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Just throwing this out there, but a lot of working class contractor type drive a RAM/Ford/Chevy 1 ton class diesel trucks with mega cab that typically runs in t

Just throwing this out there, but a lot of working class contractor type drive a RAM/Ford/Chevy 1 ton class diesel trucks with mega cab that typically runs in the neighborhood of 50-70k, so these people WILL transition to electric. I already know republican types in rural areas that even want to get the Cybertruck (even if it means looking like one of those rich types).

jwolfe 5y ago
> I already know republican types in rural areas that even want to get the Cybertruck (even if it means looking like one of those rich types). Not entirely on topic, but I'm curious whether their interest will shift to the electric Ford truck.
- pmorici 5y ago
  Anecdotally, I know someone who saw the Electric Hummer commercial during the Super Bowl earlier this year and it led him down a path that ended in him buying a Model Y a few weeks ago. Other players announcing vehicles that are years away from production is a net positive for Tesla sales. It's counter intuitive so not many people under stand that but it is definitely a thing from what I've observed. The mechanism is that you have these companies talking about electric vehicles which brings more attention to the coming change in technology and Tesla has a wider selection of best in class for the price electric vehicles than anyone else that you can buy right now and not wait.
- Gibbon1 5y ago
  I think the Ford electric F150 will sell like mad if it's reliable. Modern gas and diesel trucks are kinda a mechanical nightmare at this point. Used to be they were simpler than cars. Easy to work on. Now they are as complex. And as hard to work on as vans, of not more so. Means if anything goes wrong $$$. Electric, more reliable, easier to work on. With the same or better performance. If the early adopters have a good experience, everyone else is going to follow.
daenz 5y ago
I personally am not interested in the Cybertruck until it gets more mainstream. The thing is a target for every disgruntled driver who sees it in a parking lot. Telsa's already seem to be targeted frequently[0]. I don't need that kind of grief in my life. 0. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzpNC2zMAys https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzpNC2zMAys (dramatic, but there are plenty more of these kinds of videos)
- grahamburger 5y ago
  On paper I'm the type of person who ought to be interested in a cybertruck but I'm finding myself a lot more interested in the Ford F-150 Lightning.
  - Sanguinaire 5y ago
    Same here. Being in the UK means getting an F150 is pretty unlikely as I'd be worried about it fitting on some of our roads, but it is far more appealing than the cybertruck even for me as a soft, liberal tech worker.
- ethbr0 5y ago
  I planned on jumping straight to a diesel Prius. That way both sides hate me. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0QXTKWBtke8 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0QXTKWBtke8
  - Syonyk 5y ago
    Nah, that's just boring. Go with a diesel Insight. There have been a few diesel swaps on the 1st gen Insights that manage the same or better fuel economy than the gas hybrid version. https://www.thedrive.com/news/38291/this-2000-honda-insight-with-a-vw-turbo-diesel-swap-may-be-the-ultimate-fuel-saver https://www.thedrive.com/news/38291/this-2000-honda-insight-... The Honda hybrid tech of that time is a lot easier to swap engines on. A Prius has the motors in the transmission, so it's harder to simply bolt a new engine on. You'd have to either drive the transaxle with your own control algorithms, or figure out another way to make it behave with a different engine. The Honda electric motor was on the engine crankshaft, and you could get the Insight with a manual transmission, so it's really just "bolt in the motor and go."
kirse 5y ago
Doesn't matter who you vote for if you can show up to a work site with a Diesel-Electric hybrid that has enough torque to unsafely tow a loaded semi trailer and power everything needed for the day. Truck manufacturers will figure it out over the next decade.
- canadianfella 5y ago
  Why diesel?
- ashtonkem 5y ago
  Next decade? Try next year. The F150 Lightning will absolutely dominate the fleet truck space if it comes anywhere close to delivering the promised specs.
  - culopatin 5y ago
    Assuming they have where to charge it
    - ashtonkem 5y ago
      Irrelevant for fleet trucks, which travel relatively short distances compared to commuter vehicles and always stay at the company yard overnight. A large charging network is really only relevant to regular consumers, and even that is more of a psychological reassurance than a strict requirement given measured consumer behavior.
      - culopatin 5y ago
        I mean that the company would have to wire their yard to charge a fleet. One charging station at home is one thing, but 25 sounds like a much bigger project from an infrastructure standpoint
nszceta 5y ago
My 3/4 ton gas pickup truck gets 8 miles per gallon towing 12 thousand pounds hundreds of miles a month. I blow through multiple Teslas worth of energy per drive. No way is this thing going to be replaced by anything even remotely resembling the lithium ion batteries of today. And even if such a magical thing existed, I would need to charge it somewhere at over 100 amps to be useful. We need more nuclear power plants sequestering atmosphere carbon dioxide into liquid fuels. My job sites in rural counties lose power regularly in sunny calm wind conditions. I would be utterly helpless and stuck regularly if my vehicle strongly depended on the electrical grid. Liquid fuels carry so much energy per liter I can store a massive amount of energy in a compact package. This is more important to me than pulling a 55 foot semi trailer filled to the brim with 18650s to have enough energy to tow. I cringe at the cost of lithium ion batteries to meet my energy requirements. God forbid those batteries freeze! Now my precious expensive batteries are destroyed. We will see electric trucks in the near future on a very small subset of routes where reliable electrical connectivity is available.
- s0rce 5y ago
  The vast majority of non-commercial truck use is not towing or hauling. Just look at the pickups you see on the road. Most are just luxury vehicles at this point. Not much difference than a slightly more practical sportscar.
  - syshum 5y ago
    I would love for you cite your sources on this... For Ford, the most popular Truck, 50-60% of Trucks are F150 XL, or XLT, the XL is the base work truck, the XLT as the common features but not level of luxury of the Lariat, or Platinum Trucks.
    - s0rce 5y ago
      Was just my observation on the road in the Western USA. I think the stats you have include fleet and commercial which frequently buy the base models, I was just talking about non-commercial use.
syshum 5y ago
>> I already know republican types in rural areas that even want to get the Cybertruck I call BS on that, of the many many many Truck owners I know maybe 10% have any interest in the Cybertruck... Of that 10% none of them use their truck for work or as an actual truck The CyberTruck is targeting Late Gen X and Millennials the grew up with 80's and 90's movies with nostalgia, not a practical usable truck Now the F150 Lightening that has about 60-70+% of the Truck Owners I know interested

jwolfe 5y ago

> I already know republican types in rural areas that even want to get the Cybertruck (even if it means looking like one of those rich types). Not entirely on topic, but I'm curious whether their interest will shift to the electric Ford truck.

pmorici 5y ago
Anecdotally, I know someone who saw the Electric Hummer commercial during the Super Bowl earlier this year and it led him down a path that ended in him buying a Model Y a few weeks ago. Other players announcing vehicles that are years away from production is a net positive for Tesla sales. It's counter intuitive so not many people under stand that but it is definitely a thing from what I've observed. The mechanism is that you have these companies talking about electric vehicles which brings more attention to the coming change in technology and Tesla has a wider selection of best in class for the price electric vehicles than anyone else that you can buy right now and not wait.
Gibbon1 5y ago
I think the Ford electric F150 will sell like mad if it's reliable. Modern gas and diesel trucks are kinda a mechanical nightmare at this point. Used to be they were simpler than cars. Easy to work on. Now they are as complex. And as hard to work on as vans, of not more so. Means if anything goes wrong $$$. Electric, more reliable, easier to work on. With the same or better performance. If the early adopters have a good experience, everyone else is going to follow.

daenz 5y ago

I personally am not interested in the Cybertruck until it gets more mainstream. The thing is a target for every disgruntled driver who sees it in a parking lot. Telsa's already seem to be targeted frequently[0]. I don't need that kind of grief in my life. 0. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzpNC2zMAys https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzpNC2zMAys (dramatic, but there are plenty more of these kinds of videos)

