Trade in Tacoma for an EV Truck?

This

 

Sounds like you need a minivan.

 

@TRDProOne - You were correct... did you buy in?

 

https://youtu.be/cmdsKHTRViA

A bit of action footage...

I'll have to contact MESO for some headlight improvements...

 

EVs work better in mild climates because batteries don’t like the cold, the population and concerns for air quality are more pressing here, and a lot of new tech comes from Silicon Valley and its peripherals. Hybrids and EVs are cleaner for the environment than your comparable ride unless you total your ride in the first six months.

 

Looks like a Tacoma to me. One with Rav 4 or Camry accent colors.

 

My sister has the new JL with the etorque mild hybrid. It's really not a hybrid. They say it's just an electric push for half a wheel rotation from a stop, that's the most the battery does.

Benefit? It's a lifted Wrangler on 35 inch tires and she parks in the hybrid spots since she lives in the city. Work, shopping, supermarket, and whatever, they have designated spots for hybrids in the very front row in the city. She gets like 17 or something mpg highway. Imagine having a Tesla and walking to your car and see a giant Jeep parked next to you in the "alternative fuel/Hybrid/EV" spot LOL

 

Wait a minute. OP, you're a cameraman? First name...Randy? Folks, we are in the presence of a F*ing legend. The Danger Zone personified. He can do whatever he wants. LOOK!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEkKnbCMYVQ

 

Unless I missed it...has anyone considered the other stuff we love to do to our trucks? Armor, suspension upgrades (like long-travel, etc.). A big part of the EV fuel economy is that (at least for cars) they're sliced and diced for weight savings and aerodynamically tuned for the best efficiency. Like someone else here said - we like our boxy things. With at least some of the EV's having 4 independent motors on each wheel, how would that work? Some prototypes even have motors IN the wheels themselves. Just wondering how the mechanics of all that would play out.

 

These upgrades will likely degrade the performance specs of the vehicle, just like they would with ICE vehicles. However electric vehicles the performance degradation is more dramatic. It will improve like anything with more time in development as has been pointed out by many people in this thread. Check out engineering explained Youtube Channel. He has a bunch of videos explaining why this is the case (see below) with back of the napkin sort of calculations to back up claims. Remember that those videos are a snapshot in time.

Personally, I'm excited to see where this goes, but the uncertainty and obsolescence of my current truck is a bit scary. But usually scary things turn out to be fun. We'll likely be laughing at our past selves in the 20 years from now.

 

I just wanted to chime in here...the one thing everyone (not necessarily just on TW, but generally in...the world) seems to forget about is service locations & parts! I understand that EVs should need less maintenance, but things will still break! Tesla is having a hard enough time getting enough service rangers (or whatever they call them) to be able to fix the glitches in their (relatively) small number of vehicles on the road, & they've been building their dealer/store/service network for over a decade!

Now, fast forward to whenever Rivian & Nikola actually produce ANYTHING. I'd give Rivian an 90% chance, because of their connection with Ford. I'd give Nikola a 20% chance...they've been talking about building a Class 8 for going on 5 years...they've changed from fuel cells, to BEVs, now to both...& still have yet to build or sell a single thing!

Sorry...I digress...service & parts: let's say you actually get a Nikola. Where do you go when some small glitch in your vehicle comes up or the power window motor breaks or you get in a fender bender & need a new quarter panel??? (According to a quick Google search) There's ~1,500 Toyota dealers in the US, which means you have oodles of options for parts & service! This is an absolutely unfathomable advantage for the traditional OEMs!!!

It seems like many of the current Tesla owners have "extra" vehicles, so when their Model S sits waiting for parts for 6 weeks (go look at their forums...some of the stories are bananas!!!) it's a minor inconvenience...but for most people, having your car sit in the shop for more than a day or two is a HUGE hassle!

So, I can't wait for all the mainstream companies to get into the EV game! Tesla may very well have sparked the "revolution", they may also currently have an advantage with their software & battery tech, but I can't wait to see the coming competition over the next few years!

 

Nikola hasn't created a single working prototype.... don't hold your breath. I give it a 60% chance of being vaporware

 

I use my truck for camping and road trips in remote areas. I would love a plug in hybrid truck so that I could commute using electricity, but I need my truck to have a gasoline option for the weekend.

 

^This right here^ Great point.

With, as @Gamecock2001 put it ~1500 dealerships just in the U.S., never mind around the world - wouldn't Toyota, for example, be in prime position to give Rivian, Tesla and Nikola (funny how rivals share the same dude's name) the big, "...F-U we can support this technology WAY better than you can!" No? Perhaps the tech just isn't ready for this kind of mass production - in the support arena. If they could leverage it, they'd be making a ton of money off it already. Prius and hybrid Camrys aren't doing it. Along those lines...practicality? We're planning to do the Georgia Traverse trail pretty soon. The logistics of trying to do that whole trail or something like it in an electric vehicle would be a nightmare. Close to 400 miles, most of it unpaved. Where would you plug in? Solar capacity just isn't there yet. If you had a serious mechanical issue...there isn't a network of dealerships/ support personnel available to help you out. I think - like a lot of us do, it would be great to never have another fuel bill, but I don't think we're there. Too pessimistic on my part? Any long-distance EV drivers in here with experience in that?

 

Drove our model x from San Diego to mammoth to Reno to Lake Tahoe back to mammoth to Las Vegas to Phoenix and back to San Diego. Charging was a non issue, car knows where all supercharger stations and many hotels had charging stations. 3000 miles, zero fuel costs ( our x gets free juice for life)

 

Impressive... So GPS just guides you to the supercharger stations, I'm guessing those are the ones that charge at a faster rate. Pretty cool. Oh man - I'm done here this thread is in danger of getting hijacked. Sorry OP.

 

I think all ev trucks will have similar abilities, Tesla Cybertruck just has advantages of able to use fast charging network. I would buy an ev truck, but I’m afraid tacoma does everything I need a truck to do, and will probably outlast me.

 

The CyberTruck is advertised to have a range up to 500 miles. Say it is only 80 percent of that given real world driving...That is pretty good (a 400 mile weekend) before you have to stop an hour for lunch and to get juiced back up ;-)

I know once you start towing with an EV the range drops off a cliff, that is something to consider also.
#133,000 or so on the list. Hope to get mine by Sept 2021

 

Here's the thing about electric anything the tech is not there yet ..You have to hunt for charging stations .If your off road and run out of juice then what … lol sit in the sun for 24 hours charging your truck .Stay with your Tacoma and use the money to mod it .

 

You really need to do some more research on the EVs are cleaner for the environment thing. They have this big thing in them that’s called a battery which are pretty bad for the environment.