cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

So who will be first with an electric pickup. And when.

John___Angela
Explorer
Explorer
Ford plans US$11 billion investment for 40 electrified vehicles by 2022. Link below.

https://www.bnn.ca/ford-plans-us-11-billion-investment-for-40-electrified-vehicles-by-2022-1.968176
2003 Revolution 40C Class A. Electric smart car as a Toad on a smart car trailer
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but rather by the moments that take our breath away.
106 REPLIES 106

Willcamp4
Explorer
Explorer
Can anyone visualize a Diesel-Electric, or perhaps Hydrogen-Electric pickup towing a fiver? I can't wait!
Willcamp4
2012 Ford F-250 Super Duty, Crew Cab, Lariat, 6.7L PSTD, Air Lift rear suspension.
Alpenlite Valhalla Limited Fifth Wheel, two Solar panels, four six-volt batteries, two Honda EU2000i generators

drsteve
Explorer
Explorer
John & Angela wrote:
drsteve wrote:
Doesn't anyone know how to set the width when they post pics?


Whoops, missed it.

Fixed. Of course another way to say the above would have been "John can you change the size settings on your image". Always time for good manners.

Cheers.

John


My question wasn't aimed at you in particular, it just happened that this was about the third thread in a row I viewed where someone posted a huge pic. Didn't intend to ruffle any feathers. My apologies.

I guess the real question is why doesn't the forum code resize everything automatically?
2006 Silverado 1500HD Crew Cab 2WD 6.0L 3.73 8600 GVWR
2018 Coachmen Catalina Legacy Edition 223RBS
1991 Palomino Filly PUP

valhalla360
Nomad III
Nomad III
John & Angela wrote:


I think a lot depends on the campers and the time of the year. Furnace use when it is colder. (we don't use AC when dry camping so not a thing). Eating up 25 percent of range shouldn't be a big deal depending on where you camp I suppose. I didn't understand your comment on 40 miles from home. Why would proximity to home come into play. Did you mean 40 mile from the DC fast charge point? Sorry we might be on different wave lengths here. No worries.

I agree it would be a very useful thing for contracters. Maybe even a 240 volt feed for bigger power tools.


If it's got a 150mile range and you eat up around 38 miles with house loads and you want some reserve in case you get diverted, that leaves you with around 80miles total range (if you want to argue 90 or even 100 fine but the point still stands). Most boondocking or rustic camping is away from built up areas, so unlikely to have a supercharger handy. So round trip is around 40 miles.
Tammy & Mike
Ford F250 V10
2021 Gray Wolf
Gemini Catamaran 34'
Full Time spliting time between boat and RV

fj12ryder
Explorer III
Explorer III
John & Angela wrote:
drsteve wrote:
Doesn't anyone know how to set the width when they post pics?


Whoops, missed it.

Fixed. Of course another way to say the above would have been "John can you change the size settings on your image". Always time for good manners.

Cheers.

John
I think everyone expects the poster to review his post for errors. This one seemed pretty obvious. 🙂
Howard and Peggy

"Don't Panic"

time2roll
Nomad
Nomad
1320Fastback wrote:
Saw this over on Reddit in the Rv sub. Owner said it reduced the range from 250 miles to 100 miles, weighs 3700 loaded and puts 400 down on the tongue.



Low profile Trailmanor would give more space and more range.

John___Angela
Explorer
Explorer
drsteve wrote:
Doesn't anyone know how to set the width when they post pics?


Whoops, missed it.

Fixed. Of course another way to say the above would have been "John can you change the size settings on your image". Always time for good manners.

Cheers.

John
2003 Revolution 40C Class A. Electric smart car as a Toad on a smart car trailer
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but rather by the moments that take our breath away.

fj12ryder
Explorer III
Explorer III
Apparently not. Stick 400 or less in there and you're good to go. Easy, peasy.
Howard and Peggy

"Don't Panic"

drsteve
Explorer
Explorer
Doesn't anyone know how to set the width when they post pics?
2006 Silverado 1500HD Crew Cab 2WD 6.0L 3.73 8600 GVWR
2018 Coachmen Catalina Legacy Edition 223RBS
1991 Palomino Filly PUP

John___Angela
Explorer
Explorer
2003 Revolution 40C Class A. Electric smart car as a Toad on a smart car trailer
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but rather by the moments that take our breath away.

John___Angela
Explorer
Explorer
1320Fastback wrote:
Saw this over on Reddit in the Rv sub. Owner said it said it reduced the range from 250 miles to 100 miles.

https://i.imgur.com/kyUQSlE.jpg


I believe it. One of the guys pulling one of the small airstream Bambis dropped the range on their X 100 from 320 to 200 miles. I think a tear drop would be better suited to an X. Less front cross sectional area,

Here is a P90 pulling a different airstream. This one has a little longer range. I think these guys get around 150 miles with reserve. If I was pulling something like this though I would be getting the P100.

2003 Revolution 40C Class A. Electric smart car as a Toad on a smart car trailer
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but rather by the moments that take our breath away.

