What's your opinion about electric trucks??

I'm considering getting one of these small maintenance type trucks just for Craig list pickups and trash nights.

This one would be very helpful for unloading shred at the yard.





The only cons would be the range about 30 to 40 miles without being loaded down less if your hauling. So I would have to limit my CL pickup to only those that are close to me and I would only be able to do a few neighborhoods on trash nights before i'd have to switch back to my regular truck. And the initial cost they cost about 10g to 12gs new, I was only able to find one used one on ebay going for 4g. But the truck would defiantly pay for itself and then some over its lifetime.

The pros being fuel would cost next to nothing.

Maybe I should just wait a few years for Ford or Nissan to come out with an electric truck with a better range, what do you guys think?

I think that thing is freakin' awesome. If you can buy it and not put yerself in a pinch doin' it, go for it.

Think about it this way too, if you got a company goin' on, that's another sellin' point. Another "green" aspect to what you do.

Originally Posted by TheHoss

I think that thing is freakin' awesome. If you can buy it and not put yerself in a pinch doin' it, go for it.

Think about it this way too, if you got a company goin' on, that's another sellin' point. Another "green" aspect to what you do.

Not to mention all the fed and state tax incentives . Here's a link so you guys can check to see what intensives your state offers. http://www.afdc.energy.gov/afdc/fuel...city_laws.html

Originally Posted by KZBell

So how much would it cost to plug it in every night? Don't get me wrong, that thing is cool, but too many people think that just because the don't feel the "pain at the pump" that it cost next to nothing to drive.

I'm not sure how much it would cost to charge that truck, but I do know that it only cost 1.32 to go 100 miles in the Mini E Mini Cooper's electric car. So I'm guessing less than half of that b/c the range is only 30-40 miles per charge. Maybe like .50 a charge.

they are cute and fun
they have much more tork than a gas engine
they will do amaizing things for their size
BUT

they are only practlcle for yard use

the 40- mile range is reduced because it is used

because of size they are limited in volume hauled

you really need two one working one charging
kinda like having a family of 5 and one jet ski

you can buy a used golf cart for 1000 and convert it to a truck for 500 and you have the same thing.

I would see if I could rent or lease one for a month before buying.

just my .02

Originally Posted by Mechanic688

http://www.americasminitruckcenter.com/products/
what about something like this??

Those all look pretty sweet and would be more fuel efficient than my current truck a ford ranger v6, not sure how much more efficient tho,, and have a better range than the electric truck. The main reason I'm considering an electric truck is gas is my biggest expense as a scrapper and I'd like to max my profits. I'll have to look into these mini trucks more. Thanks for the info and the link.

Originally Posted by injunjoe

I like the idea of electric with all the savings and such but I wonder about a failure of all the specialized components on this ride.
If a part should fail, and we all know they will in time, what will be the cost to repair or replace parts? Can you even find parts? You must also consider when you have troubles you can't just drop the part on the local Napa dealer and be on your way.

Just things to consider. I like the idea but will it pan out? Good luck.

Yeah biggest thing would be the motor. Anyone have an idea as to how many miles I could get out of an electric motor before it has to be replace? I still have a lot of thought to put into this before I make my final decision.

If I had 12k I would find a diesel and a dump trailer.

I do get why you're wanting to do this though.

i like the idea of going electric, but this looks like an E-Ride, which has no room for storage. we have some of these at my job and with minimal weight in the back one of them blew out a differential, company told us we were carying to much weight in it. not really practical for a scrap metal buisnes, even if you are going to go out and pick up a washing machine from CL. if you do get one never let the battery go completely dead or let it stay dead for prolonged periods of time. the ones with Li batteries if left dead like to burn, if running lead acid i dont know if they like to burn or not when discharged for extended periods of time.

Originally Posted by brandon

i like the idea of going electric, but this looks like an E-Ride, which has no room for storage. we have some of these at my job and with minimal weight in the back one of them blew out a differential, company told us we were carying to much weight in it. not really practical for a scrap metal buisnes, even if you are going to go out and pick up a washing machine from CL. if you do get one never let the battery go completely dead or let it stay dead for prolonged periods of time. the ones with Li batteries if left dead like to burn, if running lead acid i dont know if they like to burn or not when discharged for extended periods of time.

Thanks for letting me know about the batteries I'm not sure if this truck uses Li or lead ill have to find out. If it uses Li, can these be charged the same was as lead batteries or not? If you don't mind me asking what kind of job do you do? Like what kind of materials do you haul in the truck? And how much did it cost to have the differential replaced. I'm assuming because electric vehicles are fairly new it would be more than replacing the deferential on a normal truck but how much more?

Who would you call if it broke down, and electrician, or a mechanic?

:-)

Ford did build an electric truck.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Ranger_EV

Dru,
I am a vehicle mechanic in the Air Force, we have a couple of these trucks on our base, i do not remember the cost for the repairs of the diff, sorry. they are being used to haul parts around.
in our vehicles the problem with the catching fire has been corrected, the company took them back and removed 1/2 of the batteries, now we have less range (i dont think anything was wrong in the first place the batteries were abused which is what caused the fire) but you cant tell the higher ups that so we lost range on it.
if you are lucky to find one with the Li batteries for a good price i would get it.
if nothing else use it as a platform to build a better one...take one tired S10 or Ranger with manual transmission, pull engine swap all E-parts into S10/Ranger lock trans into 2nd gear add axtra batteries for more range and have fun.
as far as charging, plug it into the wall, the ones we have, have a built in charger Li batteries should be charged after each use and generally charge up fast. our trucks the way we use and charge them the battery life has actually been extended by charging them after each use, the one that cought fire was fully drained then let sit for a while then when they went to charge it that is when it had its melt down.
fyi max speed in the ones we have is 25mph, but gets ther in the blink of an eye, lots of torque.
if you want to know anything more, ask, i wil do my best to get info for ya.
brandon

The trucks I have use a deep cycle RV/marine type. Whether that is OEM or not, I don't know. It apparently worked at the time, as 2 of the 3 trucks have that type. 3rd is missing the batteries.

If what the OP wants to get takes an RV/marine type, then replacement isn't going to be too bad.

I just had a thought. You live in Vegas, it's sunny a lot right? Slap some solar panels on the roof. I know they make battery solar trickle chargers but who knows if they make anything beyond 12 volt. If you got it set up just right I would think it would keep the batteries topped off.