Dealership Rumor: All Electric Tacoma in 2020

I figured I was pretty close as I remember watching some documentary and it mentioned the first Electric Taxi's hitting the streets of New York in the 1890s.

 

I left a lot out as well, I didn't want to make a thesis on an Internet forum either. I agree with your sentiments on hydrogen. As for the solar panels, I was referring to putting solar panels on the roof of my house to charge it, not the roof of a Tacoma. That would be ridiculous in terms of the technology available today and the foreseeable future.

 

Amen, brother. I too find it illogical that the Tacoma community would largely resist an effort to save what we all seem to seek: nature.

 

I am a mechanical engineer, that makes me by definition a pragmatist, making things that will work today and rooted in empirical reality. Also I've seen a lot of "just around the corner", "wave of the future" designs that were all going to retire the lowly piston internal combustion engine.

Anyone remember Chrysler's turbine, or the Wankel (I think even Mazda has given up on that one) or Stirling Cycle proposals? All in their time made the cover of Popular Mechanics as the "next big thing"...

 

Arnold has a 500 HP Electric Hummer H1!

https://www.maxim.com/rides/arnold-schwarzenegger-new-electric-humvee-2017-9

 

Batteries make a static popping sound between 20-50 mph. Differentials pick up at 50 to 65mph.

 

Sure but it's a bit different these days. Not just trying to make a better power source. Trying to make a cleaner one.

Also I don't agree with the whole engineer pragmatism thing. Without striving for what some like yourself consider "just around the corner" or "wave of the future" we'd have nothing. Pushing the limits and striving for greatness is how we've gotten where we are. It's irrelevant really but I'm an engineer as well.

 

But I'm talking about off road vehicles here, cmon.

 

@cliffyk

And I’m a mechanical engineer too. I just haven’t given up on the future yet.

My point earlier was that just because you’re in your later years doesn’t mean you shouldn’t want better for the future for other people. ICEs are great, but as renewable energy becomes more feasible (may be decades from now), they will lose out.

 

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/12/18/toy...ave-an-electric-or-hybrid-option-by-2025.html

"The Japanese car company Toyota has pledged that its entire fleet will be available in an electric or hybrid version by 2025."

 

Electricity is not a source of energy, it's a way to transmit or store energy produced by some other process.

 

By 2020, we're all going to be riding Snow Machines.

 

i think they will go hybred first before battery power only truck.

 

Why?
No radiator, no water pump, no transmission, no exhaust system, no fuel pump, no alternator, no oil changes... the list is long.

I'd jump on a fully electric Tacoma that has the same performance as my OR. I'd do it right now.

SB

 

^^^ This.

Electric vehicles could be made far more reliable than gas vehicles, simply based on the fewer number of moving parts.

Think for a minute......would you want a gas powered cordless drill? How many gizmos would it need to work in both directions?

Anyways........internal combustion engines suck. Overly complex, innefficient, noisy, subject to failure from heat, friction, and stresses, stupidly convert linear motion to rotary motion....I could go on. If the battery technology is there and reliable (and this is a major "if" at the moment), I say bring on the electric power train Tacoma. I have no worries about that.

 

I agree with this, considering the market for these trucks, in cold climates the full electric is just not going to be viable. Batteries just can't handle the cold. I'd be wary of a hybrid too up north, battery tech isn't quite there yet, no thanks.

 

The day will come, whether we like it or not. People’s attitudes about electric vehicles are changing, and the battery technology will get there. Most people on this forum, even the blue-blooded gassers, secretly feel electric to be more reliable in the long run.

For instance: if you were to bet me which lawnmower would start up and work right away, after a winter’s storage, would you choose a gas mower or electric?

Anyways......the main bonus of electric off road vehicles will be
simplicity (no transmission, no clutch, no fuel system, no cooling system, no emissions system, no starter motor, no alternator, no serpentine belt, no aftermarket air filter, no exhaust piping), with the advantages of exceptional torque (beyond what a diesel can put out), precise control (no gears), and ability to be submersed in fresh water and keep running (no spark plugs, no combustion chamber, no need to burn oxygen).

In 10-20 years time, the most capable and reliable off-road vehicle will be an electric truck, just gonna be a bit boring is all.

In the meantime, check out what the French Canadians get up to in the summer:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kJp_-6v5r-0

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=d6GVapVrEUo

 

I never said it was...

 

I am surprised that no one brought up this yet:
http://bollingermotors.com/



I find it kinda lusty. But, the price tag isn't anywhere near right (yet).

If that is the future of wheeling, maybe it isn't bad. There will be a TW for these and peeps will be debating grilles, lifts, and axle swaps.

 

I’m sure it will have no payload or towing capabilities.


So in otherwords it would be a Ridgline equivilent.