death of regular cab pickups

[big bubba]

What, a 4 foot bed isn't enough? Most trucks drive around hauling nothing but air and generate TONS of carbon dioxide doing it.

now...don't forget they also have to make that mall cruise before theiy shut down

 

[OzarkChris]

Think outside the bed . . .

How about a cab-forward truck with two rows of seats (front and rear) and then a bed that could take a 4 by 8 sheet of plywood/wallboard/whatever lying flat? Some 60s vintage Econolines, some B100 series Dodge trucks and the really old VW tranporters were built like that, but only with single cabs. (There are a very few double cab VW transporters, some are even 4wd.)

Issues would be front end safety (no crush zones except the driver) and poor engine access (which we already have).

Now suppose it was (heresy!) electric. That would take care of the weight distribution problem (nose-heavy, rear too light, moving the battery towards the rear of the vehicle solves that) and the 2wd/4wd question (add more motors, or leave them out). Not having the standard "engine in front" layout of the trucks we can buy now allows much more flexibility in the layout of the vehicle.

Losing the three, four, five feet of front hood and gas/diesel engine shortens the overall length of the vehicle, and allows the cargo bed to increase to a useful size. You wind up with a more useful vehicle in the same size footprint as a standard (say) F150. Easy to park, easy to drive, good visibility, useful, you can add a cap for security (which we already do), AND it can have a built-in inverter so you can plug in your power tools out in the boonies.

Then of course, there's this . . .

View attachment 793122

Best Regards,

Mike/Florida

Not wanting to be the proverbial fly in the ointment, but how do folks like me - that live way out in the boonies - make the 450-500 mile round trip to major hospitals in an electric truck? The other really big question is where do I charge the silly thing that doesn't take several hours - it's already a long enough day going & coming back?

 

[Rockbadchild]

Not wanting to be the proverbial fly in the ointment, but how do folks like me - that live way out in the boonies - make the 450-500 mile round trip to major hospitals in an electric truck? The other really big question is where do I charge the silly thing that doesn't take several hours - it's already a long enough day going & coming back?

Same here I need to do 380 miles to go to work, during the winter I wont be able to make it in one shot... not too stress about it tho that net zero and no more internal combustion engine vehicle is not going to happen ...

 

[ning]

Same here I need to 380 miles to go to work, during the winter I wont be able to make it in one shot... not too stress about it tho that net zero and no more internal combustion engine vehicle is not going to happen ...

IMO instead of charging, electric cars should have standard sized modular battery packs (small / short range cars have one, bigger & longer distance vehicles may have many) and service stations should swap the packs when you pull up and you go on your merry way moments later, and the station plugs the packs in.

These *may* be able to be automated, or you could have attendants do part of the work since different vehicles may have the packs mounted in different places.

This system would be a huge boon to electric car buyers as you're never stuck having to pay for a failed battery - you subscribe to the service similar to those propane tank swaps, but in such a way that the actual costs of the battery pack are spread over the predicted number of users.

In addition, since the battery is paid for during its use, a brand new car would be sold without the ownership of a battery - it would be delivered with a battery that's understood to be going back to the general swap :: new cars cost less (battery is paid for over the life of the battery).

Basically over the long haul yes you've paid for a battery and the charging, but you'll never be stuck with a bill for an entire new battery - this would allow used electric cars to have a reasonable resale value as well; today I wouldn't touch a older electric car or hybrid unless it was super cheap since I have to assume the risk that the battery will be toast any time and even smaller hybrid batteries are very large cost.

 

[Deleted member 371759]

Not wanting to be the proverbial fly in the ointment, but how do folks like me - that live way out in the boonies - make the 450-500 mile round trip to major hospitals in an electric truck? The other really big question is where do I charge the silly thing that doesn't take several hours - it's already a long enough day going & coming back?

