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Comment by kjellsbells | Hacker News Reader

I happen to think that Musk is a loon, but I am rooting for the success of the truck, because, in the US, truck buyers are a super conservative bunch, and if you win them over, then the EV transition really kicks in. Truck buyers cannot afford machines that get between them and earning their livelihood.

The question for me is whether this, and the Ford F150 Lightning, are poser trucks, or genuine work trucks. Its winning at the latter that is important. Can they drive on non paved surfaces like construction sites? Can they carry a full sheet of drywall? Can they tow a horse box? Are there weird protuberances that are going to get a accidentally smashed by a kid trying to load a 2x4? Are there accessories like tool boxes available? Will it start at 4am in a Minnesota winter? I'm more convinced by the F150 here than the Cybertruck, but I'm waiting for real people to allocate real scarce resource to buy it rather than tech bros with excess cash.

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> Truck buyers cannot afford machines that get between them and earning their livelihood.

In the city, anyway, most truck owners only use their trucks for commuting and rarely, if ever, actually use it as a truck. They are not relying on their trucks to earn a livelihood any more than car owners are.

How much of the US is classified as city? How much of the US is classified as rural? What is your point exactly?

My point is that "Truck buyers cannot afford machines that get between them and earning their livelihood" is incorrect as stated because it implies that owning a truck is essential for earning their livelihood. Some truck buyers, sure, but not nearly all truck buyers. I'm guessing not even most truck buyers.

83% of US population is urban. That includes suburban and ex-urban. Lots more land is rural, but land doesn’t buy trucks.

EV trucks will not win over “super conservative” truck normies until they are more affordable, can do 500 miles to a “tank”, and can do that while hauling a load. My old Ecoboost F-150 had a 33 gallon tank and could easily do 650 miles per tank on a road trip. I can fill up while I grab a coke and take a leak and that’s too good to give up.

On all accounts EV is better than ICE except for range and ability to replenish your fuel. Once they are on par in that department the explosion will happen. Time is money and when you can fill up your tank in 5 minutes and hit the road immediately that makes a huge difference. Don’t need to wait for a charge port either. Gas stations are ubiquitous.

The cyber truck is not a truck though. The bed is smaller than what you’d get on a midsize like a Tacoma and we don’t have towing data yet. It’s a fashion statement plain and simple. The only EV truck worth considering is as you’ve said the Lightning but you can’t tow a damn thing with it because the range gets sliced in half, and that’s way worse in the cold.

I think the rivian is a better push towards converting people over to electric. I thought I saw it helped some people win an off road race recently and that’s a good way to catch traditional truck owners attention. Plus the slightly modernized but not ugly design language makes the transition more smooth

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