Regardless, they look pretty cool. A cheaper option, but lower quality, might be some small trucks from China.
It will also be interesting to see how Fords Maverick catches on. May not quite fill this niche but seems like a good option overall.
Works great for occasional use, but still really sub-optimal to have an extra row of unused seat rather than bed space to put stuff if your primary use of the truck is to carry stuff in the bed.
a) They do 60mph ok if you have a four-speed one. Five-speed ones will do 70 just fine.
b) country roads are generally 45 in most states.
c) chinese minitrucks have a hell of a lot less support for about the same price.
d) Ford mavericks are DOA here. If you want a work van you buy a work van.
That will at least get it perceived as not being a great work truck.
It looks like the Honda thing is like 6.5 feet, so you are sticking off the back quite a lot less if you have an 8 foot load.
Mostly driven by people who white-flighted out of the city and need something to pick up chicken feed and mulch.
Wait until your local dealer has 20 of them parked next to their 1000 F150s before you decide on whether rural folks are going to buy them or not.
If I was in a rural area and had to do serious things with it and haul then I wouldn't be in the market.
I put in a pre-order for a hybrid 6 months ago and have probably another 6 months to wait.