Why the Tesla ute may take “cyberpunk” to new level

The unveiling of Tesla CEO and founder Elon Musk’s pet project, the all-electric pickup truck (or ute as it is known in Australia), is due to be launched later this year. But the wait is apparently just too much for some.

Automotive digital artist Emre Husmen, from Turkey, has posted a series of super-futuristic renders of the electric ute that references the cult sci-fi move Blade Runner, which is well known for its dark, edgy design language that encapsulates the cyberpunk genre.

The smooth, arching lines of the design render from Husmen take the concept of a pickup truck to “next level” – a term Musk used himself when discussing the progress of the electric pickup last year during Tesla’s Q3 earnings call.

There’s some nice details in Husmen’s renders, from the aerodynamic side profile to the badge inset just behind the front wheel.

A cut, streamlined body is what this design render is all about, with a prominent, bold stance and futuristic strip headlights and rear lights that emanate memories of another well-known sci-fi film, Tron.

Not a lot has been given away by Tesla in the form of design clues; so far, only a single teaser image has been released.

Out of the various renders created by designers so far, though, Husmen’s takes Musk’s Blade Runner references most seriously.

It doesn’t reference however, the angled, LED-lit lines of the hood (or is it the trunk?) that we glimpsed at the end of Musk’s Model Y unveil in March, and that was later posted by Musk:

So far, the artist that has followed this design clue the most closely out of all we’ve seen is Stephen William Mason, whose electric Tesla pickup design features both a front and back trunk, with less curves and more angles.

Another notable render was created late 2018 by McHoffa from the EV.Network, who showed in his render a red electric pickup that is truest to current Tesla vehicle design, pulling a gooseneck trailer (weekend roadtrip, anyone?).

However we suspect that the Tesla electric ute, when finally unveiled, will diverge at least a bit from current Tesla model design: after all, Musk already said regarding the final design for his electric pickup when talking to Recode Decode’s Karen Swisher last year that it will be heart-stopping – and that he wasn’t concerned if no-one wanted to buy it.

“I’m personally super-excited by this pickup truck,” Musk said at the time. “This will be heart-stopping. It stops my heart. It’s like, oh, it’s great.”