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> Truck buyers are very conservative in both the political and non-political sense, making them much slower to adapt new technology. While there is some truth,
by bdcravens 3y ago
> Truck buyers are very conservative in both the political and non-political sense, making them much slower to adapt new technology.
While there is some truth, this is a meme. In places like Texas, truck ownership cuts across many lifestyles. You're as likely to see an attorney or doctor drive an F-150 as opposed to the stereotypical Mercedes. Walk around the parking lot of tech companies in Austin - you'll still see trucks.
> Electric trucks haven't achieved product-market fit quite as well as electric cars have. Long range towing is a weak spot.
Many pickup owners will never tow anything. They may carry weight in their bed, but overall, they're rugged cars capable of non-paved terrain.
For those using their truck for work, the Lightning actually provides some unique advantages over their gas counterparts, powering equipment.
- bluedino 3y ago>> Many pickup owners will never tow anything. About 1/3rd of pickup trucks sold are to commercial buyers, though.
- bdcravens 3y agoSure, but that doesn't mean they're used for towing. Across a wide array of business types, they're used as rugged cars with a company logo on them.
- bluedino 3y agoThose numbers include 3/4 and 1-ton trucks which are used for all kinds of commercial purposes, the might not "tow" but they are still carrying thousands of pounds of work equipment etc. Just because a truck isn't being used to a tow a trailer 24/7 doesn't mean it's just being used as a 'rugged car'.
- ElevenLathe 3y agoI don't think there are any announced plans for an 3/4 or 1 ton electric trucks, so these will be competing with the "overgrown passenger car" class of pickups, not the "miniature big rig" class.
- bryanlarsen 3y agoThe Cybertruck is technically a medium duty truck, or at least it was according to the 2019 announcement specs.
- bryanlarsen 3y agoThe truck-driving doctors and lawyers I know are also the among the most conservative people I know.
- zactato 3y agoDoes it matter if they never tow anything? People want to be ABLE to tow something. Every truck commercial features giant trails or a loader dumping rocks into the bed. Probably <10% of pick up trucks owners ever do this, but people still like the image of having a truck than can do this.
- mips_r4300i 3y agoIt's very common for truck owners to not tow or haul 95% of the time. But when they do need to, the truck damn well better work. I asked a couple contractors what they thought about the Lightning, to them it's an expensive toy but nothing that will replace the ability to haul equipment to the next state over and back in the same day, all with 1 gas fillup or less. Time is money for them, and they have no time to sit around waiting for stuff to charge. EV trucks are immensely heavy, cost 30 to 50 percent more, and have terrible range. Not to mention you have to charge them. You can't make the range better like you can on a EV car by making it more aerodynamic, because towing completely negates that. Maybe one day we'll get better battery tech or some other dense energy storage.