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Comment Re:What's the installed price? (Score 1) 66

Blackout protection is not the main reason to do this. The main reason to do this is arbitrage. And it would take you only seconds to do the maths and realise that arbitrage requires bugger-all extra strain on the battery, a few cycles a year at most. 70 or 80kWh battery vs maybe 4 or 5kWh of draw per day in the summer and as high at 8 or 9 in the winter.

Comment Re:Great feature (Score 1) 66

I agree with this. I've looked quite often at domestic battery setups, and they're really poor value at the moment, at least in the UK. And I've also looked at getting a bidirectional charger that can support V2H if my next car offered it... and again, they're really poor value at the moment, at least in the UK. I really would want to be able to swap out my now decade-old home charger with a new model that offers simple seamless bidirectionality and works with any car offering V2H. But at the moment, this isn't a simple packaged offer for consumers, it's a project, requiring navigating all sorts of regulations, specialists etc. I feel like it ought to be doable for a couple of grand, but last I looked, it was at least 6 or 7k. V frustrating.

Comment Re:Is it another car or actually a truck? (Score 1) 65

Of course it's a POS, it's a Ford. But I'm not mad at the Maverick for having the form factor that it has, I just don't think it's a truck by any reasonable definition any more than a RAV4 or CR-V is a SUV. If it's based on a car platform, it's a car.

Ironically for this whole conversation I think most people who buy full frame pickups would be better off with something else, Most pickups will never tow and most 4WD pickups will never go off-road, at least not under the original owners. But I also think that there's a real market for a full frame EV pickup, and it would sell both to people who should and shouldn't buy it based on how they actually use the vehicle.

Comment Re:Is it another car or actually a truck? (Score 0) 65

Nope. It's just not what I am interested in, and also, there's a whole bunch of old guys who have been asking for a simple electric pickup with this kind of functionality. Older than me, I mean. I've talked to them about it when I worked at the RV shop, it came up surprisingly often. There's a market for an old school sized small EV pickup, but it has to be full frame. Just make the frame wider and put a battery between the rails, FFS. It can have IRS or a live axle, it doesn't matter because a smaller pickup doesn't get so crashy. Put a double wishbone in the front and it will handle fine.

I am not against any kind of car existing, and I think most pickup buyers would be better of with minivans. I just know that the market has been ignoring this not very profitable per unit segment for obvious reasons, but would like to see it explored. I, too, am interested in that type of vehicle. But it's hard to get a car company excited about making a vehicle which is maintainable. Ford fucked up big time in the eighties and came up with a pickup and engine that would last for decades, and they haven't wanted to repeat that mistake. (F-150 with a 300 and a 5 speed, ofc.)

Comment Re:Is it another car or actually a truck? (Score 1) 65

My bro-dozer (1992 F250 7.3 w/ATS 088) is long gone (pinholing from cavitation) and I am just going from a hatchback with a 1.8 L4 (2008 Versa hatch 6MT) to a CUV with a 2.5 L4 — A pre-dented base 2011 RAV4 AWD. I WFH 4 days so the reduced MPG won't really affect me.

But, if I am going to buy a pickup, then I want it to have a frame. And if it's an EV, I want it to have either a non-integral or reasonably rebuildable battery. Cars are great, I love cars, I've owned literally dozens of cars and only one pickup. All the pickups worth owning (Toyota this and that) are big moneys up here. I did consider getting a Ridgeline, because if I'm going to have a cruck I want it to be a Honda and not a Ford, but I couldn't find one in my price range.

Full frame pickups have more life in them. And preferably, not some kind of foofoo frame like the Lightning, either. I don't even need IRS, thanks. Just give me an electric live axle and call it good! And there's a ton of fogeys far older than me who would buy the same thing, they've been– well, not shouting out, but at least quietly asking for a simple, affordable EV pickup which works as a generator. So if this is that, then my hat is off to Ford for delivering exactly the thing people have been asking for. And if it isn't, then my response is meh, another Ford. But I think Korean EVs prove that even an automaker that's kind of crap at making cars can start making pretty good EVs, so even I might be willing to give Ford another try.

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