Phoenix Motorcars Electric Sport Utility Truck

I agree, it's a good concept vehicle and is a great way to tell Detroit "if you won't do it, then we will".

What I don't get is the presence of the word "practical" and the price of $45,000 in the same sentence. So either the truck is practical, or is it $45,000, for it can't be both.

A price premium of between 100 and 200 percent is the only thing impractical about any EV in production right now.

I'm as great or greater a proponent of EVs than anyonw. But when you call this $45,000 truck "practical" you signal to the average consumer that this is what you can expect EVs to cost. It suggests that we don't think we have any more work to do before we expect people to start buying these things, and that's not only wrong, it is not helpful to the "cause", so to speak.

Yeah, these folks have come up with an innovative and intriguing electric pick-up truck. And I'd bet money that some day it will be practical as well. But at $45,000, it is absolutely not practical (unless it can fly, or is amphibious, or has some other capabilities you won't find in a $15,000 truck).

While 45,000 for a pick-up is out of my range, others who are capable AND who want to make a statement or to endorse the technology can buy this truck. I agree that this could be the beginning (along with my favorite concept car, the Volt) of a trend for the future.

I don't understand why Toyota has not come out with a mid size hybrid truck (Tacoma). I don't need a truck for huge hauling, just every other Saturday household projects. 16/20 mpg sheeezzz.

It's nice to see larger vehicles in the green trend. I just hope they're also safe to work on with all that power..

Well even so, with all everyone has mentioned. Cutting back on the range, reducing the price. Federal rebates as well as not having to buy gasoline. You would think they would go further in their design, to make it even more practical, economical, etc, making it more appealing to the consumer. For me, whether it's a $45,000 truck or a $20,000 truck, I am going to have to make payments =P SO in reality, I'd want a truck with more energy capacity (range, and power... I saw power because I'm sure hauling whatever its max payload is, puts a considerable amount of drain on the energy supply) Anyways, I don't understand why they wouldn't market them to include a double set of batteries, that can charge at home, or at company, and all you is needed is to do a quick swap (maybe the makers think the batteries are too expensive, and delicate, and think it is best for users not to mess with them, idk) and one more thing, It would make sense, that if you are going to market a vehicle that uses electricity, the FIRST thought that most people will have is, No gas! Unless that person is so crooked, that they start thinking about the flaws of the machines. Anyways, if you are going to market something that appeals as a savior of having to buy gasoline, go a step further and think... well now this is just going to increase their electric bill. So why not offer solar panels, or small windturbines that homeowners or fleet owners can put to use and not have their electric bill spike enormously.(sp?) I'm almost positive that the solar panels and wind turbines would not satisfy all the KW needs of the charging system, but it sure would make a difference. My only thought to that, is that they want to get these electric cars out with ease. Possibly if they were to market it with these solar panels, and wind turbines, and made it more appealing by adding an extra battery set to swap out, they may aggitate large corporations that depend upon gas/foreign oil.... and many other conspiring things.

I want one. I am a pickup truck guy with econo fuel wants. I would love to be on the customer list to purchas this truck. Please contact me ! ! ! !

I would love to own one of these. It is too bad that they are only available for fleet owners and not for sale in Canada. My average truck costs approximately $120.00+ to fill up both tanks. Here in British Columbia it will up to $1.40-$1.50 a litre by the summer time. For those that are interested there are 3.78 litres per 1 imperial gallon. It will end up being $5.29-$5.67 per galllon. I have two gas tanks that have a combined total of 105 litres, it will cost me $147.00-$157.50 to fill the tank. Which last about five days of driving. My average fuel cost will be $882.00-$945.00 a month by this summer. The cost would never reach that with electricity. Not only that I can set up it up with my hydro company to pay a fixed rate per month. The cost would be even cheaper if it were possible to recharge the batteries with solar panels or wind turbines. I really like Addison's comment of having extra batteries so that a person would not be hampered by the milage limitation. The only negative that I might have is that when load up my truck it is never under 1,500 pounds. The box on the truck also looked only six feet long. It will rule out a large portion of working people that need an eight foot box. Mind you I could be wrong about the length of the box. The photo doesn't do the truck justice. As for the cost of the truck, here in Canada trucks cost between $25,000.00-75,000.00. $45,000.00 is not bad.

hi iam from ont. canada and would love to know about your ELECTRIC HAFTTON I THINK ITS THE BEST THING I HAVE READ IN A LONG TIME hope to hear from you soon andy

put a 4 cyl gas engine in it. just in case you're somewhere without a place to plug it in.

I'm on the list for this vehicle. It will not replace my F-350 or my wife's Tahoe completely. But for all the local driving @ 0.08 cents per KWH that we pay for electricity, this vehicle would cost just under one penney per mile to opperate. (According to their website the car goes 3.78 miles per KWH.) If I only drove this vehicle & not the other two, I would save over 8 thousand dollars in fuel costs PER YEAR!

My only hope is that their technology is good & this isn't full of wishfull thinking.

We'll see..........

The Phoenix battery is made by Altair Nanotechnology. Here is an except from Forbes magazine. You can read the entire article at

http://www.forbes.com/2008/01/12/electric-cars-nanotech-tech-sciences-cz...

Although CEO Gotcher is quoted in the article, but he is no longer with Altair.

Then there's the challenge of where to get the big dose of power to recharge the batteries.

Phoenix recharges its electric truck battery in 10 minutes with a 440-volt charger--four times the amount of energy in a home wall socket. Scaling that operation, however, would be a challenge: Existing electric grids couldn't easily handle the power drain of rapidly recharging millions of such electric batteries.

So in early January Altair also built its first pair of industrial 1-megawatt batteries--each about the size of a freight car--designed to store excess electricity produced at night. The Virginia power utility AES (nyse: AES - news - people ) plans to use the mega-batteries to warehouse power for use during peak consumption times.

Such batteries could help Altair offer 10-minute recharges to the masses. Futuristic filling stations might feature massive batteries below ground, replacing the gasoline storage tanks of today.

Without such infrastructure, going green will certainly take more time. “Five-hour charges would be the fastest possible for residential drivers,” admits Bryon Bliss of Phoenix Motorcars.