TELO, an electrical truck startup primarily based in Silicon Valley that’s designing a tiny electrical truck for the US market, has launched a configurator for its autos, with design updates and a lower-than-expected base worth… however don’t get too excited but, as a result of manufacturing remains to be many months away.
We first informed you about TELO final June, when the corporate introduced it was planning to construct an electrical truck the dimensions of a Mini however with a mattress the dimensions of a Hummer’s.
it sounds unimaginable, however there’s a number of wasted area in car designs lately, particularly vans the place automakers take into account an unlimited entrance hood as an vital a part of design (regardless of the inherent deadliness of this design determination).
TELO went one other course, specializing in a truck with most utility and minimal footprint – and says it will likely be in a position to supply utility on par with as we speak’s mid-size pickup vans just like the Toyota Tacoma, however in a package deal that’s solely 152 inches lengthy.
Within the interim, TELO has constructed a driveable chassis and been hiring some new expertise from elsewhere within the automotive business, nevertheless it’s nonetheless very a lot a tiny startup. The corporate has collected round 3,700 preorders as of as we speak, at $152 a pop – the identical because the truck’s whole size in inches.
However as we speak we’ve bought information on an exterior design replace and one step nearer to manufacturing – an precise configurator, and with costs hooked up as effectively.
The TELO configurator is fairly naked bones, with solely 3 selectable choices. TELO says that it’ll add extra choices and equipment “over the following few months,” so this isn’t the whole lot but, nevertheless it’s a begin.
Most significantly although, the bottom worth, which TELO beforehand mentioned can be “underneath $50k,” is fairly a bit underneath $50k, at $41,520 to begin. Even higher, that’s underneath $35k to begin after taking into consideration the federal EV tax credit score.
That’s nonetheless actually a bit of change, nevertheless it’s lower than different EV vans on the highway as we speak, and it’s fairly a bit underneath expectations – which is nice, as a result of $50k did really feel a bit excessive provided that one advantage of a smaller car must be lower cost (much less stuff required to construct it, much less battery wanted to push it round, and many others).
Then there are alternatives – a 300hp single motor or 500hp twin motor drivetrain, with the latter costing $46,019 base – a $4,499 premium.
There’s additionally a 260mi “commonplace” or 350mi+ “lengthy vary” battery choice, with the latter costing an additional $3,980 {dollars}. Battery sizes are 79kWh for the smaller model, and 106kWh for the bigger one.
The configurator additionally has 8 coloration choices, although these are all simply renders. There’s no extra price hooked up to those paint choices (…but).
The renders reveal some small design updates that TELO has been teasing lately, largely for aerodynamic causes with the intention to optimize its effectivity.
TELO says it modified the realm across the wheel entry/exit, some small adjustments on the entrance, and a barely extra rounded roofline all to enhance aerodynamics with out a lot change within the car’s form. The corporate used computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software program from AirShaper to assist in these design adjustments – less expensive than renting time at one of many world’s few wind tunnels.
And essentially the most notable change, to our eyes, is relocation of the truck’s “divot” on the facet to close the entrance wheel effectively as a substitute of alongside the B-pillar. Whereas it was a particular characteristic, it does appear a bit extra pure in its new place.
We haven’t but seen a bodily prototype with these new design updates, and we think about issues may change extra earlier than manufacturing. TELO says it’s nonetheless on observe for its first buyer deliveries to begin on the late finish of 2025 – however we’ll need to see in the event that they’re in a position to stick with that timeline or not, as timelines have a tendency to slide within the EV startup realm. It intends to ramp into bigger contract manufacturing following these first buyer deliveries.
You may view the TELO configurator right here, the place you may also make a $152 refundable reservation for a TELO truck. If you have already got a preorder, you possibly can seek for your preorder and add a configuration to your order, although as talked about above, there’ll in all probability be extra choices to configure as time goes on.
Electrek’s Take
We’re fairly enthusiastic about what TELO represents, because the US market merely doesn’t have any small vans, and even the “compact” vans which can be on the market are nonetheless monumental – for instance, the “compact” Tacoma is a full 5 ft longer than the TELO.
I’ve written lots about how we have to knock it off with these ridiculous monumental autos in America (and the way the federal government is lastly doing one thing about it).
So TELO provides a extremely compelling argument right here, a car that’s succesful however isn’t unimaginable to park, isn’t extreme by way of materials inputs, and doesn’t contribute to the ever-rising plague of pedestrian deaths from outsized autos.
The one factor to boring that pleasure is that, whereas it is promising a truck that isn’t extreme in dimension, it was nonetheless a bit extreme in different methods. We initially solely heard a couple of 106kWh battery choice, which is across the dimension as in hulking 3-row electrical SUVs popping out lately, and a $50k base worth didn’t put it under the worth vary of different EV vans on the market.
So the supply of a smaller battery and a a lot decrease base worth solely makes this all of the extra compelling. Sure, Individuals do have “greater quantity, higher automobile” illness, and to some extent you’ll want to cater to that, however given TELO already represents an announcement to counter that perspective, I’d prefer to see the corporate go all-in in that course.
Particularly since the most effective features I can see for this car can be for intra-city use. Small companies that want a truck however don’t want a large truck, or that will profit from having one thing extra parkable for city environments, received’t want 350 miles of vary. There are many small vans like this accessible in the remainder of the world, and companies in Europe and Japan make nice use of them.
If TELO can hit an analogous or larger stage of intra-city utility as for instance the Ford E-Transit (with an 89kWh battery, 159 mile vary and $51k base worth – the identical because the fuel model), however beat them on worth as they’ve introduced, there’s actually a market there.
So, whereas it is a comparatively small replace as we speak, it’s nonetheless fairly thrilling to see TELO shifting ahead, and shifting in the proper course.
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