Tag: Electric Pickup

Wang Chao is an optimist. The founder of Kaiyun Motors hopes to transition owners of Ford F-150 pickups over to a Kaiyun Pickman. The Pickman is now NHTSA-approved for sale in USA and equivalently approved in Europe, where it is being sold in Germany and Italy.

While reports on the vehicle in January 2019, stated that it would cost $5 000 in USA and €5 000 in Europe, the American price had escalated to $9 000 by the middle of February, for a street-legal version; about $6 000 for a farm version.

While there must be caveats about the lack of safety features, the Pickman is undoubtedly an appropriate farm vehicle in rural environments, and a suitable vehicle for urban tradespeople. It is inappropriate for a daily commute involving any form of highway driving.

The Pickman is an example of a Low Speed Electric Vehicle, ususally referred to as a Neighborhood Electric Vehicle (USA) or Quadricycle (Europe). These are defined by limitations in terms of mass (weight), power and speed. All quadricycles must have a top speed of 45 km/h or less. In USA the limit is usually 25 mph or 40 km/h. In Europe, there are two categories: light quadricycles (L6e) and heavy quadricycles (L7e). A L6e EV must have a curb weight of 425 kg or less, and an electric motor producing 4 kW or less. A L7e EV must have a curb weight of 450 kg or less (passenger vehicles) or 600 kg or less (goods vehicles), The load capacity must be 200 kg or less (passenger vehicle) or 1000 kg or less (goods vehicle), with a maximum net engine power of 15 kW or less. .

The Pickman is powered by a 4 kW permanent magnet based electric motor with an asynchronization intelligent controller, mated to a 72V lead-acid battery pack providing 100 Ah or 7.2 kWh (26 MJ) of energy. Top speed is 45 km/h and range is 120 kilometers. There is some discussion about the load capacity. Some figures, in the table below are taken from a Chinese version, which appears to have a load capacity of 300 kg. The accuracy of the figures below is not guaranteed!

Note: Curb weight is the total weight of a vehicle with standard equipment, all necessary operating consumables such as motor oil, transmission oil, coolant, air conditioning refrigerant, and a full tank of fuel, while not loaded with either passengers or cargo. Note: In Europe, the mass of the batteries is excluded when determining vehicle curb weight.

In a recent market survey undertaken by members of my immediate family, I discovered that not all aesthetic values are genetically inherited. Rather than being sad, this insight has given me the opportunity to explore new vistas. If people are not interested in revisiting sardine roles, sitting in a mini-van for days or weeks at a time, meditating on the spruce trees of Northern Sweden, I too can abandon the mini-van, and opt for something that reflects my new essence – the workshop activist.

So it is going to be, Au revoir, Berlingo! Hi, Bison! (or if I follow up what I wrote a few weeks ago, Hallo, StreetScooter Work!)

I have had relationships with pickups before. The very first vehicle I drove, in the very early 1960s, aged about twelve, was a Chevrolet Pickup belonging to Harry Raymer, in some fields in Okanagan Mission, near Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada. Later, in the early 1970s, I drove Ernie Jickles – whose eyesight was failing and was not allowed to drive – around in his wife’s Ford Courier pickup, so we could  photograph. The Courier was a rebadged Mazda B-1800. In the late 1980s, in Inderøy, I drove a Nissan pickup working on a lafted house project out in Malm.

Forget the past. Today’s story is set in the future, about the Bison, a Dutch-Canadian electric pickup. The primary characteristic it attempts to portray is rugged durability. That’s almost how I describe myself, as do about 90% of the adult male population.

I’m not sure if it is a corporate, or a product motto, but LEADING THE CHARGE™ has both electrical, and military connotations. It also describes itself in terms of three other characteristics: power, precision, strength.

Characteristics of the Bison pickup, I think I understand:
1300 liters of exterior cargo space and 510 liters of lockable storage. Safest truck with carbon fibre reinforced steel space frame. Full electric AWD built for severe weather conditions. High-current power socket for all your tools. Advanced vehicle intelligence and connectivity. Zero emission driving and zero pollution. Dual-motor electric powertrain. Advanced telemetry.

Characteristics, I know nothing about:
Rugged off-road capabilities with 54% hill start and 21% hill climb. I guess this is important, because I live on a hill, but have no idea what it means beyond being able to start off on a hill. Yes, I am too lazy to google it.

Somewhere in between: Class-leading torsional stiffness for enhanced durability and handling. I know what stiffness is, but I thought one invested in a suspension system in trucks to softened up that stiffness.

I would like a person, or even a designer, to read the following paragraph, and tell me that it actually means something that I can use to impress friends: “The Bison speaks a bold design language, punctuated with angular cladding and wedge profiles. An evolutionary leap forward from traditional pickups, the Bison delivers a more modern and provocative approach. With short overhangs and tires pushed to the corners, the stance conveys stability and confidence allowing for aggressive approach and departure angles.”

Included for your visual enjoyment are photographs from the Bison website: http://www.havelaarcanada.com/bison/