At this point, it’s no secret that the future of electric vehicles doesn’t lie with more six-figure luxury sedans. What matters now will be battery-powered options with reasonable price tags for more unique use cases. A few interesting startups are beginning to make the most of this moment. 

California-based Telo Trucks is one of the more notable examples of this trend. Its MT1 truck aims to be the antidote to the huge, expensive choices that have pervaded that space so far. It’s planned to be about as big as a Mini Cooper, all for about $42,000 before any incentives. As Motor Trend reported recently, the company’s financial backers and advisors include Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning, the original founders of Tesla, Nissan and Aston Martin veteran executive Andy Palmer, and others. 

Now, just about anyone can come up with a cool design and a slick website these days. But the Telo Trucks MT1 just hit an important milestone as its first fully drivable pre-production prototype hits the road for testing, the automaker announced this week. 

“Telo Trucks is defining a new category of pickup trucks that meets a significant market need for sustainability, size and functionality across both consumer and fleet audiences,” the company said in a statement. “These capabilities in the size of a mini truck are only possible as an electric vehicle.”

If Telo can deliver on its stated specs, it will indeed be an impressive offering in this space. Besides the novel design that includes several different configurations, a mid-gate and a Rivian-style “gear tunnel,” the MT1 will supposedly boast 77 or 106 kWh battery options, up to 250 kW DC fast charging, a zero to 60 mph time of four seconds flat and up to 350 miles (560 km) of range. Telo is aiming for a payload capacity of up to 2,000 lbs (907 kg) and a tow rating of 6,600 lbs (3,000 kg), making it ideal for smaller urban gear-hauling rather than outright replacing someone’s Ford Super Duty truck.

But the company is right that EVs make this idea possible when internal combustion likely could not. The MT1’s packaging is a compact, squarish affair with the wheels nearly at each corner and a premium on interior space—as much as a Toyota Tacoma in that Mini-sized body, the company says. The company also puts a premium on sustainable materials like biodegradable cork. 

“We designed the future of utility transportation by maximizing every inch to provide comfort without compromising performance or capability,” designer Yves Béhar said in a statement. “Telo brings more features, space, and practicality than any other vehicle on the road today.”

Telo electric truck mini electric

For now, Telo Trucks is getting pre-production build help from bespoke EV and restomod company Aria Group, and its list of employees remains very small. It’s also using a proprietary battery pack designed to save more space than most EVs seen thus far. The company says that from here, it aims to continue safety and durability testing with the MT1 before limited production begins this year.

Can Telo Trucks pull this off? That’s always the question with any automotive startup; after all, the industry has a graveyard full of them, and the current economy isn’t exactly friendly to new and capital-intensive startups. But American buyers in particular want more affordable options of all types, and if the MT1 can deliver on those promised specs, it may find an audience that’s not being served by more established players. 

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