Thinking about a Tesla truck

[Safe Harbour]

We own 2 Tesla's now Model X/3

We already own two Tesla's. Bought the Model 3 first. Best car I have ever owned. 11,000 miles now and I love it. 4 miles/kWh very efficient. A kWh costs me $0.13, so 400 miles is $13. The car drives itself! Safest car ever built. No oil changes, transmission fluid, radiator fluid, belts, filters, spark plugs, wires, etc. Just add washer fluid and occasionally rotate tires. Brakes last for ever due to regenerative braking. No going to dirty stinky gas stations.

So we bought a Model X. We don't have a lot of experience with it yet, but I can tell it's going to be a great car too. We've cut our carbon footprint for cars by 60% (our power is 61% nuclear) with these two vehicles saving 8 Tonnes of CO2e.

Now I put down $100 to reserve my Tesla Truck. I'll trade in the Model 3 as I really want an off road vehicle.

 

[Fishingmn]

Bought a Model 3 in August. It's a really fun car to drive. I'm not really a "car guy" so it's so strange to be so into this vehicle but I would recommend it to anyone.

On the other hand, maybe don't take a test drive. It took just one test drive from a friend and I was hooked.

 

[DRC726]

If I could bring myself to spend upwards of $70k on any vehicle I would consider this https://rivian.com/r1t/ However, it has a Honda Ridgeline vibe and fails the 'ability to haul a sheet of plywood' test.

I've had my Ridgeline for 6 months now and I love it. Its basically a Pilot with a bed. Smoothest riding truck you can buy, IMO. Only a 5 foot bed so it fails the plywood/sheetrock test but if I ever need those things I'll have it delivered or, more likely, have someone do the work for me and write a check. The Ridgeline is perfect for moving furniture, going to the dump, and other misc task for my property and rental properties. AND it is great to travel in.

 

[aja8888]

Really folks, who carries sheets of plywood or sheetrock in their trucks anymore? Although my old F150 can, I have never had the reason to carry anything 4' x 8'.

What I have carried/moved/towed has been new toilets in boxes, a 26 Cu Ft refrigerator, countless boxes and small stuff during a move, brush to take to the dump, etc. 99% of the time, the bed is empty.

I have towed my friend's 1965 Corvair convertible.

 

[ERD50]

Really folks, who carries sheets of plywood or sheetrock in their trucks anymore? Although my old F150 can, I have never had the reason to carry anything 4' x 8'.
...

I think the thing about the 4x8 sheet is, if the truck is close to being big enough to handle it, then it seems a shame if it is just a bit too small (like inches). But if we are talking much smaller, than I think it's just a different market, as you describe, for people that weren't going to haul a 4x8 sheet anyhow (use another vehicle, rent one, or use a trailer, or hire it out). Those people might prefer a smaller truck, for other reasons.

-ERD50

 

[aja8888]

I think the thing about the 4x8 sheet is, if the truck is close to being big enough to handle it, then it seems a shame if it is just a bit too small (like inches). But if we are talking much smaller, than I think it's just a different market, as you describe, for people that weren't going to haul a 4x8 sheet anyhow (use another vehicle, rent one, or use a trailer, or hire it out). Those people might prefer a smaller truck, for other reasons.

-ERD50

The bed on my F150 is 6' (or 6.5') long (tailgate closed) with slightly over 4' between the wheel wells in the bed. If I open the gate and lay it flat, I can carry the 8' long sheet. That's how it's typically done with "std" size beds. My older RAM truck had a true 8' long bed with the tailgate closed. That was considered a "long bed" option.

Most of the newer trucks have 5.5' long beds, gates closed.

 

[Ronstar]

Really folks, who carries sheets of plywood or sheetrock in their trucks anymore? Although my old F150 can, I have never had the reason to carry anything 4' x 8'.

What I have carried/moved/towed has been new toilets in boxes, a 26 Cu Ft refrigerator, countless boxes and small stuff during a move, brush to take to the dump, etc. 99% of the time, the bed is empty.

I have towed my friend's 1965 Corvair convertible.

Last time I carried a 4x8 sheet was last summer - 35 sheets of underlayment in 4 trips. And like you, toilets and a refrigerator. And the bed of the truck was full in moving our Arizona stuff back to Illinois. Lots of hauling of wood for woodworking projects. And I roll our garbage cans on ramps into the bed for taking them to the street on garbage day. And it seems like I'm always hauling something for friends. But most of the time, the bed of my truck only has 2 bins in it - one for emergency clothing/ jumper cables, etc. The other bin has bunnies/straps/ tools, etc.

Pic is a recent haul for a friend - moving his shooting blind deeper into the woods.

