- cross-posted to:
- electricvehicles@slrpnk.net
- cross-posted to:
- electricvehicles@slrpnk.net
cross-posted from: https://piefed.social/c/electricvehicles/p/2162853/usa-slate-s-new-electric-truck-will-cost-slightly-more-than-24950
Range is said to be 205 mi (330 km), higher than the original estimate. This price is for the basic truck. The SUV configuration is expected to be $5000 more.
Sorry, my European brain cannot fathom how such a pickup truck bed could be useful in daily life.
Go to the garden store, buy 20 bags of mulch, sling them on the back, drive home. Or go to the drive-in theater and lay blankets in the back! Or put a kayak in the back and leave the tailgate down.
That’s my use case anyway.
Go camping and just throw all the dirty stuff in the back to clean at home. Take all the yard clippings to the mulcher without having to bag them or keep a pile on the curb. I have a hard tonneau cover so sometimes I like keeping my tools under there if I have to park in the city without worrying about people seeing the valuables through a window.
People like to say truck owners never use their trucks but I use mine constantly. I’m camping at least 12-15 weekends per year, hauling yard equipment, kayaking, helping people move, and all in a midsized truck.
I don’t really hear people say that about tacomas or equally sized trucks. Moreso the bigger ones and usually they don’t have a scratch on them.
I can’t afford a car, but I’ve got a house with a yard that needs that much mulch?
I think the point is that a pickup truck bed is better for hauling this than vehicles with other body styles.
You can get a flatbed pickup for $25k if it’s not brand new. And it does the job just as well as whatever this thing is.
So what? Should no basic, inexpensive vehicles be produced because you could get a nicer or more capable used one for a similar price?
Also, this one is electric. Sans the Cybertruck, there aren’t too many electric pickups out there, and probably not many on the used vehicle market.
I’m all for basic, inexpensive vehicles. This isn’t basic, it’s threadbare. And it isn’t inexpensive, either.
Why do you think Americans have to spend so much more money on an electric vehicle than their international peers?
You’re clearly not the target audience for this vehicle. Neither am I.
And you know what? That’s OK
I’m sorry? We have an acre that we’re converting from all grass to trees, shrubs, herbs, crops, and wildflowers.
Must be nice.
We got very lucky. A coworker was looking to get a bigger house when I started my job and we wantes to get out of an apartment. We didn’t use a realtor and paid $170k for 1200 sqft and an acre. We’re on the outskirts of a small college city so it’s fairly quiet but close enough for a 15 minute walk downtown.
How could such a bed be useful? They’re incredibly useful!
They’re useful to load things quickly. Awkward objects can be placed in the beds without having to carefully maneuver around a vehicle interior and all its obstructions. I do a lot of woodworking. Before we got a pickup, I would transport 2x4s and other lumber inside a Toyota Corolla. I’ve discovered it is actually possible to fit several dozen 8 foot long 2x4s inside a Corolla. But the pickup truck is such a better tool for the job. Plus you’re not moving a full sized sheet of plywood in a sedan.
They’re useful fit to large objects that would never fit inside a vehicle. If properly strapped down, a pickup can transport an object much taller than the roof of the truck.
They’re useful to move really dirty things you wouldn’t want in your car interior. Imagine you want to fill some garden beds with mulch or compost from a garden supplier. You could get it in small bags, but that would be expensive. It’s cheaper to buy in bulk. You could have them deliver it, but that would be more expensive still. If you need to move soil, compost, rock, or anything else dirty in bulk, a pickup is the way to do it. You can have the garden center fill your truck bed with a back hoe. Just dump it right into the bed. Then shovel it out when you get home. To clean out the bed, all you have to do is hose it off.
Now, this is pickups in general. We have a mid-2000s Ford Ranger, which is much smaller than the trucks all the big American manufacturers are selling today. A small pickup is a great utility tool. A giant one is a pointless penis extender.
Toss my bike in and goooo.
EDIT: Dammit I am legitimately curious why someone down voted this. Did they read my comment and go “You know what fuck you for riding a bicycle.” Or were they like “You fool! You have to strap it down too. That’s unsafe!” Maybe they’re a hardcore bicyclist and had sympathy pains imagining me tossing my bike in the back of a truck.
I. must. know.
We know.