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Tesla Pickup Truck
- Thread starter AnOutsider
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Xenoilphobe
Well-Known Member
Barklikeadog
Active Member
Lasairfion
Member
Stick a ton of batteries in the floor of your trailer
I actually think it won't be long before that becomes a serious option for large caravans and trailers, along with solar rooftops on them.
It will have to be one heck of a large vehicle to have enough solar power to do more than create just a tiny amount of the energy required. Thirty 4x8 solar panels only produce 7.5 kW. That's just a bit more than enough to run the A/C at full power (6 kW), and doesn't account for the extra weight or the additional tipsiness with the solar panels on the roof. If solar panels were 100% efficient, seven 4x8 panels would be required to generate 6 kW. Solar panels belong on the roof of a building, not on a vehicle.
Lasairfion
Member
I was thinking more of batteries in the towed trailer/caravan to extend car range, and rooftop solar for that extra bit of juice for modern camping activities like charging electronics and low voltage lighting.
Except for the drain hookup, that would make them more independent of RV parks. As long as the drain hookup needs to be there, I'm not sure the advantage is that big. I could be wrong about this.
Xenoilphobe
Well-Known Member
That would be cool, a pre-staged trailer, already charged while it is at being loaded at the loading dock....
Xenoilphobe
Well-Known Member
Barklikeadog
Active Member
That is what the typical Grand Designs family lives in for 2 years.In Europe that could be someone's summer home..
Buckminster
Well-Known Member
Ken Edwards
SUN PWR
purplewalt
Active Member
Just returned from road trip, and my observation of some other vehicles on the road:
Cannot count how many modified pickups have doolies, (twin wheels at each rear hubs) I saw.
Some trucks are for work (construction or similar), some for hauling 5th wheel type trailers to the bed of the truck, not at the rear hitch.
So the frame is probably reinforced to carry the extra load.
For pickups to be a serious work or camping vehicle, might need to have doolies as an adaptable Option.
And they have huge flared fenders (Fritz just sighed deeply, how is THAT going to impact his design?)
Cannot count how many modified pickups have doolies, (twin wheels at each rear hubs) I saw.
Some trucks are for work (construction or similar), some for hauling 5th wheel type trailers to the bed of the truck, not at the rear hitch.
So the frame is probably reinforced to carry the extra load.
For pickups to be a serious work or camping vehicle, might need to have doolies as an adaptable Option.
And they have huge flared fenders (Fritz just sighed deeply, how is THAT going to impact his design?)
DRW trucks are not "modified" from SRW trucks. It's an entirely different truck.
My new F450 shares no running gear with SRW one ton. Even the DRW 350's have a different rear axles, brakes, gearing and suspension than the one ton SRW trucks.
The frames are not modified for a goose neck or fiver hitch. They are built for them.
If this truck is a serious truck it will have a solid rear axle.
Dual rear wheels are a factory option on 1 ton or heavier pickups. Some people get the biggest pickup they can find for bragging rights, but it does have a legitimate use too. My sister got a pickup with dual back tires when she started hauling a 3 horse trailer into the Sierra Nevada Mountains. There are a lot of legitimate work uses too.
Tesla would be smart to aim for the work segment before the recreational segment of the pickup market. The work truck market is far less brand loyal. Especially large organizations that buy fleets of trucks. For a work vehicle cost of ownership combined with utility is the winner. If Tesla can come out with a line of trucks that are at minimum equal to ICE trucks for utility, they will kill the competition on cost of ownership.
Once well established in the work truck market, demand for recreational Tesla trucks will follow organically.
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Xenoilphobe
Well-Known Member
I just want it to be able to handle trips to the shore for surf fishing... pulling this.
snort
Member
Hear Hear!
Tesla seems to be going all in on appearance, neck snapping performance and carrying lots of people. That's fine and a popular segment but it's not the only one. If I'm carrying a stack of lumber or pipes, or a refrigerator or something, it's worse than useless. Now Rivian comes along with a truck that's ok for towing, and lots of fun options for off-roaders, but has a tiny box and is all but useless for the jobsite.
Electrics have extremely low operating cost, incredible, smooth, low end torque, and small, out of the way motor (s) which presents opportunities for a work truck like no other. Put the cab way forward like an old microbus, put an 8 foot or longer box in the back, put lots of battery weight low down, and you have a smallish jobsite pickup that can haul plywood or drywall /in the box/. With the right suspension and frame, it should be able to have a towing capacity of 3 or 4 tons while being only 14 feet long or so. (for comparison, the current F150 is 17.5 to 21 feet long).
-Snortybartfast
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