Elon Musk teases what's next for Tesla in a year-end 'thank you' tweet
Elon Musk, appreciates your business, Tesla owners.
The Tesla, Inc. co-founder tweeted a brief year-end 'thank you' note on Tuesday, expressing appreciation for those who "[took] a chance on a new company that all experts said would fail." He ended the tweet with a simple request: Help us do better.
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The internet gamely responded with advice and feedback, some of which prompted an immediate response.
One of the first to respond asked for a pickup truck, and Musk replied that he's got a plan for one in mind. We won't see it until after the Tesla Model Y is released -- last reported to be coming in 2019 or 2020 -- but Musk claims he's been thinking about this one for some time, and he's "dying to build it."
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In a subsequent tweet, Musk noted that the Tesla pickup will be similar in size to the Ford F-150, or slightly bigger. He's apparently got a surprise cooking for this truck.
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Musk also fielded a request for "AP2," which is shorthand for Autopilot 2.0, the next-gen version Tesla's self-driving AI. He noted in his reply that Tesla has "the most advanced AI neural net of any consumer product so far" and that "it's going through exhaustive testing."
He doesn't share a timetable, but testing is probably a good sign?
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The response is actually a little unclear, since AP2 started rolling out in early 2017. It was a limited version of the finished product, that initially worked only on divided roads (i.e. highways) and shortly after opened up to local roads.
A subsequent AP2 update, released in June 2017, delivered additional driving-assist features, full speed braking, and the ability to parallel park. It's likely Musk's tweet refers to work on further AP2 updates; he promised in an April 2017 TED Talk that Tesla drivers would be able to go to sleep and let self-driving handle everything in two years.
Nonetheless, we've reached out to Tesla for clarification and will update accordingly if/when we hear back.
Musk is still actively responding to the feedback at the time of publish, but here's a sampling of some of the requests -- large, small, and ridiculous -- he's taking the time to address.
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Adam Rosenberg is a Senior Games Reporter for Mashable, where he plays all the games. Every single one. From AAA blockbusters to indie darlings to mobile favorites and browser-based oddities, he consumes as much as he can, whenever he can.Adam brings more than a decade of experience working in the space to the Mashable Games team. He previously headed up all games coverage at Digital Trends, and prior to that was a long-time, full-time freelancer, writing for a diverse lineup of outlets that includes Rolling Stone, MTV, G4, Joystiq, IGN, Official Xbox Magazine, EGM, 1UP, UGO and others.Born and raised in the beautiful suburbs of New York, Adam has spent his life in and around the city. He's a New York University graduate with a double major in Journalism and Cinema Studios. He's also a certified audio engineer. Currently, Adam resides in Crown Heights with his dog and his partner's two cats. He's a lover of fine food, adorable animals, video games, all things geeky and shiny gadgets.
