Tesla to make pickup truck after producing Model Y crossover

Tesla Inc will build a pickup truck soon after producing electric crossover vehicle Model Y, Chief Executive Elon Musk said on Tuesday.

“I promise that we will make a pickup truck right after Model Y. Have had the core design/engineering elements in my mind for almost 5 years. Am dying to build it,” Musk wrote in a Twitter post.

I promise that we will make a pickup truck right after Model Y. Have had the core design/engineering elements in my mind for almost 5 years. Am dying to build it.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 26, 2017

The Model Y, to be built on the same platform as the Model 3 sedan, was tentatively scheduled to begin production in mid-2019, Reuters reported in June.

The electric vehicle maker first announced plans for a pickup truck last July, alongside a “master plan” to develop a commercial truck, a public transport bus and a compact sport utility vehicle.

Musk had said in April that the pickup truck would be unveiled within 18 to 24 months.