- Master Plan IV video showed scale models of a Cybertruck-inspired SUV in the background.
- CyberSUV could offer a three-row interior, advanced tech, and rugged Cybertruck styling.
- Tesla hasn’t confirmed plans but may be gauging demand for a full-size electric SUV.
Tesla might have just dropped its strongest hint yet that a Cybertruck-inspired SUV could very well be on the table. In its new “Sustainable Abundance – Master Plan IV” video, clay models of the upcoming Cybercab were featured in the foreground of some frames. The real surprise, though, was in the background, where scale models sat on a shelf. They appear to be three-row Cybertruck-inspired Tesla SUVs.
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Elon Musk’s company is typically very secretive about its design process. While we show you leaks from automakers all over the world, it’s rare for Tesla to let something big slip. For example, the Cybertruck and the second-generation Roadster never leaked before their debuts. It’s curious then that it would publish the video below with these models in the background.
From Pickup to Family SUV
A ‘CyberSUV’ has been a point of speculation since the Cybertruck first debuted in 2019. The idea is simple but potentially game-changing. Take the rugged-looking stainless steel wedge aesthetic of the pickup and shape it into a three-row SUV.
It would essentially trade the bed for a more family-friendly interior while keeping the major bones of the Cybertruck itself. The 48-volt system, the steer-by-wire, and adaptive suspension could just carry over.
Such a model would give Tesla something that it has always lacked, a true full-size SUV to rival cars like the Cadillac Escalade IQ, Rivian R1S, and Kia EV9. The Model X is a bit too small and dainty to cover that territory, and the Model Y L is really a different proposition altogether, not to mention it might not end up in America at all. On top of that, rugged off-road vehicles are very popular, but short of the Cybertruck, Tesla doesn’t sell such a car.
That all said, there’s good reason to think the CyberSUV might end up being just a fanciful design study. Teslarati points out the company’s Q4 2024 Shareholder Deck, which explicitly stated that no future vehicles would use a stainless steel exoskeleton like the Cybertruck does.
Of course, if Tesla could find a way to repurpose the vast majority of Cybertruck chassis and structural design, it could allow the brand to better use the production capacity it thought it would need for the truck.
For now, the CyberSUV remains speculative. But if Tesla is truly considering it, the SUV could become the brand’s next breakout hit. It could even signal future design language for the entire lineup.
Credit: Tesla
