540 it's electric, boogie woogie woogie

Since Deb bought a new work truck a couple years ago, she's been fretting that it is not electric. But really, there are no electric trucks available. 

Sure, there's a lot of hype about the Cybertruck, and you can reserve an F150 Lightning, or even buy a Rivian... But all of those are $50k plus, getting closer to $100k. (Yes, a few fleets will be able to buy $40k Ford's, but we're not a fleet.)

But then I saw Toyota is coming out with an electric Tacoma next year, as a 2024 model. Cue the panicked music of musical chairs, where we scramble to sell our gas guzzlers while there's still a market. And then scramble for a charger while we're road tripping.

The electric Tacoma above appears to be a lot like the electric F150 -- an existing truck that has been retrofitted. This was a quick way to get to EV truck, but long term, Ford isn't planning on doing it in again...

Despite the success. The Lightning looks like a regular F150, and I think that's a huge part of the appeal. But engineering-wise, they basically had to transform a rail-frame into a skateboard by cramming the battery between the frame rails. 

Based on this CEO's quote, I'd say he doesn't quite get it. We want derivative. Even if the underbody is completely different, my bet is there are way more people interested in driving a electric truck that looks like a regular truck than who are interested in... Whatever they think we want.

Toyota, whose reputation for reliability has a lot to do with their conservativism, aka, if it ain't broken don't fix it, seems to understand this.

Or else they're just rushing an EV into production, too.

How about some bike talk?

If we're really embracing a new approach to vehicles during the electrification age, maybe Ford should be looking at these haulers. The USPS is.

F-1.50?

Gates has come out with a new belt drive. While I know how to swap out a bike chain, and have no idea about belts, these are looking to be the future. They handle more torque, last longer, and require less maintenance. Supposedly.

While most ebikes come with disc brakes these days, Roam decided to take a different approach, putting cheap drum brakes on this emoto in an attempt to make the cheapest possible motorcycle they could. Ish. It looks pretty good.

There must be some reason they opted to have a chain drive rather than a rear hub motor. Wouldn't that save even more money?

Anyway, that looks like it would be pretty fun to rent on a Greek island or something.

And finally, a battery.

The US military industrial complex is in the game.

Enjoy the day.

P.S. did you know the song referenced in the title is about vibrators?

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