What kind of car would a mini electric car combined with a pickup truck make?
Mini electric pickup truck. (Illustration photo).
The electric vehicle startup TELO has stirred up the electric vehicle market in the US with the launch of its mini electric pickup truck . The vehicle immediately received great attention from consumers because pickup trucks have always been a popular vehicle line with market dominance in the hands of Ford.
TELO is a startup co-founded by Jason Marks and Forrest North, a former Tesla engineer. The company is still in its early stages but has plans for a small but 'blockbuster' electric car with unbelievable specs.
The mini truck will have a range of 563km on a single charge. (Illustration photo).
The vehicle has 500 horsepower and a 106 kWh battery, capable of accelerating from 0-100 km/h in just 4 seconds with a top speed of 200 km/h. The company says the minivan will have a range of 563 km on a single charge and is aiming for fast charging from 20-80% capacity in 20 minutes.
But these powerful specs will be packed into a compact car with a length of only 3,860 mm. For comparison, this size is equal to the wheelbase of the electric Mini Cooper SE , 1,532 mm shorter than the Toyota Tacoma mid-size pickup truck, or 2,050 mm shorter than the Ford F-150 Lightning electric pickup truck. At 1,995 kg, the Telo is also 8 kg lighter than a Tesla Model Y.
The Telo electric pickup truck seats five and offers the option of a camping tent and third row of seats, bringing the total seating capacity to eight.
TELO shares that with a growing and urbanizing global population, small urban electric vehicles will be important both for city dwellers who need or choose to have one and for businesses that need cargo space but would benefit from a smaller vehicle.
The car is expected to cost around $50,000 and be eligible for tax incentives in the US. (Illustration photo).
In the future, TELO wants to offer a version with a smaller battery at a lower price. This would suit customers who don't need such a large operating range of 500km.
The prototype is expected to appear by the end of this summer, and the production preparations will be completed in 2024. Telo expects to have the first 500 cars by the end of 2025, and 10,000 cars in production by 2026. They have also opened deposits (refundable) for $ 152 (3.6 million VND).
Initially, the Telo was only expected to launch in the US, where pickup trucks are a hugely popular vehicle. But Yves Behar, the designer who created the vehicle, said: "Pickups are the best-selling vehicles in the US and they would probably sell better in Europe if they were designed differently. If you're in a city like London or Lisbon, or anywhere in Europe, anywhere in an older city, big vehicles are a terrible burden. So the ability to do so much in such a small size means we see a lot of opportunity to launch in Europe . "
