When Tesla first unveiled the much-awaited Cybertruck electrical pickup truck, it appeared nothing like a pickup truck. It nonetheless doesn’t appear to be a pickup truck and that’s okay. Now that design conventions have been thrown out the window, the door is open for different new pickup truck options to serve {the marketplace} of utility automobiles. Exhibit A is the brand new Puzzle electrical automobile from the Japanese agency HW Electro. It’s a van, not a pickup, however that’s okay.
The Puzzle: An Electrical Pickup Truck Disguised As A Van
CleanTechnica obtained a sneak peek on the Puzzle in New York Metropolis on November 17, when HW Electro unveiled a pattern for the automotive media.
We’re bringing pickup vans into the dialog as a result of that was the vibe on the media occasion. The HW Electro crew emphasised that most of the people is entrance and middle in its selection of design parts for the Puzzle, with a concentrate on emergency help.
That harkens again to the olden days, when folks driving pickup vans had been all however sure to have instruments within the again and first help kits and different useful tools in an emergency, together with some helpful expertise working with their arms.
Right here within the US, pickups have grow to be fashionable with all types of drivers, who’re simply as prone to have a bag of takeout and never a lot else with them. However, pickup vans nonetheless convey an aura of helpfulness, and that’s what the HW crew is aiming for.
The Puzzle options an exterior USB and AC outlet panel, powered by rooftop photo voltaic panels. Members of the general public can entry the panel to recharge their units and connect with Wi-Fi, with out having to climb into the cab.
A primary help equipment can be positioned within the exterior panel, enabling folks to assist themselves in case the motive force is out of fee or absent.
When you can consider one other automobile that permits public entry like that, drop us a word within the remark thread.
Extra Individuals-Pleasant Items Of The Puzzle
With the Japanese market in thoughts, the automobile additionally comes outfitted with a full sized crowbar, thought of to be a vital instrument for digging folks out of particles in case of earthquakes and different disasters till heavy tools arrives.
The Puzzle’s extensive, tall windshield gives a way of safety and familiarity, as folks on the road have a transparent view of the individual driving round their neighborhood. Likewise, the motive force has a transparent view of individuals on the road.
HW Electro additionally has a health-monitoring bracelet within the works. If the motive force is in misery, the Puzzle goes into motion. It slows down, pulls to the curb, stops, and requires emergency assist. It additionally calls a private contact designated by the motive force.
That appears like one more privateness compromise in our fashionable world, however it does present an additional layer of well being and security reassurance for the general public and the motive force, too. Like an additional security belt, it could by no means be wanted, however it’s there.
HW Electro additionally focuses consideration on driver consolation. The Puzzle encompasses a simplified, easy-to-read management panel on the motive force’s aspect and a pegboard panel on the passenger aspect. The motive force can plug equipment into the pegboard on an as-needed foundation reasonably than coping with pointless litter on a regular basis.
The motive force also can fold down the passenger seat for additional cargo house or use it as a piece desk.
Who Wants An Electrical Pickup Truck, Anyhow?
In comparison with vans, pickup vans typically have the benefit of straightforward cargo entry. They will pull heavy hundreds, bump up and down filth roads, and velocity alongside the Interstate at 70 mph or extra. For a lot of jobs, the additional open-air cargo house is crucial.
For city supply work and different providers, although, none of those options are notably crucial. An electrical van may pull the identical duties as an electrical pickup truck, whereas additionally providing the safety of extra totally enclosed cargo house. The Puzzle maximizes the out there house with its squared-off silhouette and its open-plan inside.
The “puzzle” within the automobile’s title refers to HW Electro’s cost-efficient, slot-based strategy to automobile development. Although the corporate just isn’t releasing an MSRP but, the eye to affordability is geared toward fleet homeowners in addition to people in want of a lightweight industrial automobile.
Don’t get too excited simply but. The November 16 occasion was only a teaser. HW Electro expects to start supply to the US in 2025.
The Coolness Issue & The Rise Of The Kei Automotive
Talking of the Cybertruck, the coolness issue has been onerous at work within the design of Tesla’s contribution to the electrical pickup truck market. Nonetheless, Cybertruck just isn’t the one cool child on the town. The Puzzle falls below Japan’s Kei specs for the smallest automobiles permitted on highways, and Kei automobiles have already attracted fairly a fan base right here within the US.
Particularly, CarScoops experiences that rural drivers admire the compact dimension and affordability of Kei automobiles, as they will maneuver their Kei pickup vans into smaller barns and different areas the place customary pickups don’t match.
As one other signal of the rising curiosity in Kei automobiles within the US, on-line speak of gas-to-electric Kei truck conversions have been cropping up.
City drivers have additionally been primed for Kei adoption with the more and more reputation of — and electrification of — subcompact automobiles just like the Mini, the Fiat 500, and the Sensible for Two.
“Used KEI-class automobiles have even grow to be stylish to import to the USA,” MotorBiscuit reported final month, as one other indication of a crossover to city markets.
The Electrical Pickup Truck Of The Future Is Right here
As of this writing, Cybertruck is lastly scheduled for industrial supply on November 30, so keep tuned for extra on that. In the meantime, different US automobile makers have already hit the electrical pickup truck street with zero emission variations of fashionable gasmobiles, notably the Ford F-150 Lightning EV.
In an fascinating twist, electrical pickup truck makers are additionally returning to the “social automobile” mannequin promoted by HW Electro, together with the usage of solar energy to function a zero emission supply of electrical energy in emergencies.
One key ingredient missing in full-sized vans although, is a extra holistic strategy to sustainability. Electrical or not, large automobiles have an enormous lifecycle impression. EV battery battery manufacturing and recycling are a part of the image, however dimension alone additionally contributes to produce chain and after-life impacts together with microplastic air pollution by way of put on and tear on the tires.
If supersizing is important for a piece automobile to do its job, that’s a distinct story. Nonetheless, the Puzzle and different subcompact automobiles supply an aesthetic that’s extra tuned into the issues of at present’s drivers, fleet homeowners, shoppers, and purchasers.
Comply with me @tinamcasey on Bluesky, Threads, Publish, and LinkedIn.
Photograph: Unique picture of Puzzle gentle obligation industrial EV by Tina Casey.
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