1320Fastback
Explorer
Explorer
Saw this over on Reddit in the Rv sub. Owner said it reduced the range from 250 miles to 100 miles, weighs 3700 loaded and puts 400 down on the tongue.

1992 D250 Cummins 5psd
2005 Forest River T26 Toy Hauler

John___Angela
Explorer
Explorer
Huntindog wrote:
John & Angela wrote:
valhalla360 wrote:
A hybrid or electric pickup is very much viable but not as a tow vehicle.

As is often mentioned, most pickups are used as commuter vehicles (aka: Grocery Getters). If you occasionally need to pick up lumber from home depot, it could be a great option.
- To keep a pickup running at 70mph only takes maybe 60-80hp but they typically have 200+HP engines because the acceleration of a 80hp pickup would be horrid. A hybrid would allow you to put in an 80hp engine and allow for decent acceleration with the MPG advantages of a small engine running at near peak efficiency. The problem for towing is you often need twice as much power on a continuous basis just going down the road and if you climb a steep grade it might be 3-4 times as much. The small battery bank in a hybrid would die very quickly under that kind of heavy usage and then you are stranded on the side of the road or limited to very low speeds with only 80hp.
- Pure electric also works as a commuter vehicle. Plenty of room between the frame rails for batteries and if you don't need a lot of cargo capacity it can carry a lot of batteries but let's take the poster boy tesla. The battery bank that gets 300miles weighs in at 1200lbs. An aerodymaic car might need 40-50hp to maintain highway speeds. Pulling a trailer, the engine is going to put out closer to 150hp to maintain speed so figure 3-4 times the battery bank size or around 3400-4800lbs of batteries Ignoring the costs of that massive battery bank, that will eat up all the cargo capacity of a 1/2ton pickup, meaning it can't handle the tongue weight or anything else in the truck bed. The other big difference is a commuter vehicle is assumed to charge at night and then travel a modest distance before being charged again. When you cut thru the hype, cross country road trips are usually stunts. A typical RV towing experience is often north of 250-500miles in a day which leaves range a real issue. Also, dry camping without electricity becomes problematic. Even 30amp outlets can be a problem. If it's hot out and the air/con is running all the time, can the system supply sufficient power to charge the truck (and will the park take issue with you stressing out their marginal system plus without paying extra).

A lot of urban delivery trucks are very much viable. If you do 100 miles of deliveries during the day and bring the truck back to the warehouse to charge at night, that can be done. There are actually electric delivery vans in europe now.

So that leaves us at a marketing dilemma. People buy Grocery Getters because they want to feel they can do anything even if they never will. Once you get them to admit they won't ever put their house on casters and drive it down the road, the whole case for a full size truck goes away. Most could do fine with a small car and a utility trailer or an 1980's vintage 100hp small pickup (not the overgrown midsize of today).



Good breakdown. I think the only thing I would maybe not be 100 percent with is the typical RV experience. Most of the best RV places from us are 70 to 120 miles away. Although we do the occasional long trip, most summer weekend camping is fairly close.

Also long distance trips in an EV (or at least a Tesla) is quite viable and commonly done today. The Supercharger network is already quite extensive and growing quite rapidly. We routinely stop for 45 minutes to an hour every 3 or 4 hours anyway and sometimes more often. Lots of opportunities to fast charge during those breaks. There are lots of Tesla owners that do north of 40,000 miles a year (thats why they bought a Tesla) Not as good yet with non Teslas as the infrastructure isn't as good. It remains to be seen if other manufacturers will step up to the plate here. It is one of the reasons that Teslas sell so well compared to other manufacturers.

Anyway. I agree that the first EV pickups will probably pointed at the grocery getter crowd that pulls the boat to the lake on the weekend.


How many of the Superchargers will accept a 1 ton dually crewcab towing a 34' 11K TT? I gross about 26K wwith my present truck/TT.
How much more weight in batteries will I need to get 300 miles down the road? At what cost?


None that I know of. I also don't know of anyone doing the big dually pickup thing. The only manufacturer that mentioned one so far was Tesla and he sounds like he may be targetting something like the 1/2 ton market pulling small trailers like the model X does...maybe a little higher tow capacity. Have you heard otherwise?

Many of the superchargers are not drive thru and the trailer needs to be dropped. The bigger ones are drive thru but can't see a dually pulling a large fifth wheel fitting. Maybe 10 years down the road. Who knows.

This one is drive thru but it better be a short combo.

https://cdn.teslarati.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/tesla-supercharger-baker-ca-40-stalls-model-x-2...

There are a bunch of Tesla X owners pulling tear drops, boats, pop ups etc. Nice looking when they are colour matched. They are rated up to 5000 pound towing capacity.
2003 Revolution 40C Class A. Electric smart car as a Toad on a smart car trailer
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but rather by the moments that take our breath away.

Huntindog
Explorer
Explorer
John & Angela wrote:
valhalla360 wrote:
A hybrid or electric pickup is very much viable but not as a tow vehicle.

