Tesla Pickup

[HalfShadows]

I have never seen a charging station "in the middle of nowhere".  can you post some of these?

I have only seen them along interstates and major secondary highways.

I seldom spend an hour in a town,  why would I?  even on resupply days I don't spend that much time in town.

driving into the back country with a half charged battery is akin to half a tank of gas.  would you do that?

highdesertranger

To answer your 1st question I cannot remember exact locations of nowhere charging stations, but taking back roads I have seen several and was perplexed only seeing one or 2 small buildings with a public charging station on a crossroads of 2 lane highway. If I find my pics I will post them. 

As far as your life activities regarding in town limitations and time constraints not for me to say.

Regarding going into the back country with a half tank of gas or half charged battery I would not do. But if I did with a Tesla truck I would get the same mileage as my current rig with half charge vs a full tank. 

It is all relative to personal choices which makes one feel comfortable and secure.

On the plus side I can harvest energy from the sun from a decent solar array to supplement my energy off road, whereas I cannot produce oil from the ground and refine it in situ.

 

[HalfShadows]

Go to Charge Hub on line for the area near you with public charging stations. Tesla charging stations are .07 cents per 1000 kw. So for a 200,000 KW hour battery system from empty is $7.00.  Remember you can charge from your home as well. Give the map time to populate.

 

[bullfrog]

I hope Tesla improves their distribution policies and makes it possible to get their repair parts more easily. See TFL on YouTube for some eye opening reports when they had a minor slow speed backing accident that required the vehicle transported to an "authorized" repair facility and then had to wait months for incorrect parts and months more for repairs that cost almost half the original purchase price. Ain't gonna be many of these getting junkyard parts!

 

[highdesertranger]

yeah that's another thing I can repair my vehicles cheaply and easily anywhere. I ran across a Tesla at a tire shop they were waiting for a rim I guess they ruined one. they had already been there 2 days. they have a special one of a kind rim. highdesertranger

 

[bullfrog]

Yep that is the problem Tesla supposedly won't make parts available to anyone who isn't a Tesla certified repair facility who must install them, and there are not many. Even then because the demand and no other available supply source things even like glass parts must come from them taking several months apparently to get. They won't even sell you the parts directly. They apparently want complete control over repairs to their vehicles which means you are at their mercy when it comes to costs.

 

[HalfShadows]

A friend of mine purchased a large tract of land in the SW. He got a great deal. I walked his land with him and found remnants of a couple of mining camps. Sure enough his land was originally deeded to a gold mining company back in the day. He gave me his permission to prospect this fall and winter. My current rig is outfitted to last me 1 month without resupplying. Like I said, if the Tesla truck meets or exceeds my expectations I will purchase one.

 

[bullfrog]

There are at least two other companies with smaller electric 4x4 trucks slated to be on the market in the next 2 years or so. One of them almost the entire vehicle chassis and body are made from aluminum. I like the the concept of electric vehicles just as I do my electric radmini bicycle but batteries and electric motors are heavy and most companies are trying to lose weight building the lightest chassis using expensive materials that are difficult repair when damaged or worn. Take a look at the 4x4 Ford trucks with aluminum shock towers state and border patrol use and see how many have cracked off. I was advised to buy stock in Tesla and wished I had as I admire the fact they were able to overcome the roadblocks GM and other corporations and government agencies put before them and I hope they spur other car manufacturers to compete. I do hope they build easily repairable vehicles and supply parts on a timely basis, as I imagine you will if some old Chevy rear ends you. Best of luck prospecting, hope you spend you money wisely.

 

[RVTravel]

Bet the price will approach 75k+

 

[RoamerRV428]

yea the basic model is the one no one wants for the 50K price....everyone will want those 'bigger battery setups' etc and will be like 80K for the good one

thing is someone has to buy and try!! it is good some want this vehicle and can find charge stations and do all this and work out the kinks.

personally for the years we got left I am hanging with our diesel truck at all times LOL just us. I ain't waiting around on charging ever, I ain't taking chances on new technology to pull my rv and see if it works, I ain't the guinea pig on this one....but thankful people will give this truck a shot and see what happens. Progress everyone has to happen sometime

 

[Matlock]

Google works.
May or may not be the vehicle in question in this post. But it does look like several manufacturers are building early prototype models. Some USA made and some USA assembled versions.

https://insideevs.com/reviews/351063/video-tesla-truck-rivian-atlis-pickup/

and this link
https://evbite.com/5-upcoming-electric-trucks/

The mention or 300/400/and 500 miles range with 15 minute full recharge!
Now I have to go back and read both articles.

