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A $20k American-made electric pickup with no paint, no stereo, no screen

(www.theverge.com)
1329 points kwindla | 7 comments | 25 Apr 25 15:01 UTC | HN request time: 0.298s | source | bottom
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ty6853 ◴[25 Apr 25 15:24 UTC] No.43794560[source]▶
I love it.

However I wonder about the overlap between people that need a truck and this particular truck. I have only owned trucks when I needed to go out in the middle of bumfuck nowhere with a payload, in places with poor access to electricity. If I need to go in bumfuck nowhere without payload then there is no need for the truck, and if I need a payload in the city it's just way way cheaper to have it delivered when you factor in depreciation of even a cheap truck.

Would really love to see something like this with a simple 4 cylinder motor. Like the old s-10 / ranger. Until then the solution I have found is to just tag a trailer on small passenger vehicle, since it is now impossible to find a compact gas truck.

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1. InitialBP ◴[25 Apr 25 15:37 UTC] No.43794734[source]▶
I think that you're looking at extremes exclusively when it comes to your assessment. I live in a "city" in WV and need my truck all the time to get to rural areas, but that doesn't mean that I don't have reasonable access to electricity. Furthermore delivery around my city really isn't affordable or available in a lot of cases.

That being said, I really wish we had a small ICE truck in the USA, or an equivalent to the s-10/ranger. Even the ford maverick is exceptionally tall and it doesn't come with a bed that is big enough to conveniently move building materials. The maverick bed is only 54" or 4.5ft and older model rangers and S10s can be had with up to a 6ft bed.

https://www.motor1.com/news/698055/toyota-13000-dollar-hilux...

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2. cityofdelusion ◴[25 Apr 25 15:45 UTC] No.43794852[source]▶
I bought a Maverick and it wasn't noticeably larger than my extended bed ranger, I actually feel like it is smaller, especially considering modern A pillars and such are very thick and rigid compared to the death trap of the old ranger.

I have had no issues moving construction materials with the Maverick. I've moved around 12ft boards and stacks of drywall. The only real difference I noticed is I can't lazily hang things off the tailgate, which tailgate latches aren't specced to do anyways.

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3. InitialBP ◴[25 Apr 25 17:00 UTC] No.43795998[source]▶
Not sure which ranger you're talking about - but if you mean the 6ft one, 18 inches of bed length is definitely noticeable.

It's also definitely possible to haul all those things with almost any truck. Hell, you could even buy a rack for a maverick that makes full 8ft by 4ft sheets of drywall/plywood super easy to carry around, but being able to really easily load up stuff and not have to do some complicated strapping/securing of the payload is a big win with a bigger bed. I personally haul motorcycles a lot, and being able to have two motorcycles in the bed with tailgate up is a huge plus for me.

edit: misunderstood your first comment. What year Ranger are you talking about? The difference between an 80's/90's small truck and an early 2000s can be very considerable.

There's a whole different conversation and argument about the general size of vehicles in the US that is essentially circular and leads to bigger and bigger vehicles in the name of "safety".

4. fckgw ◴[25 Apr 25 17:09 UTC] No.43796108[source]▶
Yeah, with the exception of the bed size, the Maverick is only ~4in longer and wider than the 2000s era Ranger. It's a pretty close match.

https://www.mavericktruckclub.com/forum/threads/2022-maveric...

5. potato3732842 ◴[25 Apr 25 17:38 UTC] No.43796447[source]▶
A Maverick is within spitting distance of a single cab short bed Ranger. You get a little less bed but an extra row to make up for it.

There's plenty of pictures of them parked side by side.

6. michpoch ◴[25 Apr 25 19:17 UTC] No.43797583[source]▶
> I live in a "city" in WV and need my truck all the time to get to rural areas

How rural are these areas? No roads?

7. rpcope1 ◴[25 Apr 25 22:02 UTC] No.43798945[source]▶
The Maverick is also kind of dumb because of the choice to do unibody instead of body on frame. I'm sure there's some weight savings or whatever, but at least on a body on frame truck, I can opt to change the bed out even on a short bed truck and add a flatbed when it makes sense. When someone using it like a truck inevitably beer cans the bed, they're going to be really sad that it's not a relatively quick and simple thing to fix (by just going and getting another bed).