They don't, they have a lot of torque at 0 rpm so they still win the drag race with less HP.
Rivian sighting
- Thread starter JeffKeryk
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As I said before, you can call it something else if you don't think it deserves the title of a "truck". Japanese get by doing real work ok with smaller than our compact pickup, other 3rd world nations' population get by ok doing their things using smaller size pickup, heck even the legendary Hilux would "have no place in the truck world" for most US big truck buyers, yet they are selling very well and was probably the most reliable "truck" in the world.
EV pickup will likely be special purpose vehicles for quite some time, unless they end up being either super cheap or have some sort of standardized battery they can swap real fast in a fleet. It may fit well in a fleet as a farmer's market power source, a local yard towing vehicle, a local delivery vehicle, indoor equipment mover (that is too big for a forklift), patrol vehicle that requires a bed, etc.
It is pretty obvious people won't buy this to tow a boat up 7000 ft or non stop cross country, but it works good enough for most home depot run. With such a small production volume people would know what they want to buy them for.
Interesting point of view! I never looked at it that way.
I thought EVs didn't need transmissions because of their wide torque band and rpm levels vs torque curve and more limited rpm levels of internal combustion engines.
But I guess we are saying the same thing.
Its not as hideous as the Cybertruck but its still ugly, especially the front. I've seen one driving around here where I live in white. I only live about 50 minutes away from Bloomington where they are building them in the old Mistubishi plant so I expected to see a few testers running around. So far only 1 though.
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That's true, but it's not lost on us that a small foreign pickup does not cost $90,000, and can both carry and tow substantial weight 4 to 5 times farther than an EV truck. All while not having to deal with 1.5 hour recharges.
Might be the 'proper' color name... guess I'd go old skool and call it Babyshit Yellow!
For the price, the tailgate alignment could be a little better. Don't really have an issue the color, actually.
To me it looks like the sun is lighting up the body in the RH gap, where on the LH the body is casting a shadow into the gap
It was brighter out than the pic shows, as this is through the GS350 windshield, which is tinted.
Weber Auto has done great teardowns of ev transmissions. They all have transmissions. It’s like one or two or three gear reductions before the differential. They don’t have gear box transmissions. They don’t need them as the motors are up to about 20,000 rpm or more. They can make smaller less powerful electric motors that output greater torque just by spinning them faster. Porsche has a two speed ev motor I guess. Vastly superior drive train compared to ice. I guess this difference in ev transmissions is well known.
Our Model 3 has a 1-speed fixed gear 9:1 ratio "transmission".
As you alluded to, the drivetrain is bulletproof as compared to an ICE drivetrain and has far fewer moving parts.
The flat torque curve and RPM potential of the electric motor negates the need for multiple gears.
In comparison, internal combustion engines have a limited usable torque range and RPM.
*So far*
So that's back to the original question though: what do the customers want to buy? Do they all want long distance towing heavy weight? Do they want fuel economy? Do they want cost? or do they want luxury? I'm sure the first wave of EVs will be small volume productions and they will sell good enough, it won't be replacing everything any time soon and by the time they will be, it will be because of market forces and technology maturity rather than by law (as we see in EV1, Prius, and Tesla).
Technology wise, there are less things to go wrong in an electric motor + inverter than gasoline engine, and they have fewer wear items if designed right.
Of course in the end it is about implementation. Nissan and Hyundai are proves that ICE and transmissions can be very unreliable.
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It looks like a Ford Flex gone wrong.I saw a Rivian recently and posted the picture in the Not a Random Photo Thread. My toaster looks to me more attractive than either the Rivian or the Tesla pickup.
I think a lot of you are missing a marketing point. a vast majority of f150 type truck owners only travel 30 miles each way to work and the average one goes to the lumber yard and brings material home a few times a month at a distance of roughly 10 miles. so an EV truck would work great for a huge majority of truck owners. there are those that go long distances and tow heavy loads. that's not the market these are after.
I could never own one in my current life style. but if I was a city folk, you betchya I'd own one. even more so if I could plug it in at work.
I could never own one in my current life style. but if I was a city folk, you betchya I'd own one. even more so if I could plug it in at work.
Large meshed gears should be more reliable than all the things in an ice, but I was more referring to the instant torque and quiet. The pull on city hills, or most hills, is like there is no hill. Just goes up effortlessly. Locomotives had ice with gearboxes early on, but the electric drive was adopted for a reason, even though they had to bring a giant diesel generator along.
I like the Rivian front, looks like a robot with eyes.
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Munro has a new video where the CEO of Rivian shows Sandy the features of the truck. Lots of impressive attention to detail, worth a watch.
