Startup Telo Trucks presents new electric truck
Telo Trucks, a new electric vehicle manufacturer based in California, has unveiled an all-electric compact pickup truck. It runs on a 380 kW dual-motor AWD and prices start at $49,999.
In terms of technical specifications, the Telo Truck is only 152 inches long and can accommodate five adult passengers (eight with extra seating) and is powered by the above-mentioned 380 kW dual motor AWD. The system is powered by a 106 kWh battery pack, which offers a range of up to 350 miles. The total payload capacity is 1,600 pounds, while the towing capacity is only 6,600 pounds, roughly half of what the R1T can pull.
The Telo’s truck bed measures 60 inches while the tailgate is closed. The truck bed’s size is expandable due to a “specially designed mid-partition between the back seat and the truck bed” which can fold down and expands the truck bed’s size towards the interior of the truck. The truck bed can also be converted with a camper shell to seat the above-mentioned 8 passengers, which also includes a third row of seats.
“With Toyota Tacoma capability, Tesla-like range and efficiency, in the footprint of a Mini Cooper”, the Telo MT1 is “the most compact, practical and technically advanced truck”, the startup writes. The $49,999 Telo MT1 is already available for pre-order with a deposit of $152.
Telo Trucks picked a good time to launch an electric truck, as the Ford Lightning F-150 has proven more popular than the manufacturer anticipated and the Cybertruck production is still being ramped up. Rivian is also struggling with production. Furthermore, the price tag of $50,000 will likely prove to be a major advantage if the manufacturer can get off the ground, as the Lightning F-150 currently costs starts at $111,500 in Norway, where the vehicle was recently launched, and around $78,000 in the USA.
The dimensions of the vehicle played a large part in the design process of the Telo, which means ‘purpose’ in Greek, aiming to create a more purpose-built truck than the massive pickups that other manufacturers have presented. “I think the way Tesla has made loud cars sound slow, we’re going to make any car that has a nose feel old,” said Forrest North, co-founder and CTO of Telo. “Because why would you carry this giant thing in front of you? It doesn’t help you drive; it doesn’t help with safety; it doesn’t help with anything really. And so but we’re just kind of stuck in this paradigm. It’s kind of like the tire on the back of the Oldsmobile fading out over time.”
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