Initially available to fleet customers only, unfortunately.
I was reading and started noticing how the toyota guy only has 2 hand posture during his talk. Its either big boobs or wow wow man!.
Here we go, big boobs:.
.
That’s a huge rack. But wow wow man, no! Not for me, stop:.
He just repeats between the two gestures with very few instances were big rack repeats several times before wow wow dude.
My assumption is that shipping is now too expensive so key trucks can now only be made locally.
And tarrifs
Max speed 25 mph. Slate truck seems better.
$5 says its some arbitrary governor limiting the speed that people will quickly figure out how to defeat.
Probably not totally arbitrary. The engine itself is a typical 660cc kei truck engine, which usually means about 55 hp or about 40 kW of power. Typical kei trucks weigh about 700 kg, and have 0-100 kph (62 mph) times of nearly 30 seconds.
I’m more interested in electrified fleet vehicles though. Little vehicles can be interesting but at that point just put an electric motor and battery on it.
55HP is plenty to travel faster than 25MPH though. The VW Beetle had even less horsepower than that until the 1970s and even then it topped out at 60HP toward the end of their production run. They certainly won’t be speed demons but should be fine for most city driving.
An electric option would be good but as someone who works at a campus with tons (like dozens or in the hundreds) of shared Kei-like trucks, golf carts, and side-by-sides, having a place to charge all of them isn’t really feasible or safe for all the people who are walking by them all day and night. Here there are just wall outlets strewn about the buildings that they have to run extension cords to and this is just with a fraction of them being electric.
Defeating is likely one thing but being legal and insurable on public roads is likely the big wrinkle.
Thats a good point. I’m curious how these are handled as imports (as in an individual importing one they purchased) because those are able to be driven on the road. Ive even seen one driving on the freeway.
Generally they have to be imported as classic cars, over 25 years old, so they don’t need to meet all the same requirements as a new car.
Sole difference is being new vs. 25 years of age or older!
This guy, this guy ebikes.
Those are e-motos with farcical pedals.
The fleet versions are being limited to comply with a federal speed regulation.
My hope is that the public versions simply have no such requirement.
Personally I’d rather have a kei truck than a Slate. The former is likely to be cheaper, avoids issues with electric charging infrastructure near me, and doesn’t support Bezos.
Plus the dirty secret is Slate is mostly a Chinese EV.
So are many legacy “American” vehicles when you actually get to the parts level. We don’t produce anything anymore, haven’t for decades.
I don’t have a problem with it being a Chinese EV. I wish the US would just allow them to be sold. But I don’t want one that siphons more money to Bezos.
Rivian is also Bezos.
Yes, and?
It’s being marketed as American made.
Assembled in America and designed in America by a company paying American taxes. China is were human beings make things, that’s like being upset that it’s made in a factory rather an artisan shop.
There is only one race, the human race.
There is only one economy, the global economy.
I didn’t believe you at all so I searched and
Its maximum speed will be 25 miles per hour.
What in the @#%^
I think we are more likely to see people buying the Subaru Sambar in its truck or van version. Think they go like 75mph
A dude in town has a lovely little Honda but I don’t know what that model is called. One day I’ll catch him out in it and ask permission to be incredibly @#%^ing annoying about it/ask for a ride in it.
Honda Acty
That’s it.
Alright, you do you friend and we will always appreciate you. I haven’t seen the comments after is there is, if not I’ll say you are free to speak your words here. Fuck ass tits. Lol. Say what you want and be free. Love you because you are beautiful. If you don’t like saying those words, that’s you and also cute : )
I thought you were some kind of bot. Maybe you were just super high last night?
Bots I assume say things that make sense, lol. What I said wasn’t coherent, lol
Pass some of that good stuff my way will ya?
Thats a golf cart
Yeah at that point it’s just a slightly more substantial side-by-side 4 wheeler
Which is something very useful in a lot of situations where speeds are that slow to start with, like tight city streets. The bed sides folding down for side access would be great in a lot of situations too.
Definitely utility design for small and slow areas instead of just being a small pickup.
Looks like their target audience will be urban delivery or semi-off road utility as opposed to “back and forth to the hardware store”
Yeah this is the kind of thing for bringing stuff around the factory, the airport, etc.
A viable use case before selling to what is definitely a niche market
The US could really use the Toyota Hilux Champ and the Suzuki Jimny.
We can blame consumer reports for not having the Jimmy/samurai anymore. Those things were amazing.
Jfc we dont have any small affordable cars a Jimny would be fantastic. I saw an old Suzuki Sidekick the other day and I was so jealous. So many of them got gutted into off road vehicles as a cheaper side by side alternative a decade ago.
I just want the Ford Ranger to come back and actually be the size of the old 90s Rangers, instead of being the size of an F-150 and have a tiny bed like they did with the Maverick 🥺
I wish I could buy the new toyota helix but its banned in the us for decisions :(
We have tons of kei trucks and vans here in Hawai’i. Pretty sure they’re not limited to 25mph. And the fact that they’re not releasing an EV version tells me that this is just a stunt. Hopefully it’s effective enough to drop the size of trucks though
Basically since those are 25 years old, they are imported under a different set of rules compared to these cars.
Basically everything above 25 years old doesn’t have to meet fmvss regs if it’s imported.
this is just a stunt.
Really? The automaker that keeps going back to fucking Hydrogen after 20 years of the market actively telling them to fuck off? No, they can’t possibly be doing shit just for headlines.
Only expected to add 50 jobs at the Indiana plant so sure sounds like really limited availability to said fleet customers. Right hand drive. Looks like a great farm truck if it could be priced similar to Japan… no word on pricing though.
Nice to see them coming, but the “Federal Safety Requirements Applicable to a Low-Speed Vehicle (LSV)” compliance apparently means use on public roads with a posted top speed of 35MPH.
25mph
edit: top speed of 25, looks like I completely misread. d’oh.
That’s the top speed it can go, but you’re only allowed to drive it on roads with speed limits of up to 35mph.
Thanks - it doesn’t look like they edited, did I misread? Oops :/ Your kind correction appreciated <3
Out in my neck of the woods you just slap an orange triangle on it and down the road you go.
With the LSV registration they are going after the golf cart market, it’s not a real alternative to a car because of regulatory constraints
Damn not electric
This is really exciting! And hopefully road laws are updated to expand their use. Kei vehicles are my jam!
Every shitty simulator game on steam starts out with a dinky truck like this.
*would!
I swear I saw one go by at my last protest. looked alot like it at least.
Looks like im gonna have to go find employment at one of these companies to steal myself a kei truck.
Overvalued tbh and I’ve driven more than a handful of them. Get a 90s minitruck like a Ranger/Mazda or Nissan Hardbody for a quarter the price
Yeah, kei trucks look cool but are so much less practical than an old mini. Parts availability alone stateside make them a hard no for me, combined with the fact your knees are the crumple zone and it becomes a resounding no.
I miss my Mazda B2200. What a great little truck. Easy to work on, but rarely needed it. Ok on gas. Good handling. Carry the world.
I’d love to convert an old ranger to electric.
In case you haven’t seen, they did make a factory electric Ranger back in the day - but it’s probably more feasible to go with converting a gas Ranger due to it’s rarity, outdated tech, etc.
I used to drive a 90s ranger for work despite its relatively small size I found it to handle like a leaky boat.
Wait never mind, wrong video. Can’t find the original
If it’s the video of a Toyota truck conversion, I’ve seen it. That would be fun too.
