A Californian startup has shrunk the electric pickup and made it better
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San Carlos, California-based Telo Trucks could be a name you will hear quite often in the coming months after the company has packed a powerful punch in the electric pickup space. The company's first offering, Telo, is a pickup that is the size of a Mini-Cooper but offers a truck bed larger than a Rivian, making it an ideal car for urban and off-road use.
While the world has patiently waited for Elon Musk to roll off the production line, the much-hyped Cybertruck, a former member of the Tesla team that built the Roadster, is looking to offer customers a better value proposition. An all-electric pickup truck that can be used in urban spaces but also serve as a getaway vehicle for adventurous weekends.
This is a bold move in a world where car manufacturers, new and old, are only offering large-sized vehicles that are nothing more than space-hoggers in congested urban settings. The Telo might look like a toy car but it has been packed with features that make it worth considering when shopping for an electric vehicle today.
Honey, I shrunk the pickup
In the absence of a large engine or the need for a gas tank, compacting an electric vehicle is not much of a no-brainer. Yet, except for a few cars that were intentionally made small to reduce the overall weight of the vehicle, we haven't seen radical changes in car designs.
Whether it is the EV pioneer Tesla or legacy car makers like Ford and GM, the cars have barely moved away from conventional designs. There is some sense in sticking with what has worked for decades, but unless someone tries out something new, how do we know if the standard is still good enough?
Credit is due to Telo for doing the brave thing and designing a pickup that can seat five people and still deliver a five-foot truck bed for immense storage. That's the same storage space as a Toyota Tacoma when the pickup itself is no longer than 152 inches (3.8 m).
What does the Telo offer?
Designer Yves Behar has also ensured that the mid-partition can be configured to carry 8x4 ply sheets or even nine-feet long surfboards when there are fewer occupants in the pickup. For those looking for a large family car, the truck bed can be sacrificed completely, and a third row of seating added instead.
Speaking of the EV components, Telo is powered by a 500-hp motor and can zip from 0-60 miles (100 km/h) in just four seconds while delivering a top speed of 125 miles (200 km) an hour.
The 106kWh battery pack promises a 350-mile (550 km) range and charging from 0-80 percent in just 20 minutes. This is being achieved by using the 21700 cells that Tesla and Rivian R1T are currently using, but the company is also on the lookout for upcoming tech, CEO Forrest North told The Verge.
North was a member of the Tesla team that designed the battery pack of the Roadster and now wants to use the Roadster approach by hand assembling the first 500 or so Trucks for users who want them. Interested users can reserve a Telo pickup with a refundable deposit of $152 today and expect deliveries in 2025.
Starting in 2026, Telo is aiming for scaled manufacturing. For now, the pickup is priced at $49,999 without accounting for any subsidies.
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