Every smart feature a vehicle *doesn't *have is a selling point for me. I want my car to be dumb as a boot.

I fucking hate the touchscreen in my vehicle.

After reading the article and the website, I can't find anything that explicitly says there is no network connection built into the vehicle.

The instrument panel is a screen, and will be used to display the backup camera video. There is some computer capable of handling video processing and displaying the instrument graphics - so more than just low-level electronics to handle the battery and drive control. It could have built-in GPS, it could have 5G, it could still be collecting and sharing data on driving habits &etc, it could be subsidized by that on the backend. Just because those functions aren't displayed to the end user doesn't mean they aren't in the system.

Small gas-powered trucks are effectively illegal in the US.

It's regulation made in response to automakers calling everything a "light truck" to get around fuel economy and emissions standards in the 90s and 2000s.The straw that broke the camel's back was the PT Cruiser being classified as a truck by Chrysler.

So, starting in model year 2012, vehicle fuel economy standards started being based on vehicle footprint. The side effect was that small, powerful vehicles designed for moving cargo more efficiently or in tighter spaces than large trucks were impacted. It's why 2011 was the last year model of the old Rangers, S10s, Dakota, etc.

That's why the new Rangers are larger than the old F150s. They have to make them bigger to meet CAFE standards.

Same issue hit the small cargo vans in 2021/22. As the CAFE standards went up, it became impossible to meet fuel economy standards for the NV200, Ford Transit Connect, and Ram ProMaster City compact cargo vans, so they were all discontinued.

New York City was changing its whole Taxi fleet to NV200s due to their flexibility and accessibility options, and now can't buy new ones because a Toyota Camry has less-strict fuel economy requirements.

Don't get too excited about seething capitalists. Bezos is a major investor.

Relatively affordable. It is 20k after the federal discounts and kick backs. Meanwhile, the Chinese EV market has been making cars as low as 4k. https://greenspeedx.com/cheap-electric-cars-available-in-china/

I'm not a pro China person (because one time in Ark, a Chinese team kept destroying my thatch base), but they seem to have the things. Apparently Mexico is aiming to compete in the EV market as well.

framework truck😭

This is 100% it.

All I want is a modular car system. Everything modular. Dashboard. Body panels. Whatever. I want 3+ cars possible on one frame, and to not need anything more than basic tools to swap parts around.

Way over-thinking it.

Europe and Japan 10-15 years ago all had radios with 4x6 inch no-touch displays for pre-loaded GPS with no internet connection. They switch to backup cameras when in reverse.

America doesn't need to invent anything here, this is old technology widely used by large parts of the rest is the world.

Can we get another edit for braking instead of breaking, please? Surely all this fancy new-fangled tech never breaks? 😉

Big bonus for Telo is that they support Right to Repair and are trying to use off-the-shelf parts where possible to enable end-user repairs. Oh and it isn't a unibody so, panels can be replaced if damaged.

Man that fucker is ugly

The front trunk is a safety feature called a crumple zone and is objectively safer to be in a crash with.