Some believe this is a Tesla Pickup test mule.
What do you do when you see a car hauler full of Teslas with one very strange truck on the back? In the case of this Redditor, you pull your camera out as quickly as you can and snap a quick shot as it drives past. Now, if you carry the logic through — a pickup on a trailer full of Teslas — you reach a natural conclusion. This could be a test mule of the forthcoming Tesla Pickup out in the wild.
But it isn’t. At least, we believe it isn’t, and there are a few reasons for that:
It has exhaust tips on the back.
The most glaring reason why this likely isn’t a Tesla Pickup mule is down to the exhausts sticking out the back. The side tips give the game away as something with an internal combustion engine. Even if they were decoys — and it doesn’t look like they are — I think they’re a bit too elaborate to be fake. It would likely be a single-tip exhaust, depending on the engine, or it would be a dual exhaust setup, which to my mind would look more convincing.
It looks like an F-150.
Yes, this truck packs some serious wrapping. Despite that, however, you can pick the shape out as a Ford F-150, by way of the cab’s shape, the front doors, the rear window and even how the tailgate looks. Unlike traditional prototypes however, this doesn’t look like manufacturer camouflage. It looks protective, like something that would just be on the truck during shipment. Granted, these Teslas look new and they’re not covered at all, so each automaker does things a little differently.
Even still, it’s certainly an F-150, and it doesn’t look like a test mule either. Test mules wouldn’t have custom wheels nor the side-pipe exhaust.
Here’s what we think it is
An astute commenter pointed out that this is likely a Roush F-150, and we’re inclined to agree. The wheels certainly seem to match the Roush F-150, as do the side-exit exhaust pipes, shown below.
While they’re not visible in the wrapped truck shown above, it’s clear this truck also has running boards. In short, it’s certainly not a Tesla pickup. What it is, we strongly suspect, is a brand new Roush F-150 on its way to a customer.
Perhaps this particular carrier had space for one more vehicle on the trailer, and decided to pick up an F-150 along the way. Commenters on the Reddit thread say this photo was taken in eastern Ohio. Roush is based out of Michigan, so it makes some sense the carrier would stop along the way.
We could be wrong, but it certainly seems this is a Roush F-150. In the meantime, though, it’s always fun to speculate on whether we may actually see the new Tesla Pickup anytime soon.
What do you think? Let us know in the comments! We discuss the future, including electric trucks, below:
