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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.
  - Root_Denied 4y ago
    It's not a matter of needing trucks, or this NEV/LSV, it's a matter of functionality and legality, and whether the purchase makes sense. Functionally this electric truck has limited use case - low top speed, not street legal, low range, etc. - but there are a few niche cases where it's perfect for the job. People could buy this small truck and try to make it street legal, but as mentioned by the article that would be prohibitively expensive, defeating the point of buying it because it's cheap. At that point you may as well look into a sedan EV because it's going to be comparable in cost (at least within 2x-3x of the price). General use vehicles, both trucks and others, have a much broader area of operability. There are also EV trucks coming to market more quickly if that's what you want to spend your money on.

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.
- Root_Denied 4y ago
  It's not a matter of needing trucks, or this NEV/LSV, it's a matter of functionality and legality, and whether the purchase makes sense. Functionally this electric truck has limited use case - low top speed, not street legal, low range, etc. - but there are a few niche cases where it's perfect for the job. People could buy this small truck and try to make it street legal, but as mentioned by the article that would be prohibitively expensive, defeating the point of buying it because it's cheap. At that point you may as well look into a sedan EV because it's going to be comparable in cost (at least within 2x-3x of the price). General use vehicles, both trucks and others, have a much broader area of operability. There are also EV trucks coming to market more quickly if that's what you want to spend your money on.