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I don't understand why light pickup trucks and small vans aren't featured in this review, and don't seem to be a major target of EV manufacturers? There are a

I don't understand why light pickup trucks and small vans aren't featured in this review, and don't seem to be a major target of EV manufacturers? There are a few in the pipeline, such as VW's ID.Buzz but these look like personal/family models, not much seems available in the commercial utility sector. Kind of odd, really.

sbierwagen 4y ago
Rocket equation. Batteries still don't match the power density of liquid hydrocarbons, so large, heavy trucks with useful ranges end up with large, expensive batteries. The Rivian R1T has a 135KWh battery for 314 miles of range and starts at $69,000, while the Chevy Bolt has a 66KWh battery for 259 miles of range and starts at $26,595. The R1T has a mighty curb weight of 7,148 lbs, almost three thousand pounds more than the notoriously oversized 2023 Ford F-150.
ohgodplsno 4y ago
Because EVs kind of suck when you want to transport things. Most countries have weight limits relative to your driver licence. I'm not allowed to drive any car whose weight is more than 3.5 tons (and that includes what you are currently carrying). So, instead of a 150kg engine and a bunch of gas, you now have at least a ton of batteries to carry around for your vehicle to be somewhat useful. And that's before everything else. So now, an artisan can only bring around 1 ton of crap, instead of the 2.5 he could before. This is even worse for long haul trucks.
newaccount74 4y ago
There are a bunch of commercial EVs in Europe, eg. Renault is building small electric delivery vans, and Mercedes has the e-Vito van. I think the reason why there's little commercial interest in EVs is that the vehicles are extremely expensive up front, and just make no sense from a financial perspective.
clouddrover 4y ago
There are a number of commercial EV vans available in Europe. The European EV market is bigger than the North American EV market. Examples: ID Buzz Cargo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIHTSYUPalk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIHTSYUPalk Ford E-Transit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttitQvs8y1Q https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttitQvs8y1Q Renault Kangoo ZE and Renault Master ZE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJOfU-cZYNo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJOfU-cZYNo Tiny van: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31o6htzyH9E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31o6htzyH9E Other vans: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXa7OgLud8I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXa7OgLud8I More vans: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GP8yHkb-ucY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GP8yHkb-ucY
rsynnott 4y ago
There are lots of electric vans, mostly for urban use. At this point, most courier and post office vans I see in Dublin are electric (as are, mildly oddly, the electricity network's maintenance vans; this seems like it could go wrong in a major outage...) They usually seem to be this: https://www.citroen.ie/models/berlingo-van.html https://www.citroen.ie/models/berlingo-van.html Smallish range and payload, but then you don't really _need_ that much for a lot of urban applications. As to why they're not highlighted in the article, they're generally not aimed at consumers (and that article is from a consumer magazine). Consumers don't buy these things, as a general rule.

sbierwagen 4y ago

Rocket equation. Batteries still don't match the power density of liquid hydrocarbons, so large, heavy trucks with useful ranges end up with large, expensive batteries. The Rivian R1T has a 135KWh battery for 314 miles of range and starts at $69,000, while the Chevy Bolt has a 66KWh battery for 259 miles of range and starts at $26,595. The R1T has a mighty curb weight of 7,148 lbs, almost three thousand pounds more than the notoriously oversized 2023 Ford F-150.

ohgodplsno 4y ago

Because EVs kind of suck when you want to transport things. Most countries have weight limits relative to your driver licence. I'm not allowed to drive any car whose weight is more than 3.5 tons (and that includes what you are currently carrying). So, instead of a 150kg engine and a bunch of gas, you now have at least a ton of batteries to carry around for your vehicle to be somewhat useful. And that's before everything else. So now, an artisan can only bring around 1 ton of crap, instead of the 2.5 he could before. This is even worse for long haul trucks.

newaccount74 4y ago

There are a bunch of commercial EVs in Europe, eg. Renault is building small electric delivery vans, and Mercedes has the e-Vito van. I think the reason why there's little commercial interest in EVs is that the vehicles are extremely expensive up front, and just make no sense from a financial perspective.

clouddrover 4y ago

There are a number of commercial EV vans available in Europe. The European EV market is bigger than the North American EV market. Examples: ID Buzz Cargo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIHTSYUPalk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIHTSYUPalk Ford E-Transit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttitQvs8y1Q https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttitQvs8y1Q Renault Kangoo ZE and Renault Master ZE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJOfU-cZYNo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJOfU-cZYNo Tiny van: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31o6htzyH9E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31o6htzyH9E Other vans: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXa7OgLud8I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXa7OgLud8I More vans: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GP8yHkb-ucY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GP8yHkb-ucY

rsynnott 4y ago

There are lots of electric vans, mostly for urban use. At this point, most courier and post office vans I see in Dublin are electric (as are, mildly oddly, the electricity network's maintenance vans; this seems like it could go wrong in a major outage...) They usually seem to be this: https://www.citroen.ie/models/berlingo-van.html https://www.citroen.ie/models/berlingo-van.html Smallish range and payload, but then you don't really _need_ that much for a lot of urban applications. As to why they're not highlighted in the article, they're generally not aimed at consumers (and that article is from a consumer magazine). Consumers don't buy these things, as a general rule.