Its all crazy. Just imagine living in Rolling Fork Mississippi. Town destroyed, no power for weeks and you own some joke of an electric vehicle. Any time power needs to be put to the ground or work needs to be done the only way to get it done as of right now is gas/diesel. I own a 6.6 LB7 Duramax and a 7.3 OBS Powerstroke. If and when they need it I will rebuild them and I will do that until I am physically unable to do so. I haul tons of grain and alfalfa monthly and cords of fire wood yearly. Right now my round trip to buy "affordable" alfalfa is over 3 hours in clear weather.

 

[herefromthere]

Big believer in buying the right tool for the job, so that's what I do personally. I also understand that others have a use for and want different configurations. I know it seems weird, but I don't get my undies in a bundle that they buy trucks for their needs and not mine.

 

[Jstpssng]

Not wanting to be the proverbial fly in the ointment, but how do folks like me - that live way out in the boonies - make the 450-500 mile round trip to major hospitals in an electric truck? The other really big question is where do I charge the silly thing that doesn't take several hours - it's already a long enough day going & coming back?

I believe that someday that concern, as well as many others will work their way out. Technology is improving, and I have a lot of faith in our ability to overcome obstacles. When that happens many of us may choose to go electric, because the vehicles will have proven they are worth it.

The other scenario of course, is that they are just the latest fad and will go away in 10 years. I don't believe that they are the panacea some expect them to be; there is too much involved with mining the materials needed. Environmental impact is a big reason why we don't mine "rare earth" minerals here.
/Pine believes in Hydrogen, and he may be right. It's also been noted that the generation coming of age doesn't care so much about driving; they prefer public transportation, including airplanes.

It will be interesting to see what the next decade or two will bring. I hope that I am around long enough to see.

 

[Jstpssng]

Its all crazy. Just imagine living in Rolling Fork Mississippi. Town destroyed, no power for weeks and you own some joke of an electric vehicle. Any time power needs to be put to the ground or work needs to be done the only way to get it done as of right now is gas/diesel. I own a 6.6 LB7 Duramax and a 7.3 OBS Powerstroke. If and when they need it I will rebuild them and I will do that until I am physically unable to do so. I haul tons of grain and alfalfa monthly and cords of fire wood yearly. Right now my round trip to buy "affordable" alfalfa is over 3 hours in clear weather.

The thing I don't understand is that Tesla among others are touting the ability to feed into the grid when power is down. Why would I kill the only chance I had of bugging out if things got dicey for some reason; i.e., a flood or forest fire?

 

[sunandsand]

I absolutely agree that electric vehicles (pickup trucks for this discussion) do not yet have the range and short refill time that current ICE vehicles have. I want an electric airplane, but it seems that really long extension cords are prohibitively expensive.

But the price of electric vehicles is coming down, the storage capacity of the batteries is increasing, and charge times are decreasing as well.

It won't be "tomorrow", but I am willing to bet that in ten or fifteen years EVs will be everywhere, and people will look at ICE vehicles and say "People actually rode around in THOSE?"

Interesting datapoint - in 2022, wind farms and solar generated more power at lest cost than coal fired power plants - and the gap is widening - so stuff is changing. Two of the top states for wind are California and Texas. I do recall that Texas had some major power problems a short while back, but that was due to mismanagement, not the 16% of their power generated by wind turbines. (It is my understanding that Texas' power grid isn't interconnected with either the eastern US or western US grids, so no "help" could be forthcoming.)

One size doesn't fit all. For my needs, an electric pickup truck would be perfectly suitable (other than the prices). If I had one, and I had a 500 mile round trip in the offing, yes, I'd take a gas powered vehicle. Probably 99% of the driving I do is under 100 miles each way, so I'm OK with electric - but that's ME and MY needs. YMWV. (Your mileage WILL vary!)

Remember also that most people really don't care what makes their vehicle move, gasoline, diesel, pixie dust, they just want to go someplace and come back with the least amount of hassle, and often with the least amount of engagement (which you can see all the time, people yakking away on cell phones while in fast, heavy traffic).

