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My hunch is that the people who buy an F-150 for groceries are not the people interested in buying EVs. The advantage of an EV truck is solely on cost and maint

by bayesnet 10mo ago

My hunch is that the people who buy an F-150 for groceries are not the people interested in buying EVs. The advantage of an EV truck is solely on cost and maintenance, so the natural market is businesses looking for practical vehicles, not people who buy impractical vehicles that are costly to operate for status reasons. Then again as I’m typing this I realize that I have a phone with a better processor than most computers on which I … browse hacker news and read email, so go figure.

IgorPartola 10mo ago
This is anecdotal but I have a gas F-150 that is often a grocery getter (I work from home and take a motorcycle when I can so gas mileage for me isn’t as big a concern as for some) and I would gladly trade it for an electric or a hybrid version (one that does not have the gas motor do anything but charge the batteries). But the cost was absolutely asinine for the Lightning. These trucks were made from unobtainium. But I would also trade this truck for an all electric or mostly electric Maverick as long as it had enough cabin space for my needs (children).
bitexploder 10mo ago
We have a f150 raptor and a rivian and a model 3. I drive the gas truck and the model 3. Depends on the weather. Truck is an amazing road tripper. We are not the typical customer, but we do exist.
- dalyons 10mo ago
  thats like $250k of cars at new prices, yes you're not typical :)
  - fragmede 10mo ago
    well yeah, but you don't buy them new and all at once
    - red-iron-pine 10mo ago
      the raptor alone is uncommon and is expensive a super-premium luxury truck. parent poster is loaded af
eitally 10mo ago
I drive a 2017 F150 with the back commonly filled with either sports equipment or outdoors gear, or photography equipment. I would like to additionally have a city car but am not willing to spend the money (or consume another parking space in front of my house). Since I only have one vehicle, I do also use it for grocery shopping.
- ssl-3 10mo ago
  I drive a Honda van, usually with the seats out/folded down. It's really big back there. It holds an enormous volume of stuff. 4x8 sheets of plywood fit inside with the doors closed, and so do 10-foot lengths of pipe. It's easy to access stuff at the front or the back. It's all contained under a roof in a locking, conditioned space (3 zones of HVAC) and is easy to get to from either sliding door or the back tailgate. Works great for hauling stuff like sports equipment, outdoors gear, or photography equipment. Mine is full of tools, ladders, and boxes of wire right now, but it's been awesome for taking a mountain of camping gear and a PA system across the country. (Or, you know: Groceries. It does groceries very well indeed.) (It's not so great at hauling stuff like bulk stone or mulch, but that stuff is usually pretty cheap to get delivered.)
  - joleyj 10mo ago
    What’s the towing capacity of your van. How do you think it would do pulling a 6000 pound trailer?
    - orthoxerox 10mo ago
      The Volkswagen Transporter has a towing capacity of 750kg for an unbraked trailer and a maximum towing capacity of 2800kg for a braked trailer. That's 6000 pounds.
    - ssl-3 10mo ago
      Good question. I don't usually think of towing stuff because that's seldom been a part of my life. 3500 pounds is what Honda lists for towing capacity (same as a 2WD Honda Pilot, even though an AWD Honda Pilot with exactly the same engine and transmission is more like 5000). If towing capacity is defined as "what people can expect a thing to reliably do for many thousands of miles, in a row, over and over again" then I think a bone-stock Odyssey would roll over and die with 6000 pounds behind it. Slow trip to the dump that's right over there across flat terrain? Sure, probably OK if it's rather heavy. Through the Appalachians? No; that's sounding like a bad day. And the usual variables can be wiggled: A better transmission cooler can be added without too much difficulty (and Honda used to sell kits for this, themselves). There's seemingly-reputable companies that sell air suspension (read: adjustable) helper-springs for many years of Odyssey, and reports are that they're not particularly hard to install (as a DIY, in the driveway). Weight-distributing hitches help a ton (literally), but IIRC Honda doesn't list a separate capacity for that. There's other vans with similar interior volume and features that are stated on the door sill sticker to tow trailers better. And there's certainly some things that trucks like an F150 can get very right. Towing is one of them. If a person wants to occasionally haul a decent-sized camper around or something, then owning a pickup truck may be exactly the right solution.
MangoToupe 10mo ago
> My hunch is that the people who buy an F-150 for groceries are not the people interested in buying EVs. Isn't this the entire pitch of the cybertruck?

