Instead of manly and beefy truck, Telo EV Pickup Truck has chosen to have more of a neutral stance, it still features sporty elements but cuter style. This compact truck has the seating and storage of a Toyota Tacoma, yet the body is squeezed into the footprint of a Mini Cooper.
Founded by Jason Marks and Forrest North, Telo challenges the status quo of the automotive industry. Marks specializes in vehicle safety while North is a battery expert who helped develop Tesla’s first battery pack. These two have tasked Yves Béhar and Fuseproject (Béhar’s design firm) to design Telo, a modern pickup truck for urban environment.
The main vision of Telo is to design a compact pickup truck, parkable in a city yet it’s ready for your weekend adventures. One thing to notice, Telo Pickup Truck doesn’t have front engine, all critical components are hidden inside a big skateboard a.k.a the bottom of the vehicle, it’s all-in-one chassis, battery, and motor system atop of which the cabin is built.
With conventional trucks or SUVs account for vast majority of pedestrian fatalities, researchers believe that this is due to difficulty in seeing pedestrians when you are high up in a truck, especially when turning. On the other hand, flatter-front truck shouldn’t sacrifice driver’s safety who get in a head-on collision. Telo is designed with 18 inches of mechanical crumple zones that redistribute forces under the driver, but it still should pass crash testing.
Yves Béhar is responsible for the truck’s form factor, he says that the whole story is to build a sort of European pickup truck. It features friendly yet sporty design, at the three quarter view, Telo truck actually gives VW bus vibes. The battery pack designed by North provides you with roughly 350 miles of range per charge, it is made from conventional cylindrical cells due to its space-efficient design, roughly still half the thickness of a Tesla battery pack. For the interior, Béhar takes unique approach on Telo’s truck bed that makes it standout. Even though Telo has the footprint of a car yet the bed can expand to a full 60”x60”. The trick comes to the midgate that separates the cabin and bed can fold down along with the rear seats. It is possible to carry your bikes or surfboards.