I'm a gearhead, I've owned over 150 cars since I was 16 (I'm 76 now), countless motorcycles, a couple of boats and some airplanes, and fuel and maintenance are part of the price of admission to mobility. Some of those vehicles were great fun, some of them were just unremarkable, boring appliances and about as interesting as a toaster or microwave oven and I couldn't care less about what they ran on (when they ran at all).

EVs are in their adolescence right now. Give them five or ten years and they'll be all growed up and ready for prime time. There will always be things that electricity can't do, and the internal combustion engine is going to be around for a LONG time even after most of the cars and trucks on the road are electric. Airplanes, big ships, some off-road and construction vehicles are going to be ICE powered for a long time.

Remember, the stone age didn't end because we ran out of rocks, we found something better.

If an EV meets YOUR needs and it becomes time to buy a new car or truck, then by all means go EV. If it doesn't, and remember one size does not fit all, then don't.

(Do you think I could convince the local DMV that the huge eight wheel monster is a Kubota? It is orange, right?)


Best Regards,

Mike/Florida

 

[RammerJammer]

What, a 4 foot bed isn't enough? Most trucks drive around hauling nothing but air and generate TONS of carbon dioxide doing it.

Carbon dioxide? You mean that stuff that has increased by 140 parts per million? The stuff that the climate, uh, 'exspurts' harp on? Yeah, it's gone way up. Increased by 0.014% of the atmosphere in 300 years. At the current rate, it will be up another 0.026% in 2123. A total of 680 parts per million. Oxygen is more than 200,000 PPM.

When global warming failed to materialize, they switched to climate change and started demonizing carbon. Why? Because they noticed CO2 levels had increased since 1760, were measurable and, unlike many of their theories, demonstrable.

They may be right, the Earth may be going to h3ll in a handbasket but I doubt humans and their trucks are the cause. Tractors, either!

 

[Deleted member 371759]

The stone age ended because we found better things to do the job. Not because a giant authoritarian force demanded we build spears from copper. When you need to start forcing ideas with bans and laws the ideas are super crappy.

 

[Mtsoxfan]

What, a 4 foot bed isn't enough? Most trucks drive around hauling nothing but air and generate TONS of carbon dioxide doing it.

No, it isn't. My Ranger has a 5.5' bed and its still challenging. And so what if all you see is empty cargo areas? Are you the green police all of a sudden?

 

[RammerJammer]

I absolutely agree that electric vehicles (pickup trucks for this discussion) do not yet have the range and short refill time that current ICE vehicles have. I want an electric airplane, but it seems that really long extension cords are prohibitively expensive.

But the price of electric vehicles is coming down, the storage capacity of the batteries is increasing, and charge times are decreasing as well.

It won't be "tomorrow", but I am willing to bet that in ten or fifteen years EVs will be everywhere, and people will look at ICE vehicles and say "People actually rode around in THOSE?"

Interesting datapoint - in 2022, wind farms and solar generated more power at lest cost than coal fired power plants - and the gap is widening - so stuff is changing. Two of the top states for wind are California and Texas. I do recall that Texas had some major power problems a short while back, but that was due to mismanagement, not the 16% of their power generated by wind turbines. (It is my understanding that Texas' power grid isn't interconnected with either the eastern US or western US grids, so no "help" could be forthcoming.)

One size doesn't fit all. For my needs, an electric pickup truck would be perfectly suitable (other than the prices). If I had one, and I had a 500 mile round trip in the offing, yes, I'd take a gas powered vehicle. Probably 99% of the driving I do is under 100 miles each way, so I'm OK with electric - but that's ME and MY needs. YMWV. (Your mileage WILL vary!)

Remember also that most people really don't care what makes their vehicle move, gasoline, diesel, pixie dust, they just want to go someplace and come back with the least amount of hassle, and often with the least amount of engagement (which you can see all the time, people yakking away on cell phones while in fast, heavy traffic).

