"...but is this extreme simplification too much for American consumers?"
Not this one. It's the premiumization that drove me away from every EV product out there.
Plus, load up the back with more batteries and you've got great range!
A $20k American-made electric pickup with no paint, no stereo, no screen
111–120 of 1001 posts
Re: A $20k American-made electric pickup with no paint, no stereo, no screen
#112It's a $20k, street-legal, EV modding platform. Sounds like you can mount your own infotainment system. Just an electric motor, battery, and chassis, and the rest is up to you. Isn't this what we've been asking for?
Yea, it's pretty exciting. I'd like to see how much more they could strip out to reduce the price and still have a viable commercial product. I guess I'm living firmly in the past, but $20K still seems to be a high price for a car. Then again, I haven't bought a car new since the 90s, so I'm probably just an old fart who hasn't grokked what things cost today. I still remember the day when the base-model Corolla start…
For those price-comparing, it is $20K after the federal incentives. So, its real cost is around $27K which makes it way more expensive than what the article claims.
Re: A $20k American-made electric pickup with no paint, no stereo, no screen
#113I LOVE it! THIS is the kind of truck I'd be looking at to replace my 1998 Ford Ranger. Here is what could be potential deal-breakers: - Lack of a mobile app. Minimalist design is great, but I still want an app to manage charging and be alerted to any vehicle issues. - Lack of good charge management and battery conditioning. Either that, or a cheap and easy to replace battery pack. I'd really like both! - Comparable h…
> - Lack of a mobile app. Minimalist design is great, but I still want an app to manage charging and be alerted to any vehicle issues. Noooooooooo! No apps, please ! Finally a car not tethered to and dependent on your phone, and we already have our first request to app-ify it! EDIT: Ughhh, according to the video that another user posted, it looks like there's an app, and yes, "updates" go through it :( > - Lack of go…
I'd want the mobile app to be an auxiliary, not a requirement for operating the truck. Keep the dashboard simple.
Re: A $20k American-made electric pickup with no paint, no stereo, no screen
#114From the related Ars article[1]: > Rather than relying on a built-in infotainment system, you'll use your phone plugged into a USB outlet or a dedicated tablet inside the cabin for your entertainment and navigation needs. How is a "dedicated tablet" different than an infotainment system, other than not having vehicle telematics and controls? Also, a regular tablet UX would be dangerous while driving, and typically th…
> Also, a regular tablet UX would be dangerous while driving, and typically they don't have their own mobile data connections.
I think it's still possible to run the Android Auto app (with its purpose-built interface) on a regular tablet.
Re: A $20k American-made electric pickup with no paint, no stereo, no screen
#115what is the point of this? a used car for 10k does more, costs less, and has a lower carbon footprint.
> and has a lower carbon footprint
No it doesn't. An electric vehicle takes < 18 months to become carbon negative. Nobody buys a used car expecting it to last than 18 months. If it does, replacing your car every 18 months is not carbon friendly.
Re: A $20k American-made electric pickup with no paint, no stereo, no screen
#116Earlier quoted context omitted.
According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics[1], $9999 in 1995 is equivalent to $21,275.25 today, so it's a pretty spot on price for a barebones car. [1]: https://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm
Except, with advances in computational design and engineering, manufacturing automation, and moving to plastic for the body I would expect a reduction in price, in real terms. Not impressed.
> moving to plastic for the body
Some of those $10k cars in the 90s had more plastic in the bodies than cars today, e.g. Saturn S-series, where all body panels below the belt-line were plastic.
It isn't necessarily the cost savings one might expect though, because steel panels can also be load bearing and part of the crash structure, which is not really practical with plastic panels.
Re: A $20k American-made electric pickup with no paint, no stereo, no screen
#117I LOVE it! THIS is the kind of truck I'd be looking at to replace my 1998 Ford Ranger. Here is what could be potential deal-breakers: - Lack of a mobile app. Minimalist design is great, but I still want an app to manage charging and be alerted to any vehicle issues. - Lack of good charge management and battery conditioning. Either that, or a cheap and easy to replace battery pack. I'd really like both! - Comparable h…
Huh, lack of an app is a major plus in my book
Re: A $20k American-made electric pickup with no paint, no stereo, no screen
#118Hand crank windows is a weird choice, are the locks manual as well?
Wouldn't it significantly increase the cost (think wiring, motor, assembly, etc) to have "power windows"?
Power window "regulators" (the unit that holds and raises/lowers the window) are usually similar in price and weight to cranked manual window assemblies, and can be cheaper. A small motor is not at all expensive and is a less specialized item than a window crank handle and gear unit.
What could save money is not needing to run any wiring whatsoever into the door - if the doors can be made with no speakers, lighting, crash sensors, switches, power locks, or power windows, then the assembly becomes significantly simpler and therefore cheaper since there's no wiring harness to fish (usually a manual production step), no holes and grommets, etc.
But if power windows are going to be an option, I'm not sure how this plays out. Do the power windows come with a wiring harness that requires the user disassemble the interior and fish the wiring? If it comes pre-wired, then the choice for manual windows is actually quite strange and possibly more expensive.
Re: A $20k American-made electric pickup with no paint, no stereo, no screen
#119Man this is so awesome. I do really think they need to consider the fold down bed sides like the kei trucks have. The bed being plastic doesn’t give me much confidence either. The payload may be similar to a mini truck, but a mini truck’s metal bed will take a significant beating over plastic. This is very, very close to what I want, but I worry that those two things may prevent me from actually pulling the trigger.…
"Awesome" is understating it.
"Tisha Johnson, head of design at Slate and who formerly spent a decade at Volvo."
Ye. This is a Volvo station wagon, that Volvo themself discontinued in 2016 becouse it was too popular.
Re: A $20k American-made electric pickup with no paint, no stereo, no screen
#120I like it. My wife runs a riding academy and we use a Honda Fit the way some people would use a pickup truck: we can fit 10 bales of wood shavings in the back. [1] We’re dreading when it fails because they don’t make the fit anymore and compact hatchbacks seem to be on the way out. Recent experiences have made me a bit of a Buick enthusiast and I can see driving a 2005-ish sedan except that I won’t get those sawdust…
I also love this design and I'm happy that someone is doing it. I think it's unlike anything else on the market.
But, they won't necessarily be competing against other new things on the market. My wife also rides horses and we got a $5000 20 year old F250 which is very basic but has been bulletproof, and it can tow. I imagine old, basic trucks, either cheap domestic ones or kei trucks will be what this thing competes against.
I hope it does well. This is the kind of design thinking that the auto industry needs.
Also I'm increasingly convinced that the Honda fit is what peak performance looks like. But when it dies you do have options - maybe a Ford Transit Connect or a Metris.