As is often mentioned, most pickups are used as commuter vehicles (aka: Grocery Getters). If you occasionally need to pick up lumber from home depot, it could be a great option.
- To keep a pickup running at 70mph only takes maybe 60-80hp but they typically have 200+HP engines because the acceleration of a 80hp pickup would be horrid. A hybrid would allow you to put in an 80hp engine and allow for decent acceleration with the MPG advantages of a small engine running at near peak efficiency. The problem for towing is you often need twice as much power on a continuous basis just going down the road and if you climb a steep grade it might be 3-4 times as much. The small battery bank in a hybrid would die very quickly under that kind of heavy usage and then you are stranded on the side of the road or limited to very low speeds with only 80hp.
- Pure electric also works as a commuter vehicle. Plenty of room between the frame rails for batteries and if you don't need a lot of cargo capacity it can carry a lot of batteries but let's take the poster boy tesla. The battery bank that gets 300miles weighs in at 1200lbs. An aerodymaic car might need 40-50hp to maintain highway speeds. Pulling a trailer, the engine is going to put out closer to 150hp to maintain speed so figure 3-4 times the battery bank size or around 3400-4800lbs of batteries Ignoring the costs of that massive battery bank, that will eat up all the cargo capacity of a 1/2ton pickup, meaning it can't handle the tongue weight or anything else in the truck bed. The other big difference is a commuter vehicle is assumed to charge at night and then travel a modest distance before being charged again. When you cut thru the hype, cross country road trips are usually stunts. A typical RV towing experience is often north of 250-500miles in a day which leaves range a real issue. Also, dry camping without electricity becomes problematic. Even 30amp outlets can be a problem. If it's hot out and the air/con is running all the time, can the system supply sufficient power to charge the truck (and will the park take issue with you stressing out their marginal system plus without paying extra).

A lot of urban delivery trucks are very much viable. If you do 100 miles of deliveries during the day and bring the truck back to the warehouse to charge at night, that can be done. There are actually electric delivery vans in europe now.

So that leaves us at a marketing dilemma. People buy Grocery Getters because they want to feel they can do anything even if they never will. Once you get them to admit they won't ever put their house on casters and drive it down the road, the whole case for a full size truck goes away. Most could do fine with a small car and a utility trailer or an 1980's vintage 100hp small pickup (not the overgrown midsize of today).



Good breakdown. I think the only thing I would maybe not be 100 percent with is the typical RV experience. Most of the best RV places from us are 70 to 120 miles away. Although we do the occasional long trip, most summer weekend camping is fairly close.

Also long distance trips in an EV (or at least a Tesla) is quite viable and commonly done today. The Supercharger network is already quite extensive and growing quite rapidly. We routinely stop for 45 minutes to an hour every 3 or 4 hours anyway and sometimes more often. Lots of opportunities to fast charge during those breaks. There are lots of Tesla owners that do north of 40,000 miles a year (thats why they bought a Tesla) Not as good yet with non Teslas as the infrastructure isn't as good. It remains to be seen if other manufacturers will step up to the plate here. It is one of the reasons that Teslas sell so well compared to other manufacturers.

Anyway. I agree that the first EV pickups will probably pointed at the grocery getter crowd that pulls the boat to the lake on the weekend.


How many of the Superchargers will accept a 1 ton dually crewcab towing a 34' 11K TT? I gross about 26K wwith my present truck/TT.
How much more weight in batteries will I need to get 300 miles down the road? At what cost?
Huntindog
100% boondocking
2021 Grand Design Momentum 398M
2 bathrooms, no waiting
104 gal grey, 104 black,158 fresh
FullBodyPaint, 3,8Kaxles, DiscBrakes
17.5LRH commercial tires
1860watts solar,800 AH Battleborn batterys
2020 Silverado HighCountry CC DA 4X4 DRW

John___Angela
Explorer
Explorer
Turtle n Peeps wrote:
Wait; what? :h

First you say that:
"Most of the best RV places from us are 70 to 120 miles away. Although we do the occasional long trip, most summer weekend camping is fairly close." And you don't mind waiting around for a battery to charge.

And now you say that an electric pickup with an electric 80 mile range "won't suit you very well."

:h :h :h


Yepir. But things are changing for us in about 4or 5 years. We are fortunate to live close to some very cool camping areas. But there are some areas down south that we want hit that are too hard to get in with a pusher not to mention they are summer destinations etc. Once we retire we want to take something smaller and hit areas like Yosemite etc. We’ll figure it out. Have to see what’s out there then. A big part of us wants to just have a single vehicle that does everything so that eliminates a small motorhome. In that case an SUV or small pickup might work if it was an EV. Time will tell. We might end up back in a small diesel b class and just deal with the storage issues etc. We’ll still snowbird but probably in southern Spain around Malaga. We love the area. Maybe buy a small condo. Who knows.
2003 Revolution 40C Class A. Electric smart car as a Toad on a smart car trailer
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but rather by the moments that take our breath away.