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Pretty hilarious how negative the original article comments are, and it turned out after a year of use the author has nothing but positive things to say: https:

Pretty hilarious how negative the original article comments are, and it turned out after a year of use the author has nothing but positive things to say: https://electrek.co/2022/07/25/electric-mini-truck-how-its-holding-up/ https://electrek.co/2022/07/25/electric-mini-truck-how-its-h... I think there's a large education gap surround EVs that needs to be filled. Hopefully more articles and experiments like this continue to appear. If you have an EV, consider spreading the word - good and bad. It's important to talk about all aspects to both bring more users into the EV fold, and address existing issues.

xattt 4y ago
> large education gap surround EVs These comments are coming from the extrapolation of experience of imported personal electronics, as well as historical crash test results of CDM vehicles. (1) https://www.carscoops.com/2009/03/brilliance-bs4-not-so-brilliant-in-adac/ https://www.carscoops.com/2009/03/brilliance-bs4-not-so-bril...
- Spastche 4y ago
  >2009
  - xattt 4y ago
    > historical
- dymk 4y ago
  Yeah, I imagine if you're going to use a truck like this, it's for (relatively) slow hauling of stuff around a private property where there's low risk of hitting something. I wouldn't trust this in a collision with another vehicle even at low speed.
  - xattt 4y ago
    The crash test result is a proxy of build and construction quality. Did they wrap some tin foil around balsa and call it a day (figuratively), or was true thought given to the structure of the vehicle?
pcurve 4y ago
Wow, it even has reclining truck bed!
Root_Denied 4y ago
In this case I think the positive reactions a year later are more a result of having a good use case for the NEV/LSV rather than the truck being a good buy for the general public. There's also arguably limited use cases like the article brings up (off road, not street legal, lots of land) - or at least "limited" in comparison with the average / mean vehicle that gets purchased by consumers. Great that it has a use case and it's working for him, but I hesitate to universalize his experience as a result.
- donw 4y ago
  Exactly. This looks like a good alternative to importing a Kei car from Japan. With a bigger battery pack and some outlets, could be a be a perfect little runnabout truck for a small farm or ranch.
- cjrp 4y ago
  It fees like it’s competing with things like the John Deere Gator (~$15k) more than a regular on-road vehicle. Or even a regular golf cart, those things aren't cheap!
- matsemann 4y ago
  How many of the trucks you see in the US are actually needed, though? Most of them are only used for commuting, and twice the size of a truck used for actual work.
  - bluGill 4y ago
    A truck used as a truck once per year and for commuting the rest of the year is cheaper than a truck and a small car. some of them could rent, but the restrictions on what you can do with a rental truck combined with the convince of a truck when you want it (rentals are sometimes sold out, and even if not you need to go get it while the truck is right there) mean a truck looks very compelling.
    - albrewer 4y ago
      Yeah, renting a truck for, say, 2-3 days was something like $250-300 in my case. If I need one more than 2-3x a year it approaches the price point of a cheap truck vs a family sedan or SUV.

xattt 4y ago

> large education gap surround EVs These comments are coming from the extrapolation of experience of imported personal electronics, as well as historical crash test results of CDM vehicles. (1) https://www.carscoops.com/2009/03/brilliance-bs4-not-so-brilliant-in-adac/ https://www.carscoops.com/2009/03/brilliance-bs4-not-so-bril...

Spastche 4y ago
>2009
- xattt 4y ago
  > historical
dymk 4y ago
Yeah, I imagine if you're going to use a truck like this, it's for (relatively) slow hauling of stuff around a private property where there's low risk of hitting something. I wouldn't trust this in a collision with another vehicle even at low speed.
- xattt 4y ago
  The crash test result is a proxy of build and construction quality. Did they wrap some tin foil around balsa and call it a day (figuratively), or was true thought given to the structure of the vehicle?

pcurve 4y ago

Wow, it even has reclining truck bed!

Root_Denied 4y ago

In this case I think the positive reactions a year later are more a result of having a good use case for the NEV/LSV rather than the truck being a good buy for the general public. There's also arguably limited use cases like the article brings up (off road, not street legal, lots of land) - or at least "limited" in comparison with the average / mean vehicle that gets purchased by consumers. Great that it has a use case and it's working for him, but I hesitate to universalize his experience as a result.

donw 4y ago
Exactly. This looks like a good alternative to importing a Kei car from Japan. With a bigger battery pack and some outlets, could be a be a perfect little runnabout truck for a small farm or ranch.
cjrp 4y ago
It fees like it’s competing with things like the John Deere Gator (~$15k) more than a regular on-road vehicle. Or even a regular golf cart, those things aren't cheap!
matsemann 4y ago
How many of the trucks you see in the US are actually needed, though? Most of them are only used for commuting, and twice the size of a truck used for actual work.
- bluGill 4y ago
  A truck used as a truck once per year and for commuting the rest of the year is cheaper than a truck and a small car. some of them could rent, but the restrictions on what you can do with a rental truck combined with the convince of a truck when you want it (rentals are sometimes sold out, and even if not you need to go get it while the truck is right there) mean a truck looks very compelling.
  - albrewer 4y ago
    Yeah, renting a truck for, say, 2-3 days was something like $250-300 in my case. If I need one more than 2-3x a year it approaches the price point of a cheap truck vs a family sedan or SUV.