Americans love nothing more than apple pie, stellar flags, and pickup trucks. Now, a new company has arrived that promises to reinvent the pickup for city-dwelling Californians, who wish their pickup was smaller and more, or actually, all electric. Unveiled on Tuesday, the Telo Truck measures in at just 3,860 mm in length. Despite that, the automaker promises that it will be capable of carrying as much as a Toyota Tacoma.
That’s thanks to a clever design that
takes advantage of the potential of EV packaging. A cleverly organized battery
pack and the lack of a big internal combustion engine mean that more of the
Truck can be given over to passengers and their stuff. The four-door, crew cab
Telo Truck will have seating for five, as well as a 1,524 mm bed. Thanks to a mid-partition feature, the truck will be able to accommodate a
4′ x 8′ (1219 x 2438 mm) sheet of plywood or a 2,743 mm surf
board with the tailgate up. In addition, there’s enough underbed storage space
for a snowboard or luggage.
Naturally, that will require sacrificing
some seat space for cargo room, but if you prefer to do the opposite, Telo says
that the truck will be able to seat up to eight passengers, despite its
diminutive size. In that case, the underbed storage doubles as a footwell for
third-row passengers. Just as impressive, the company promises that the Truck
will have a 106 kWh battery that offers up to 563 km of range. In
addition, it will make up to 500 hp, thanks to a dual-motor
all-wheel-drive setup. That may all sound too good to be true, but the team
behind the Telo Truck has some experience in the EV space. One of the
co-founders, Forrest North, was previously involved in the creation of the
original Tesla Roadster, and founded Mission Motors, one of the first electric
motorcycle companies on earth.
Telo has not yet revealed when the Truck
will go into production, but it is accepting (refundable) deposits for it. If
you’re interested in signing up to be one of the first to receive this truck if
and when it is produced, then you can hand over US$ 152 (a reference to the length
of the vehicle) at the company’s website today. Prices are expected to start at US$ 49,999.
