[kortilla]

This is one of the dumbest takes I’ve seen on trucks. It attacks a straw man.

If you buy something for one of its features and don’t use the others, it doesn’t have anything to do with cosplay.

This is like saying people who buy electric cars should just buy race car driver costumes instead. Unbridled ignorance.

[jakelazaroff]

Most race cars aren't electric though? That analogy makes no sense.

If you buy a product that comes with a ton of negative externalities and then don't use the single feature that distinguishes it from other products, people will rightly judge you.

[modernpacifist]

> Most race cars aren't electric though? That analogy makes no sense.

No, they aren't. I attend a significant amount of track events as a driver and I will see maybe 1 electic car every few events. Besides the lack of charging infrastrucutre at most race tracks, the one positive of instant torque/power is significantly outweighed by their overall mass and significant heat generation.

The latter tends to result in a Tesla S being unable to last more than 20 minutes at Laguna Seca or Sonoma before the battery pack overheats and reduces power output requiring the car to exit the track.

[kortilla]

Electric cars have great acceleration. According to this thread that’s just pointless cosplay.

[modernpacifist]

The comparison breaks down since, in race car terms, the great acceleration isn’t enough to offset the negatives that make electric cars poor race cars. So in a sense it is pointless cosplay. Even the acceleration might be working against itself since the great acceleration comes at the cost of the battery pack expending more energy, contributing to heat build up.

This isn’t to say the heat problem couldn’t be managed, but one of the biggest issues with race cars generally is heat management so starting from a platform with a unique and significant heat problem isn’t ideal. Then the weight and overall longevity of the battery pack comes into play.

To tout the acceleration without discussing the drawbacks involved in delivering it or the practicalities of leveraging it suggests that it’s such a great feature that the drawbacks either don’t exist or don’t matter.

[jakelazaroff]

They also produce no tailpipe emissions and tend to have a lower carbon footprint, more storage space, a quieter cabin, no "hump" for the driveshaft, etc. There are lots of reasons you might choose an electric car other than the acceleration.

On the other hand, a truck's single distinguishing feature is the bed.

[pixelpoet]

> Unbridled ignorance.

Ironically, I don't think ignorance means what you think it means. It simply means not knowing something; it's not, for example, an attitude in itself.

[kortilla]

It means exactly what I think. This dunk on truck drivers based on seeing them in the city is ignorance. Trucks are multimodal. Seeing them in one mode does not mean they aren’t used for another.