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by bryanlarsen
3533 days ago
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"Are electric trucks even a thing?" Yes. http://www.viamotors.com/vehicles/electric-truck/ They make quite a bit of sense, in a niche. Trucks are often fleet vehicles, which are often well suited for electrification: predictable, regular, short distances. Trucks handle the weight of batteries well. And Via turns the original motor into a generator, which is useful for an electric vehicle and is also useful on a job site. |
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The biggest problem is the payload is only 1,000 lbs in comparison to 1800-2000 for most 1500's. Many contractors opt for 3/4 ton (2500, f-250) or larger models for more payload/towing.
My brother is a contractor and has a GMC 2500 HD crew cab. It was $38k; gets ~15mpg and he drives around 35k miles a year.
Fuel for the Via truck at that milage is 30mpg, so using $3/gal would be $3500 + electricity cost versus $7,000 for gas alone.
Over 6 years the total cost difference for fuel would be $21,000 and put the gas truck cost around $60k which is comparable to the Via's $65k.
The gas truck is a better choice in this case because it has a payload of 4,000+ lbs and towing 14k+ lbs in comparison to 1000 lbs and 4000 lbs for the Via. A 1500 with a small engine would have nearly double the payload and towing of the Via and be less expensive with a higher mpg than the 2500.
The generator is cool but kind of gimmicky because the truck has to stay on site and stationary. A <$1000 generator would provide similar power and is less of a hassle than having to park your truck close enough or runs cords for power.