I am in same town as Beltfed21 and the plant is nearby.

Bill, Danny fell off a ladder on Saturday and broke his ankle quite severely.

Come on, this thing is total and complete vaporware at this point. If you spend some time converting the specs to US numbers, you'll find a torque rating that surpasses the combined output of two semi trucks. I'm calling total BS on that one. And 400 miles on a charge? Load the bed with 800 pounds of materials, or hang a ski boat off the back and let's see what that mileage stat looks like. Yeah.

If ya wanna tool around in a little electric box on wheels to save the planet, whatever. But this 'truck' has zero chance of being anything more than a stepping stone to whatever comes next.

quote:

Originally posted by beltfed21:
I’ll keep my eyes open for any of them running around. The plant is about 12 miles from where I live. Right now the lots around that plant are full of VW’s that are getting destroyed! Yep, all those illegal Diesel engines!

Interesting! The 2015 VW Diesels are being sold quite well down here, after they get the software fix.

quote:

Originally posted by 12GA:
I’m keeping my eyes on the Bollinger electric pickup Coming in 2020

As am I. Really like a lot of the features. Was nice to see it on an episode of "Jay Leno's Garage."

quote:

Originally posted by ARMT Guy:
But how is ol' Bubba gonna make these loud and obnoxious?

Don't forget the truck nuts!

With the price, production capacity, and likely limitations on range while loaded, this is probably going to be marketed as a "lifestyle" vehicle for rich yuppies. However, I'm excited every time an electric pickup comes to market, because it's only a matter of time before they come down out of the stratosphere and into the reach of the working man. These vehicles will only get better and cheaper. For now, somebody has to take the baby steps.

quote:

Originally posted by jaaron11:
With the price, production capacity, and likely limitations on range while loaded, this is probably going to be marketed as a "lifestyle" vehicle for rich yuppies. However, I'm excited every time an electric pickup comes to market, because it's only a matter of time before they come down out of the stratosphere and into the reach of the working man. These vehicles will only get better and cheaper. For now, somebody has to take the baby steps.

Until there's a huge leap forward in battery and re-charging tech, all these things are nothing more than wet dreams. When they can travel 400 miles while loaded or towing (i.e. the purpose of a truck), and can recharge in a matter of minutes rather than hours, only then can the concept mature into something a majority of buyers might want and/or buy.

These things are somewhat like the representation about autonomous cars being viable in the next few years. That to is pie in the sky as a majority of the current generation would never relinquish control of their vehicles to a computer. Maybe in another decade or two...

Most truck owners don't tow or haul things for 400 miles in their personal vehicles. If they do, this is probably not the truck for them. There are different tools for different tasks. But, much like the Honda Ridgeline that has been the source of similar debates, this truck seems like it would do what 99% of truck owners actually do with their trucks.

The price is way too high to be practical and the time to charge is a continued pitfall for all electric vehicles, but it's a step in a new direction that holds real promise, IMO.

quote:

Originally posted by jaaron11:
Most truck owners don't tow or haul things for 400 miles in their personal vehicles. If they do, this is probably not the truck for them. There are different tools for different tasks. But, much like the Honda Ridgeline that has been the source of similar debates, this truck seems like it would do what 99% of truck owners actually do with their trucks.

The price is way too high to be practical and the time to charge is a continued pitfall for all electric vehicles, but it's a step in a new direction that holds real promise, IMO.

But most truck owners....

1 - Aren't going to pony up $61k+ for an electric Tacoma sized vehicle.
2 - Have little tolerance for limitations (range and recharge duration) let alone hauling limitations.
3 - Have literally 6 or 8 terrific, well established, less expensive, more capable, petrol based options available to them.

And don't forget, a large part of Ford and GM truck sales are to businesses which this vehicle will never have access to (unless something substantial changes) given its cost and limitations.

At some point there will be another leap in technology making an alternative fuel vehicle viable against its petrol based competition. Personally, I don't believe that innovation will be an evolution of electric vehicles, but rather, something entirely new. Until then, I remain convinced vehicles like this electric truck are nothing more than stop gap vaporware in search of government subsidies, without which they can't even exist.

I agree with most of that, and I don't think the intent is to go up against GM, Ford, Dodge, Nissan, Toyota, etc. They are looking for the boutique "lifestyle" market, and doing product development at the same time.

I do think the future for electric trucks is bright if the battery issues can be resolved. The torque available from electric motors makes them ideal powerplants for hauling and towing.
There are a couple of battery technologies on the horizon that could change the game, if they can be produced at scale for reasonable cost. Until then, all-electric's will remain a boutique item.

quote:

Originally posted by jaaron11:
I agree with most of that, and I don't think the intent is to go up against GM, Ford, Dodge, Nissan, Toyota, etc. They are looking for the boutique "lifestyle" market, and doing product development at the same time.

But the problem with the 'boutique' approach as you call it, is that these companies have tens of millions of dollars of startup costs to cover, let alone their ongoing cost structure and lack of dealer network. Its almost impossible to crest that hump with a low volume vehicle, unless the company can score government funding/subsidies. And those will only sustain it for so long.

And even as a 'boutique' item, this thing will have to carve buyers away from other manufacturers, which will be a tall order given the issues I noted above.

I've argued for years that for alternative fuel vehicles to appeal to the masses and sell on their own in big numbers, they will have to be substantially 'better' than their petrol based competition. Being equal to the petrol competitors isn't going to cut it.

Can you make upgrades to the chip and Roll Lithium-Ion as you cruise the strip?

It has a "frunk?" I'll bet I could start a bar fight if I call some drunk guy a frunk.