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

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1329 points kwindla | 5 comments | 25 Apr 25 15:01 UTC | HN request time: 0.815s | source
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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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hansvm ◴[25 Apr 25 15:40 UTC] No.43794772[source]▶
I definitely worry about the ability of this thing to drive through a couple feet of water safely.
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1. orbital-decay ◴[25 Apr 25 18:19 UTC] No.43796913[source]▶
Due to it being electric or due to the specific design? EVs are generally much easier to design for water crossings. I actually drove an electric motorcycle across a river fully submerged, which it wasn't even designed for (had to do a thorough check afterwards but it was completely fine). This is not even remotely possible with the bike I normally ride (Africa Twin).
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2. hansvm ◴[25 Apr 25 18:29 UTC] No.43797026[source]▶
Due to it being electric. That's really interesting. What prevents shorts?
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3. orbital-decay ◴[25 Apr 25 18:47 UTC] No.43797226[source]▶
Proper sealing, mostly. The bike I was riding is a custom-built enduro, the electric part is fully sealed up to the handlebars but the river turned out to be a bit deeper, as it often happens. Electric drivetrains are much simpler. They aren't running as hot as ICE, don't need outside air, have less vibration and fewer moving parts... you can make it a proper submarine if you desire. In fact, certain 2WD electric mopeds are rated for underwater riding.

It's possible to use a normal motorcycle fully submerged as well [1], but designing for that is way harder due to the exposed engine, you need a ton of things and not just a snorkel.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEPzyZTDDTI

4. edaemon ◴[25 Apr 25 20:01 UTC] No.43797973[source]▶
This Rivian still worked perfectly fine after being submerged in and carried away by a flood: https://insideevs.com/news/735934/rivian-r1t-flood-hurrican-...
5. mattnewton ◴[26 Apr 25 00:54 UTC] No.43799957[source]▶
it doesn't need air intakes and exhaust like an ICE, so you can just seal everything up.