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One way to take people’s eyes off of your core business is to keep launching newer businesses.

A cynic might think Tesla was testing out the strategy. The company is expected to reveal an electric semi truck later this month. The unveiling would come less than eight weeks after Tesla delivered its first Model 3 cars.

The company is also still relatively early in the process of integrating SolarCity, the residential solar panel installer it bought last year.

Analysts at Morgan Stanley think Tesla’s release of a “working prototype” truck could be timed around the North American Commercial Vehicle show, which begins on Sept. 25.

Tesla has a lot on its plate now, with CEO Elon Musk recently commenting that the company would be going through “production hell” to get more Model 3s cars on the road. Musk has set an ambitious target of building 500,000 total cars in 2018, including the Model S and Model X. The company made just 84,000 last year.

The company also has some competition in this area. Cummins unveiled an electric semi last week that had a 100-mile range. Tesla’s truck is expected to have two or three times that, which is better but will still limit its uses.

Morgan Stanley analyst Ravi Shanker doubts that the Tesla truck will go on sale in the near future, writing that he expects that to happen in 2020. Nonetheless, he’s excited about the semi reveal, which he says “could be the biggest catalyst in trucking in decades.”



Investors, though, may want to pump the brakes on their enthusiasm, at least until it becomes clear that Tesla can first execute on its car-related goals.

Big Picture: Tesla already has a full plate, but it’s likely to reveal a new electric truck this month.