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3 minutes ago, rmc523 said:

 

I thought they imploded and closed a few years ago lol.

Hah..No that was when the founder (Trevor Milton) was busted for fraudulent activity and ended up with a 4yr sentence.  He did promotional work in which they did videos of what was a running class 8 truck going down the road.  the fact?  It had no motive power and was pushed down an incline.  I think there was a lot more going related to hyping the stock.

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1 hour ago, Bob Rosadini said:

Hah..No that was when the founder (Trevor Milton) was busted for fraudulent activity and ended up with a 4yr sentence.  He did promotional work in which they did videos of what was a running class 8 truck going down the road.  the fact?  It had no motive power and was pushed down an incline.  I think there was a lot more going related to hyping the stock.

 

Right, I didn't think/know they survived that.

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6 hours ago, Bob Rosadini said:

Hah..No that was when the founder (Trevor Milton) was busted for fraudulent activity and ended up with a 4yr sentence.  He did promotional work in which they did videos of what was a running class 8 truck going down the road.  the fact?  It had no motive power and was pushed down an incline.  I think there was a lot more going related to hyping the stock.

There's an episode of the TV show American Greed about this.

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On 2/20/2025 at 11:29 PM, T-dubz said:

Didnt the Diesel Brothers do something with Nikola? I remember something like they bought the Badger or something like that. I always thought it was a nice looking truck.

 

image.thumb.jpeg.085ae85701d617bcf7ab9c6ffac51b80.jpeg


I also thought it was a good looking truck. Had this been the Cybertruck, I think Ford would’ve had a lot more competition.

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On 2/22/2025 at 2:10 PM, blazerdude20 said:

I see a lot of the new Tacoma in that rendering. 

 

i remember the talk at the time was of debating whether they were tying up with Toyota on it, because it had a very Tacoma look.

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So that puts the casualties among start ups who were eyeing the USA market as Lordstown, Cannoo, Poterra, Fisker, Nevs (SAAB) and Nikola.

 

Tesla is on top with Rivian and Lucid still in the fight.

 

Faraday Future is probably the next to die. 

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2 hours ago, atomcat68 said:

So that puts the casualties among start ups who were eyeing the USA market as Lordstown, Cannoo, Poterra, Fisker, Nevs (SAAB) and Nikola.

 

Tesla is on top with Rivian and Lucid still in the fight.

 

Faraday Future is probably the next to die. 

I didn’t realize that Canoo had filed for bankruptcy.  I liked their approach to vehicle development.  Their products were definitely different, but had a purpose to their design. 

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On 2/24/2025 at 6:42 PM, atomcat68 said:

So that puts the casualties among start ups who were eyeing the USA market as Lordstown, Cannoo, Poterra, Fisker, Nevs (SAAB) and Nikola.

 

Tesla is on top with Rivian and Lucid still in the fight.

 

Faraday Future is probably the next to die. 

Thanks, I did not know Canoo went under back in January, and thought Nikola was still lurking about.

 

Faraday Future Announces First Two FX 6 Camouflaged Prototype Mules Set to Depart Shanghai Today with Arrival into the Los Angeles Area in Mid-March
Edited by kach22i
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Also guys, I read recently of another bottom up venture that was putting their power train into an existing class 8...photo I saw was a Freightliner Cascadia-which is probably the sales leader when it comes to class 8 tractors.

 

Anyone familiar with this?

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Telo is still taking people's money for deposits.

 

https://theevreport.com/telo-transforms-commercial-fleets-with-ev

 

Two years ago they projected that they would be making deliveries right about now.

 

All I've ever seen is computer renderings.

 

https://chargedevs.com/newswire/telo-to-offer-its-compact-electric-pickup-truck-to-commercial-fleets/

Quote

Through a collaboration with Aptera, buyers can select up to three solar panel kits (rooftop truck cab, tonneau truck bed cover, or camper shell), enabling charging on-the-go and enhancing energy independence in remote locations.

 

Not sure that is the company you want to latch on to, but at least they are testing a real car now.

 

https://electrek.co/2025/03/03/aptera-completes-first-round-real-world-testing-mojave-desert-solar-ev/

Quote

Aptera shared footage of its first production-intent validation vehicle testing in real-world conditions around the Mojave Desert.

 

 

 

 

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11 hours ago, kach22i said:

Telo is still taking people's money for deposits.

 

https://theevreport.com/telo-transforms-commercial-fleets-with-ev

 

Two years ago they projected that they would be making deliveries right about now.

 

All I've ever seen is computer renderings.

 

https://chargedevs.com/newswire/telo-to-offer-its-compact-electric-pickup-truck-to-commercial-fleets/

 

Not sure that is the company you want to latch on to, but at least they are testing a real car now.

 

https://electrek.co/2025/03/03/aptera-completes-first-round-real-world-testing-mojave-desert-solar-ev/

 

 

 

 

Calling it now, this company is dead once Ford launches their own compact affordable EV truck. Who's gonna buy from an unknown brand when you can get something pretty similar from one of the most well known brands in the world? Sure Ford's EV truçk will be a bit bigger, but that broadens it's appeal. Smaller than these massice trucks, bigger than something the size of a mini cooper. 

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12 hours ago, kach22i said:

Telo is still taking people's money for deposits.

 

https://theevreport.com/telo-transforms-commercial-fleets-with-ev

 

Two years ago they projected that they would be making deliveries right about now.

 

All I've ever seen is computer renderings.

 

https://chargedevs.com/newswire/telo-to-offer-its-compact-electric-pickup-truck-to-commercial-fleets/

 

Not sure that is the company you want to latch on to, but at least they are testing a real car now.

 

https://electrek.co/2025/03/03/aptera-completes-first-round-real-world-testing-mojave-desert-solar-ev/

 

 

 

 


Áptera seems an interesting vehicle as an engineering exercise, but not really a viable car due to 3-wheel design.  Reminds me of the Dale proposed back in early 1970s by Carmichael, which turned out to be a scam IIRC reading about it.  People were desperate for fuel efficiency due to oil crisis and gas shortages, and some were unrealistic.

 

Aptera’s target of 100 Wh per mile is impressive nonetheless.  That’s 10 miles per kWh, and if they are getting within a couple of percents from that, it’s definitely commendable.  Lucid is at 5 miles/kWh with a much larger and heavier car, so 10 miles/lWh doesn’t seem unreasonable for a light, ultra-aero small 2-seater.

 

Aptera’s extreme design does not seem viable for mass production to me, but a watered down design more in line with GM’s EV1 or Honda’s original Insight could succeed as a 2-seat city car.  Any efficiency over 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) per kWh is probably good enough from cost standpoint, so going to greater extremes than that seems a waste of time and money for now.  Not trying to be critical of Áptera, or diminish their accomplishments, just being realistic.

 

For those who don’t recall or knew of Carmichael’s 3-wheeler.  Hard to believe it was 50 years ago.

 

IMG_6022.thumb.jpeg.835d1bc28c2a16ec24793c03fbbe3a8c.jpeg

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