Tesla EV pickup truck!

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by P-hack

Still, for %99.999 of truck owners, a trailer hitch on an efficient car would be way better. Single occupant over-sized, under-utilized bricks with relatively tiny payloads are already everywhere.

Got to disagree on that. For the 90% that use the trucks as cars, you wouldn't need the trailer hitch :-) For people who use trucks for actual work, you need the high clearance, and often 4WD.

As for range, I think an electric could do well for many work truck purposes. Back in the days when I did construction work, I would seldom drive more than 100 miles or so in a day, and this in the LA Basin.

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by twinair

It doesn't have to be an Iveco Daily. I just wanted to say that an Iveco Daily type pick-up would be more practical. An American company (Tesla) could also produce a truck without a gigantic snout/grille. This has no influence on price.

Agreed.

There are more practical options, but people are influenced to varying degrees by things that are not practical. Regarding the large front end and overall length of vehicles in the US; the cities are built to accommodate them. I've parallel parked my truck in downtown Portland many times, and also fit the truck into every car park I have attempted.

Perhaps, the length is a safety feature offering a longer zone of deceleration during an accident? Just throwing out another possible reason for the differences in trend.

Switzerland has a significantly higher GDP per capita than the US. Yet, I don't see many pick up trucks.

Differences in culture has something to do with that trend, but a US gallon of diesel is $8.55 in Switzerland. 2 miles from my house I can purchase a gallon of diesel for $3.13. That's 2.7x more expensive! Given the Swiss average annual per capita income of $79k compared to the US $52k, they earn roughly 1.5x the US citizen.

Certainly fuel prices affect the purchasing decisions of the Swiss more than the Americans, even given the higher relative earning power.

Please don't think I am directing this comment at you, but the idea I want to convey is that Americans are motivated by the same basic things all humans are. The cause of the relatively inefficient vehicles in the US is most attributable to relatively cheap fuel; and less attributable to the citizens being uninformed, unintelligent, evil, or any other deficiency of character.

Originally Posted by euromodder

Usually we tend to repeat the US's errors in Europe.This is your chance NOT to repeat ours : don't buy into the clean-diesel lies !

Thank you for sharing. Count me as one that was previously uninformed. I have something new to read up on now.

[Frank Lee]

Let's say the short-nosed trucks were available here in the U.S. How does that make it a more efficient truck?

[twinair]

It primarily uses space more efficiently (the same cargo area in a smaller, lighter vehicle).
Also, long straight snouts with a gigantic grille increase the drag coefficient.

[jakobnev]

Better off with a trailer indeed:

Top 10 Bike Fails Loading Unloading - YouTube

[twinair]

or this:

[twinair]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

The cause of the relatively inefficient vehicles in the US is most attributable to relatively cheap fuel

I agree to some extent. But despite the high fuel prices I do see many gas-guzzling SUVs but very few pick-up trucks. There must be another reason, why pick-up trucks are particularly popular in the US and less so in Europe.

[P-hack]

Cheap fuel and originally they were "manly" crude loud rough utility vehicles, and the marketers managed to still sell the soft plushy things as manly and make good margins. The trailer companies don't have nearly the marketing budget.

[elhigh]

Originally Posted by renault_megane_dci

About the towing differences between Europe and American trucks, it is not about their abilities but about the regulations of their native market.
In Europe, anything over 3.5 tons require a dedicated license.
So manufacturers optimise their vehicle based on this regulation.

Bigger US trucks should compare to actual trucks (wich speed is limited to 70 mph too)

That's a valid point. You can hitch up your F-350 and drag away a 9-ton load on a bumper hitch, or 12 tons on a fifth wheel. No special license required if I recall rightly.

That's a lot of load, a lot of liability. I saw a gooseneck trailer carrying 17 large round bales of hay in September, trundling along the roads in Minnesota. Unless I'm mistaken, you could be a first-year driver with no extra training or testing, hauling a load that size.

Maybe not first-year. When I was a first-year driver, it was possible then. I think some of the regulations have tightened up a little bit. But still, there isn't much in the way of training required if you're just a regular Joe pulling stuff around on the back of his truck. It's not a big deal to pull around up to 3,000 lbs behind my little truck, but when you're getting up into something as big as that, risks go way up.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Altough the Iveco Daily is not available in the U.S., the Fiat Ducato is gonna be available there soon as the Ram ProMaster. That would probably be my choice for an efficient truck back there...

Originally Posted by Smurf

A hi-tech El Camino-ish ride wouldn't be so bad at all, but I'd still consider a Tacoma-sized rig more probable. Well, Tesla and Toyota already had some sort of partnership, so maybe the Tacoma frame could be eventually shared with Tesla, getting the electric motor built in place of a regular transmission but still allowing a transfer case to be mounted for a 4WD version. I wouldn't bet on a short-nose or flat-nose Tesla truck mostly due to NHTSA regulations which killed the market for the forward-control Japanese vans...