Looks like there are several companies investing in this product line.

 

[Matlock]

And lets not forget that along with power storage, lithiums, etc. there is major improvements in electric motors.
Linear Labs HET has designed, tested and is now marketing motors that deliver even higher torques with 20% increase in efficiency. In other words, they deliver more with less juice.

I remember 3 wheeled gas golf carts. Today over 2 million in use and all are electric. Progress at the speed of electricity or sumptin.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

Some disjointed thoughts:

Electric vehicles that use Lithium battery technology currently cannot be used as the sole transportation for the parts of the country that get above ~95ºF or below 32ºF for parts of the year or need climate control to charge (and possibly use).

Concerning torque: gobs of torque will do you no good if you can't connect it to the ground.  18 wheelers have 8 drive wheels for a reason.

There are no advertised charge stations within 200 miles of some of the places I frequent.  Combine that with low overnight temperatures means I'm SOL.

A 1 hour charge time assumes the charge stations are not already occupied and the temperatures are within the optimal charge temperature range of your batteries.  I have no idea what the queueing rules are for electric chargers.  Violate local conventions and you might be in for a rough time.  It also assumes that someone will be back to move a vehicle as soon as it is charged.

Electricity is greatly subsidized at 7¢ a KW for charging; don't expect that to last.  Plus EV's currently get a pass on road taxes (currently 66¢/gallon in California + sales tax).

Solar: A 100W solar panel will yield ~ 1.5 miles of range per day on a good solar day (using Tesla's measured 3 miles per KW).

Currently ~1% of highway miles are driven by EVs.  Our current electrical grid cannot handle much more.  And I don't see any action on improving it.

About 1/3 (28%) of EV miles are power by coal, only about 10% by renewables; and of that 6% is hydro (in the US).

Why, oh why do they have to make these things so ugly.  The artist rendering of the Tesla truck looks like a refugee from the Alien movie franchise; scaring children and small animals.

I wouldn't want to be an early adopter of a new vehicle from any of the car manufactures.  They use first buyers as beta testers.

Forget about DIY repairs.  For quite a while repairs will be done only by manufacturer and at inflated single source costs.  And expect to go to the end of the queue if you are out of warrantee.

In my lifetime (< 25 years) I think a hybrid vehicle is a more practical choice.

My 2¢

 

[swlands]

OK, this is more like a Tesla truck. Custom build.



Build video

Street reactions

 

[SLB_SA]

On the plus side I can harvest energy from the sun from a decent solar array to supplement my energy off road, whereas I cannot produce oil from the ground and refine it in situ.

Come on, if The Professor could do it, so can you.

 

[IGBT]

This is one of the exciting things about the Tesla truck.   It would be extremely easy to tow a small utility trailer that is set up with some folding panel system to produce 3kW or more.   A two week boondock in the desert and you would fully recharge a Tesla truck plus you would have the 120V power source of the truck there for all of your needs.

(3kW x 6 hours x 14 days = 250 kWh)

 

[4k4000]

You dont poop, check your oil, eat lunch, stretch your legs, clean your windows, or let the dog pee when you stop?

I don't want to be "that guy" but the Tesla CyberTruck will not have an oil dipstick.

 

[4k4000]

can fit a ford F150 in it's bed

Elon said the production truck will be like a scaled down version of the concept. I don't think the production truck will fit an F150 in the bed, which might be a good thing.

 

[4k4000]

I wonder if it would be possible to bring along a portable gas generator to charge the CyberTruck when out in the boonies. Not that that's the solution anyone is looking for.

 

[Qxxx]

Lordstown electric pickup.

https://lordstownmotors.com/pages/tech

 

[Rosiewylde]

Now that they've come out with the Cybertruck, what are everyone's thoughts? I'm trying to decide between the Model Y and the Cybertruck.
Your thoughts?