said to have been almost ready to tease later this summer.
It has been openly stated that the "cyberpunk" inspired pickup won't be for everyone. If the design language of the pickup, based on the teaser, is deemed to be too futuristic, it's possible that Tesla will push away potential customers. With increasing pressure thanks to Ford's electrified F-150 entering testing and promising startup Rivian capturing the public's attention, Tesla will have to pull off a timely and effective product launch to avoid losing traction in an extremely competitive segment.