 

[ERD50]

... We've cut our carbon footprint for cars by 60% (our power is 61% nuclear) with these two vehicles saving 8 Tonnes of CO2e. ....

Now you did it!

So your grid is 61% nuke - that's great! But it's not 62%, or 63% is it? IOW, there is only so much nuke available, there is no more. The fuel is cheaper than fossil fuel, the cost of nuclear is in the fixed costs. That is why we see such a high capacity factor for nuclear plants - the grid operators are motivated to run them as much as they can, and they do.

Same with wind/solar, hydro - the grid operators already use every bit that they can.

So the nuke power and RE is all being used already. When you plug in your EV, the grid must supply that additional power. The only way they can do that is by throttling up a fossil fuel plant somewhere on the grid. Your EV is running nearly 100% on fossil fuel. I'll say nearly, because there just might be an excess of wind on occasion, but this is going to be very small on an annual average.

Conversely, whenever we conserve electricity, the conservation goes almost 100% to conserving fossil fuel ( a good thing), not just the average mix. The grid operator obviously would not take some solar offline because you got a more efficient A/C system, they'll cut back on feeding fossil fuel to a plant. That's another case where we should not apply grid averages to the calculation. It's almost always the marginal production that matters. And marginal production is from fossil fuel. And even though gas turbines are feeding most of this marginal use, if it is a steady pattern, they may keep a coal plant throttled on a bit more/longer, as coal is usually cheaper than NG. Even a small amount of coal in the mix really cranks up other pollutants (particulates, SOx, NOx), that are much lower with NG, plus coal is somewhat higher in CO2 than NG.

-ERD50

 

[Chuckanut]

You'd be amazed how little that worries me. That side A) does not control the gubmint and B) is likely to be overwhelmed by the tide of money suggesting strongly to them that this is a bad idea if they ever do control the entire gubmint.

You would think so. But....

I have read that some cities are outlawing new gas line hookups. Existing houses that burn fuel oil, so can't burn the much cleaner natural gas. They must go to full electric, which is much more expensive. Thus, they stay with the dirtier fuel oil.

I guess these politicians never heard the saying "Never let the perfect become the enemy of the good."

Back to Tesla........ I read that Ford has nixed the Tesla vs F150 rematch.

 

[dvalley]

I don't have an EV car yet but I actually like the Tesla truck, it's funky cool and the specs are pretty impressive too. I still keep hearing that the EV cars (batteries) are impacted by the colder temps. As for EVs in general well I grew up tinkering with cars and engines so to me internal combustion engines are amazing mechanical devices when you consider all the parts that have to work in sync and do it at up to 9k rpm etc. But I think the future is going to be electric. Sorta like the air powered tools are becoming obsolete as the battery powered tools are replacing them with almost the same performance specs.

 

[dirtbiker]

Really folks, who carries sheets of plywood or sheetrock in their trucks anymore? Although my old F150 can, I have never had the reason to carry anything 4' x 8'.

What I have carried/moved/towed has been new toilets in boxes, a 26 Cu Ft refrigerator, countless boxes and small stuff during a move, brush to take to the dump, etc. 99% of the time, the bed is empty.

I have towed my friend's 1965 Corvair convertible.

I have a 5.5' bed on my F150, and have carried many 4x8 sheets of plywood and Sheetrock with no issues. With the tail gate down, there is only like 8-10" of overhang, which has caused me zero issues. To be fair, from Lowes to my house is only about ten miles and it's smooth roads. If I were on rough bumpy roads, it might be an issue, but I doubt it.

 

[NW-Bound]

Really folks, who carries sheets of plywood or sheetrock in their trucks anymore? Although my old F150 can, I have never had the reason to carry anything 4' x 8'.

What I have carried/moved/towed has been new toilets in boxes, a 26 Cu Ft refrigerator, countless boxes and small stuff during a move, brush to take to the dump, etc. 99% of the time, the bed is empty.

I have towed my friend's 1965 Corvair convertible.

But, but, but it's a shame a pickup truck cannot carry a 4x8 when you need it to, while my 1986 Chrysler Voyager minivan could fit it inside, although I had to remove the seats. Yes, back then the rear seats did not fold into floor, and I could remove them by myself. Would not attempt that now, in fear of hurting my back.

Before that minivan, I had a 1977 Ford long-bed pickup that carried 4x8 with the gate up. And it could carry more than that: I would drive to a construction yard to buy gravel, or to a nursery and buy a front-loader scoop of mulch, and even manure for my garden. Yep, that's a real work truck. It's not for show.

I don't remember the gas mileage of that pick up, but it got a big block V8 engine of 390 cu.in. (6.4L), and the dual-tank option. Yes, 40 gallons of gas it carried.


PS. Nowadays, I use my 4x8 utility trailer. However, it would be flattened under a scoop of gravel.

