No worries though - a little repair job on the light’s housing and it was good as new. It got scraped off when he drove under a tree that he swears he always clears, but that this time the branches had grown down just a bit lower. The LED lighting all works as well as the day it arrived, with the exception that my dad accidentally broke the mount for one of the spot lights. The truck’s systems are working great too. That way it basically lasts for a whole day of sun. But even smaller power stations could still handle the approximately 500-600W charger that came with my truck.īy running the solar panels at the same time as the truck’s charger, I can replenish the solar generator nearly as quickly as it dumps energy into the truck. The Jackery 1500 would actually handle a 1 kW car charger with ease (though not for very long). That’s a cool feature, since many electric car chargers could be too powerful for smaller portable power stations. I’ve also found that I can solar charge the mini-truck with that same portable power station and a set of four solar panels allowing it to be used as a solar generator. He put a few minutes of charge into it and then was able to drive it back to the house. It died once when my dad let the battery get too low, but he just walked his Jackery 1500 portable power station out to it. We generally recharge the truck every couple weeks, and it theoretically has a range of around 50 miles (80 km) or more.īut since the truck is used entirely off-road around the property, it just doesn’t go that far and range has never been an issue. Fun fact: The $2K truck’s sticker price ballooned after another $1K for the biggest battery and $2K for shipping, plus stateside fees (more on that here). I also don’t know what the exact range is, though I paid for the biggest 6 kWh battery the factory offered me. I wrote about the whole experience getting the truck on at /lM6Fuanfwc- Micah Toll ApCharging the electric mini-truck Today’s #electrictruck job: several raised planting beds. Just another day using my fun little Chinese electric mini pickup truck around the ranch. The hydraulic dump bed in back, which has proven quite useful for spreading mulch and top soil, seems to only function better with time. But not only has it lasted, but it’s working better than ever. Sure, it’s only been a bit under a year, but if the comments section is any indication, then most people didn’t expect the truck to last this long. That’s because the truck has surprised us all by holding up incredibly well! Based on the wear and tear though, it certainly looks lower mileage than it is. I wish I could tell you how many miles we’ve put on the truck since, but it doesn’t actually have an odometer. The famous electric mini-truck: How is it doing now? The 25 mph (40 km/h) speed isn’t an issue for the type of off-road utility use my parents put it through. Stop by on the right day and you’ll see my dad toting his grandkids around hayride style in the back. There it serves all sorts of roles from garbage collection to landscaping duty. Since then I’ve gifted the truck to my parents for use on their Florida ranch. But everyone seems to love the little electric truck, neighbors included! Maybe it’s the affordable price, as I could buy a garage full of these for the price of an F150 Lightning. Maybe the mini-truck size (it’s just under 5:8 scale, or 11 feet long compared to a Rivian at 18 feet). Millions of Electrek readers scrolled through to read about the experience. Not only do I write a fun tongue-in-cheek column every weekend tracking the silliest of these mini-EVs, but sometimes I even put my own skin in the game by buying the ones that I can’t resist or can hide from my wife.įirst of all, this cute little thing turned into the electric truck that broke the internet. I’m talking about the quirky, weird, and funny little mini-EV industry that has been absolutely dominated by China. I’m not talking about the Tesla imitators and other mainstream Chinese EVs. I’ve spent years watching the Chinese electric vehicle industry develop. And so I embarked on one of the weirdest vehicle purchases of my life. With a $2,000 sticker price, I figured it was risky, but that I wouldn’t lose the farm if the transaction went tires up. Last year I found an awesome-looking electric mini-truck on a Chinese shopping website and decided I simply had to have it.
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