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A $20k American-made electric pickup with no paint, no stereo, no screen

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Re: A $20k American-made electric pickup with no paint, no stereo, no screen

#401

Post by MetaWhirledPeas »

stefan_ wrote: post #66
dogline wrote: post #11

It'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?

Is it? They show speakers mounted in the front as a "soundbar". Will people figure out there is a reason cars with good sound systems have them mounted all around the vehicle?

> Will people figure out there is a reason cars with good sound systems have them mounted all around the vehicle?

No, because they knew what they were getting into when they bought this truck. And I'm sure there will be a dozen DIY ways to add a more traditional sound system.

Re: A $20k American-made electric pickup with no paint, no stereo, no screen

#402

Post by porphyra »

At $20k it is actually comparable in cost to a GEM el Xd pickup [1] which can only go up to 35 mph, has 78 mile range, and costs $18k [2]. Totally different class of vehicle, of course.

[1] https://www.gemcar.com/gem-el-xd/

[2] https://electriccarsalesandservice.com/products/2024-gem-el-...

Re: A $20k American-made electric pickup with no paint, no stereo, no screen

#403

Post by neogodless »

porphyra wrote: post #402

At $20k it is actually comparable in cost to a GEM el Xd pickup [1] which can only go up to 35 mph, has 78 mile range, and costs $18k [2]. Totally different class of vehicle, of course. [1] https://www.gemcar.com/gem-el-xd/ [2] https://electriccarsalesandservice.com/products/2024-gem-el-...

I do wish we'd all just call this a $27.5K USD truck. If it ends up allowing some people to get a tax credit, awesome. But that's not the price they are targeting for selling this truck. And that tax credit is far from a guarantee come late 2026 / early 2027.

(That's before any "later adjustments" to the price, not to mention the effects of uncertain tariff policy.)

Re: A $20k American-made electric pickup with no paint, no stereo, no screen

#404

Post by timewizard »

MostlyStable wrote: post #308
aidenn0 wrote: post #253

For anyone curious, if you made a similarly sized gas-powered pickup with an i4 engine, it would be penalized more than a full-sized pickup for being too fuel inefficient, despite likely getting much better mileage than an F-150 because, since 2011, bigger cars are held to a lesser standard by CAFE[1]. 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporate_average_fuel_economy...

Example #5621 that a simple carbon tax would be miles better than the complex morass of regulations we currently have.

Fuel is already taxed. What would a "carbon tax" add here?

Re: A $20k American-made electric pickup with no paint, no stereo, no screen

#405

Post by bilsbie »

conradev wrote: post #151
adamhowell wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Lack of a mobile app… At the 6 mins and 40 seconds timestamp on this video ( https://youtu.be/cq1qEjwSYkw?t=400 ) he shows the car app that will tell you current range, etc

I'd recommend folks watch the video – it's fascinating. The truck gets OTA updates through your phone and not some LTE modem. It doesn't have one. They moved all car management including OBD-like functionality to the phone, too, which I think is awesome. This is how I want the interior design philosophy of manual controls to be digitized – with digital control. I'd pay $10k more for physical buttons, though.

I’d be good with no updates. Ie make it simple enough that there shouldn’t need to be updates.

And if there’s something major maybe you download it onto a thumb drive and plug it in.

I’m tired of my vehicle being changed without my consent.

Re: A $20k American-made electric pickup with no paint, no stereo, no screen

#406

Post by KerrAvon »

classichasclass wrote: post #18

I loved the Saturn plastic doors. The salesdroids were conditioned to call them "polymer panels" and I got corrected when I bought my SL2 back in the day, but I was sold when in their own showroom he kicked the door in, it visibly dented, and then popped itself right back out with no damage to either the paint or the pla, uh, polymer. That SL2 went from California to Maine, down to Georgia and back to California. It…

Yeah, the problem with Saturn was the general level of QA of GM cars of that era. I could make the "check engine" light come on by pressing the accelerator with a small amount of force in my SL2. And it didn't handle very well.

Re: A $20k American-made electric pickup with no paint, no stereo, no screen

#408

Post by kelseyfrog »

iamben wrote: post #49

Absolutely love this. Love brands taking the SLC (simple, lovable, complete: https://longform.asmartbear.com/slc/ ) approach - minimalism is an absolute delight in a world where everything is crammed with unnecessary/unused feature bloat. (That said, I'd love a stereo - even if it was just a built in bluetooth speaker/aux-in, which feels like a perfect compromise!)

Good news, it can be added.

> A Bluetooth speaker holder that fits under the climate knobs is available, but there is also a soundbar that can be installed in the dashboard storage compartment.

https://americancarsandracing.com/2025/04/25/best-accessorie...

Re: A $20k American-made electric pickup with no paint, no stereo, no screen

#409

Post by organsnyder »

taylodl wrote: post #113
ryandrake wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> - 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.

If the vehicle had an open interface (maybe via CAN bus over the OBD2 port?), then DIY and aftermarket apps become possibilities.

Re: A $20k American-made electric pickup with no paint, no stereo, no screen

#410

Post by alabastervlog »

Brian_K_White wrote: post #380
pglevy wrote: post #258

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same. Though this looks like the first EV I might actually consider.

Same, though the company trying to reuse the International Scout name got my attention. Physical controls and an on board gas generator.

I grew up with an (already old, and by the time we got rid of it years later, hilariously rusted-out and with tires containing more fix-a-flat than air) Scout and their announcement ad for the electric one hit a bullseye with me.

I don't really do new cars (too expensive) but damn... if I had enough cash to not give a fuck, they'd have been well on their way to selling me one just with that ad. Really well done.

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