 

[aja8888]

But, but, but it's a shame a pickup truck cannot carry a 4x8 when you need it to, while my 1986 Chrysler Voyager minivan could fit it inside, although I had to remove the seats. Yes, back then the rear seats did not fold into floor, and I could remove them by myself. Would not attempt that now, in fear of hurting my back.

I think I mentioned this earlier somewhere, but we now have a 2019 Dodge Grand Caravan as the primary vehicle. The seats fold into the floor so I won't need the carrying capacity (flat) of my 1998 F150. I may sell the truck or give it to one of DW's grandkids soon.

The newer van was bought in anticipation of DW being mostly mobile with a wheelchair or a motorized scooter someday. I can buy a ramp kit for the GC as that is a popular vehicle for hauling around handicapped/crippled folks.

 

[Sunset]

My Sienna van, will carry 4x8 with gate closed, when middle row is out, and back row folded into the floor.

I do like being able to shelter from rain the stuff I am carrying.

Hopefully, Tesla will make an electric Van.

 

[Retiredmajor]

 

[NW-Bound]

I think I mentioned this earlier somewhere, but we now have a 2019 Dodge Grand Caravan as the primary vehicle. The seats fold into the floor so I won't need the carrying capacity (flat) of my 1998 F150. I may sell the truck or give it to one of DW's grandkids soon.

The newer van was bought in anticipation of DW being mostly mobile with a wheelchair or a motorized scooter someday. I can buy a ramp kit for the GC as that is a popular vehicle for hauling around handicapped/crippled folks.

Yes, you did.

It is all about one's purpose. A minivan is great for hauling people. And it can also be used occasionally to haul some "stuff", although it cannot haul gravel, which I now call for delivery. And I now buy mulch and manure in bags (and have to air out my SUV after hauling it home ).

I have to admit that the new breed of pickup trucks with the rear seats and a short bed is a good compromise. But for driving around town and not towing anything or hauling gravel up the hill, you do not need that much power. A lot of people buy overpowered trucks for show and to go get grocery. But hey, it's their money and this is still a somewhat free country.

No vehicle is green if it is underutilized. I will not say the money is wasted if it helps boost one's ego, but green it is not even if the gummint subsidizes it. By the way, 40 years ago when I had the fuel-guzzler long-bed Ford pickup, it was not my daily driver. I had a Datsun 280Z for work commute. That one was a mini gas-guzzler in its own right, but that's another story.

 

[Big_Hitter]

i hate to be the cranky old fart but if that's what the future looks like, i'm hanging on to the past and ol' blue

ol blue holds plenty of plywood too, btw

 

[NW-Bound]

Your future is upside down?


But hey, that looks like my old Ford pickup, which was also a two-tone truck. However, mine was baby blue on top, and white on the lower bottom.

 

[Big_Hitter]

Your future is upside down?


But hey, that looks like my old Ford pickup, which was also a two-tone truck. However, mine was baby blue on top, and white on the lower bottom.

yep, i fail at failing EDIT fixed it - i think the photo was too large

tried several times to rotate it then upload oh well

yes it's a 74 f100 ranger XLT - hence all the chrome

runs like a top too - I've been driving it to w&r* all week while i'm getting my scoob resprayed

 

[NW-Bound]

yep, i fail at failing EDIT fixed it - i think the photo was too large

tried several times to rotate it then upload oh well

yes it's a 74 f100 ranger XLT - hence all the chrome

runs like a top too - I've been driving it to w&r* all week while i'm getting my scoob resprayed

Hey, I see two filler caps, in the same location as on my old truck, which I sold long ago.

I think mine was a 77 XLT, but cannot be sure about the year. Is the dual fuel tank standard back then?

 

[Big_Hitter]

pretty sure dual fuel tanks were an option - ol blue needs two tanks - with the 460, race intake, 750 carb, headers etc we only get maybe 6-8 mpg?

i may need to lean out the air/fuel mix a bit

 

[ls99]

Heh, my 99 suburban 2500 7.4 slt (40 gallon gas tank) can carry 4x8 sheets with barn doors closed. And tow a pretty hefty trailer to boot.
OTOH the 2016 crew cab chevy colorado's bed is short, either prop the stuff up on the tailgate at an agle or set it on the wheel wells and partially close the tailgate.

And no I still would not consider the tsla truck.

 

[ejman]

We used to carry our goats in the back of our Astro van. Worked great. Who needs a pickup truck.

 

[Big_Hitter]

We used to carry our goats in the back of our Astro van. Worked great. Who needs a pickup truck.

well i guess that took care of any residual smells

 

[ejman]

well i guess that took care of any residual smells

It sure did! For some strange reason not too many (human) friends wanted to ride in the truck with us