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Re:Meeting the W-15 Electric Pickup Truck by dsfyu404ed on Wednesday August 22, 2018 @06:10AM (#17817612)
I really like the range extender. The Electric vehicle crowd likes to poo-poo them but a pickup that can't take a several hour trip to pick up or deliver something then turn around and come back isn't very useful to most people who have a use case for a pickup.

It'll be interesting to see how the carbon fiber body survives. It will probably depend mostly on whether the trucks wind up supporting maintenance work or putting around to check out faulty equipment reports.

Re:Meeting the W-15 Electric Pickup Truck by ovi256 on Wednesday August 22, 2018 @06:56AM (#17817763)
For electric pickups, I'm sure we'll see range extenders packs that you carry around in your truck bed.

They could even implement what that Israeli EV startup wanted to do, quick charge by physically swapping the pack.

If enough contractors use electric pickups, I could see a contractor supply shop also renting these range extender packs and swapping them for charged packs. A construction supply shop is a good place to do this, as it already has storage, loading bays, weight carrying equipment and people used to heavy loads.

Re:Meeting the W-15 Electric Pickup Truck by phkahler on Wednesday August 22, 2018 @09:42AM (#17818588)
>> For electric pickups, I'm sure we'll see range extenders packs that you carry around in your truck bed.

That kind of defeats the purpose of having the truck to in the first place.

Re:Meeting the W-15 Electric Pickup Truck by bluGill on Wednesday August 22, 2018 @09:57AM (#17818692)
This truck has a 2000lbs cargo capactiy. All the contractors I know have close to that in the bed of their truck. Tools are heavy, as are the other building supplies they have.

For a contractor doing repairs your value is the fact that you have the replacement part on the truck. That means you have bins of sensors, motors, valves and such sitting around because every 3 months you need each and the customer needs it fixed now.

For a contractor doing new work there are less materials (that is generally delivered by a different truck), but you still have tools.

Re:Meeting the W-15 Electric Pickup Truck by johnvanommen on Wednesday August 22, 2018 @01:03PM (#17820138)
> It'll be interesting to see how the carbon fiber body survives.

CF is expensive, but I'd expect it to last longer than steel - it won't rust.

The thing that makes me nervous about CF cars is how quickly they burn. Look up videos of Lambos on fire; the entire car is engulfed in a matter of seconds. Epoxy holds carbon fiber together, and it's very flammable.

Re:Meeting the W-15 Electric Pickup Truck by anotheramala on Wednesday August 22, 2018 @12:40PM (#17819961)
I have a BMW i3 with the range extender and it is very practical. I start it when I know I will travel beyond battery capacity.

You could avoid it on cars, but for a truck it makes a lot of sense.