Hacker News Reader

Comment by yeetaccount2 | Hacker News Reader

>When rednecks find out what “instant full torque” means the Lightning will sell very well.

The grid in rural areas suck, in general. The reliability is terrible and there may not be enough capacity for everyone to start charging their vehicles when they get home from work. Rural people also tend to drive many more miles (and sometimes much more energy intensive miles), and range can be a serious challenge. If they’re hauling, range is significantly diminished, and it’s not like you can throw a few extra batteries in the bed for when you’re out of juice. With a diesel, you can throw a 100gallon transfer tank in the bed for under $1000 and make it clear across the lower 48 without stopping (though that’s not normally what they’re for).

All that said, electric has promise. Longer vehicle lifetime and less maintenance is a huge plus.

View on HN

A lot of people make this case that you can go X distance without stopping. But that's completely impractical. There are many laws that regulate the trucking industry. For example you can only drive 11 hours consecutively, and then you're required to spend at least 10 consecutive hours not driving. There are also more rules about having to take breaks after a certain number of hours, and limits on number of hours per week they can work.

So if you're following the law, you will end up having to stop anyway. And as charging tech improves that stop will get shorter and shorter until it's no longer a concern. And again, once people see the economics of it and see how much money is being saved, they'll gladly trade off a little bit more time waiting for charging if necessary.

You’re right, but I’d wager that 70+% of truck buyers have never used any considerable amount of the payload capacity and don’t tow anything that a crossover SUV couldn’t tow.

If they're "rednecks", they almost certainly have. Dirtbikes if nothing else.

Dirtbikes aren't exactly very heavy. Even a sedan with a small trailer can pull a few dirt bikes.

The reality is that most of the people buying trucks do it because they like trucks and perhaps think it's more practical. It's not for actual work use. The same way most people buying SUV's aren't actually doing any off-roading or towing as well.

> According to Edwards’ data, 75 percent of truck owners use their truck for towing one time a year or less (meaning, never). Nearly 70 percent of truck owners go off-road one time a year or less. And a full 35 percent of truck owners use their truck for hauling—putting something in the bed, its ostensible raison d’être—once a year or less.

https://www.thedrive.com/news/26907/you-dont-need-a-full-siz...

Reply on news.ycombinator.com