IgorPartola 10mo ago

This is anecdotal but I have a gas F-150 that is often a grocery getter (I work from home and take a motorcycle when I can so gas mileage for me isn’t as big a concern as for some) and I would gladly trade it for an electric or a hybrid version (one that does not have the gas motor do anything but charge the batteries). But the cost was absolutely asinine for the Lightning. These trucks were made from unobtainium. But I would also trade this truck for an all electric or mostly electric Maverick as long as it had enough cabin space for my needs (children).

bitexploder 10mo ago

We have a f150 raptor and a rivian and a model 3. I drive the gas truck and the model 3. Depends on the weather. Truck is an amazing road tripper. We are not the typical customer, but we do exist.

dalyons 10mo ago
thats like $250k of cars at new prices, yes you're not typical :)
- fragmede 10mo ago
  well yeah, but you don't buy them new and all at once
  - red-iron-pine 10mo ago
    the raptor alone is uncommon and is expensive a super-premium luxury truck. parent poster is loaded af

eitally 10mo ago

I drive a 2017 F150 with the back commonly filled with either sports equipment or outdoors gear, or photography equipment. I would like to additionally have a city car but am not willing to spend the money (or consume another parking space in front of my house). Since I only have one vehicle, I do also use it for grocery shopping.

ssl-3 10mo ago
I drive a Honda van, usually with the seats out/folded down. It's really big back there. It holds an enormous volume of stuff. 4x8 sheets of plywood fit inside with the doors closed, and so do 10-foot lengths of pipe. It's easy to access stuff at the front or the back. It's all contained under a roof in a locking, conditioned space (3 zones of HVAC) and is easy to get to from either sliding door or the back tailgate. Works great for hauling stuff like sports equipment, outdoors gear, or photography equipment. Mine is full of tools, ladders, and boxes of wire right now, but it's been awesome for taking a mountain of camping gear and a PA system across the country. (Or, you know: Groceries. It does groceries very well indeed.) (It's not so great at hauling stuff like bulk stone or mulch, but that stuff is usually pretty cheap to get delivered.)
- joleyj 10mo ago
  What’s the towing capacity of your van. How do you think it would do pulling a 6000 pound trailer?
  - orthoxerox 10mo ago
    The Volkswagen Transporter has a towing capacity of 750kg for an unbraked trailer and a maximum towing capacity of 2800kg for a braked trailer. That's 6000 pounds.
  - ssl-3 10mo ago
    Good question. I don't usually think of towing stuff because that's seldom been a part of my life. 3500 pounds is what Honda lists for towing capacity (same as a 2WD Honda Pilot, even though an AWD Honda Pilot with exactly the same engine and transmission is more like 5000). If towing capacity is defined as "what people can expect a thing to reliably do for many thousands of miles, in a row, over and over again" then I think a bone-stock Odyssey would roll over and die with 6000 pounds behind it. Slow trip to the dump that's right over there across flat terrain? Sure, probably OK if it's rather heavy. Through the Appalachians? No; that's sounding like a bad day. And the usual variables can be wiggled: A better transmission cooler can be added without too much difficulty (and Honda used to sell kits for this, themselves). There's seemingly-reputable companies that sell air suspension (read: adjustable) helper-springs for many years of Odyssey, and reports are that they're not particularly hard to install (as a DIY, in the driveway). Weight-distributing hitches help a ton (literally), but IIRC Honda doesn't list a separate capacity for that. There's other vans with similar interior volume and features that are stated on the door sill sticker to tow trailers better. And there's certainly some things that trucks like an F150 can get very right. Towing is one of them. If a person wants to occasionally haul a decent-sized camper around or something, then owning a pickup truck may be exactly the right solution.

MangoToupe 10mo ago

> My hunch is that the people who buy an F-150 for groceries are not the people interested in buying EVs. Isn't this the entire pitch of the cybertruck?