I'm a gearhead, I've owned over 150 cars since I was 16 (I'm 76 now), countless motorcycles, a couple of boats and some airplanes, and fuel and maintenance are part of the price of admission to mobility. Some of those vehicles were great fun, some of them were just unremarkable, boring appliances and about as interesting as a toaster or microwave oven and I couldn't care less about what they ran on (when they ran at all).

EVs are in their adolescence right now. Give them five or ten years and they'll be all growed up and ready for prime time. There will always be things that electricity can't do, and the internal combustion engine is going to be around for a LONG time even after most of the cars and trucks on the road are electric. Airplanes, big ships, some off-road and construction vehicles are going to be ICE powered for a long time.

Remember, the stone age didn't end because we ran out of rocks, we found something better.

If an EV meets YOUR needs and it becomes time to buy a new car or truck, then by all means go EV. If it doesn't, and remember one size does not fit all, then don't.

(Do you think I could convince the local DMV that the huge eight wheel monster is a Kubota? It is orange, right?)


Best Regards,

Mike/Florida

That coal fired versus solar/wind stat is as flawed as the Covid mandate stats were after those, who refused to comply, were fired! It's easy to claim high levels of acceptance/adoption when all of the non-accepters/non-adopters are excluded. Same with coal - Kalifornia has mandated the closure of all coal and NG power plants. Many other states have legislation requiring them to 'be like Mike' - Kalifornia in this case. The EPA, under Biden, is certainly doing its "part." So, yes, coal-fired power is declining but wind/solar are a helluva long way from being dominant! (Not to mention, reliably capable.)

As far as EVs go? Heck yes, there will be lots of 'em. Performance-wise (read: acceleration, independent 4 wheel control, etc.), they are hard to beat. However, pushing them off on people through legislation and executive fiat is not the way to gain acceptance. Coal/steam locomotives gave way to diesel/electric over a long period of time. EVs should be allowed to progress in a similar fashion. That is, when the infrastructure AND the market are ready.

And, of course, fire suppression!

 

[Deleted member 371759]

A lot of us Ozark/southern boys working those Mahindras. Git-R-done boys.

 

[Jstpssng]

A lot of us Ozark/southern boys working those Mahindras. Git-R-done boys.

Too bad they aren't considered street legal. That would be a great hunting rig to take in places which only allow street legal vehicles.

 

[Deleted member 371759]

Too bad they aren't considered street legal. That would be a great hunting rig to take in places which only allow street legal vehicles.

I was referring to the profile and the tractors listed. But yes those Roxors are pretty cool. Look easy to work on too.

 

[Jstpssng]

I was referring to the profile and the tractors listed. But yes those Roxors are pretty cool. Look easy to work on too.

I see. It's rather common for certain areas to favor one brand. I've always assumed it's because somebody buys a product and has good luck with it, so other people follow his lead because they know it works.

 

[not2old]

I would say that is possible in certain situations. I had a 2016 F-350 crew cab 4x4 6.7L diesel for awhile, and it could get about 24mpg on a 100 mile round trip route I frequently drive. The Gladiator might get 23. The difference is that the Jeep does do better in all city driving. I think the main thing is that the big diesels don't work as hard once rolling because they have so much torque, but they do have to work getting that much weight moving from a stop each time. My old 2005 F-350 dually with the 6.0L definitely does worse on fuel...maybe 17mpg on that same trip.

My brother told me he gets better mileage in his duramax than his late model Buick 3.6 so he uses it as a daily driver and always leaves the Buick at home.

 

[JasperFrank]

Take the back seat out of a 1993 Ford Festiva and you have a serious pick up truck.

 

[Deleted member 371759]

My brother told me he gets better mileage in his duramax than his late model Buick 3.6 so he uses it as a daily driver and always leaves the Buick at home.

Don't let him fool you. He likes doing 4x4 boosted launches with his 50% over injectors and 200hp tune. J/K Dirtymax is a fine engine that will sip fuel if you keep your foot out of it.