grahamburger 5y ago
On paper I'm the type of person who ought to be interested in a cybertruck but I'm finding myself a lot more interested in the Ford F-150 Lightning.
- Sanguinaire 5y ago
  Same here. Being in the UK means getting an F150 is pretty unlikely as I'd be worried about it fitting on some of our roads, but it is far more appealing than the cybertruck even for me as a soft, liberal tech worker.
ethbr0 5y ago
I planned on jumping straight to a diesel Prius. That way both sides hate me. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0QXTKWBtke8 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0QXTKWBtke8
- Syonyk 5y ago
  Nah, that's just boring. Go with a diesel Insight. There have been a few diesel swaps on the 1st gen Insights that manage the same or better fuel economy than the gas hybrid version. https://www.thedrive.com/news/38291/this-2000-honda-insight-with-a-vw-turbo-diesel-swap-may-be-the-ultimate-fuel-saver https://www.thedrive.com/news/38291/this-2000-honda-insight-... The Honda hybrid tech of that time is a lot easier to swap engines on. A Prius has the motors in the transmission, so it's harder to simply bolt a new engine on. You'd have to either drive the transaxle with your own control algorithms, or figure out another way to make it behave with a different engine. The Honda electric motor was on the engine crankshaft, and you could get the Insight with a manual transmission, so it's really just "bolt in the motor and go."

kirse 5y ago

Doesn't matter who you vote for if you can show up to a work site with a Diesel-Electric hybrid that has enough torque to unsafely tow a loaded semi trailer and power everything needed for the day. Truck manufacturers will figure it out over the next decade.

canadianfella 5y ago
Why diesel?
ashtonkem 5y ago
Next decade? Try next year. The F150 Lightning will absolutely dominate the fleet truck space if it comes anywhere close to delivering the promised specs.
- culopatin 5y ago
  Assuming they have where to charge it
  - ashtonkem 5y ago
    Irrelevant for fleet trucks, which travel relatively short distances compared to commuter vehicles and always stay at the company yard overnight. A large charging network is really only relevant to regular consumers, and even that is more of a psychological reassurance than a strict requirement given measured consumer behavior.
    - culopatin 5y ago
      I mean that the company would have to wire their yard to charge a fleet. One charging station at home is one thing, but 25 sounds like a much bigger project from an infrastructure standpoint

nszceta 5y ago

My 3/4 ton gas pickup truck gets 8 miles per gallon towing 12 thousand pounds hundreds of miles a month. I blow through multiple Teslas worth of energy per drive. No way is this thing going to be replaced by anything even remotely resembling the lithium ion batteries of today. And even if such a magical thing existed, I would need to charge it somewhere at over 100 amps to be useful. We need more nuclear power plants sequestering atmosphere carbon dioxide into liquid fuels. My job sites in rural counties lose power regularly in sunny calm wind conditions. I would be utterly helpless and stuck regularly if my vehicle strongly depended on the electrical grid. Liquid fuels carry so much energy per liter I can store a massive amount of energy in a compact package. This is more important to me than pulling a 55 foot semi trailer filled to the brim with 18650s to have enough energy to tow. I cringe at the cost of lithium ion batteries to meet my energy requirements. God forbid those batteries freeze! Now my precious expensive batteries are destroyed. We will see electric trucks in the near future on a very small subset of routes where reliable electrical connectivity is available.

s0rce 5y ago
The vast majority of non-commercial truck use is not towing or hauling. Just look at the pickups you see on the road. Most are just luxury vehicles at this point. Not much difference than a slightly more practical sportscar.
- syshum 5y ago
  I would love for you cite your sources on this... For Ford, the most popular Truck, 50-60% of Trucks are F150 XL, or XLT, the XL is the base work truck, the XLT as the common features but not level of luxury of the Lariat, or Platinum Trucks.
  - s0rce 5y ago
    Was just my observation on the road in the Western USA. I think the stats you have include fleet and commercial which frequently buy the base models, I was just talking about non-commercial use.

syshum 5y ago

>> I already know republican types in rural areas that even want to get the Cybertruck I call BS on that, of the many many many Truck owners I know maybe 10% have any interest in the Cybertruck... Of that 10% none of them use their truck for work or as an actual truck The CyberTruck is targeting Late Gen X and Millennials the grew up with 80's and 90's movies with nostalgia, not a practical usable truck Now the F150 Lightening that has about 60-70+% of the Truck Owners I know interested