When you think of a solar-powered vehicle, or even electric vehicles in general, you probably don't imagine a pickup truck.
But one startup called EdisonFuture is hoping to change that. It's doing so with an innovative new line of electric pickup trucks and electric delivery vans.
The California-based company was founded in 2020 and aims to begin delivering its cars to customers by 2025. Currently, it's accepting reservations on its website for a fee.
The most notable feature of the EF1-T Electric Solar Pickup Truck is its retractable solar roof, which the company refers to as its "armadillo armor" due to its resemblance to an armadillo shell. In addition to capturing solar energy to power the car, the company says the shell can "be locked into place to protect the bed's contents."
Other futuristic features include a motorized, motion-activated side step for easy entry and exit, a liftgate backup camera, cameras instead of wing mirrors, a 17.5-inch infotainment touchscreen, roof-mounted LED lights, interior mirror camera screens, an interior solar mosaic that supplements the "armadillo" roof mosaic, a door-mounted toolbox, and ambient lighting throughout the interior.
The truck still has a ways to go before it's actually brought into existence, but if everything goes smoothly, pickup truck enthusiasts will have another solid, environmentally-friendly alternative to typical trucks, which use large amounts of dirty energy.
Current electric pickup trucks on the market include the Ford F-150 Lightning and the Rivian R1T, both of which have recently beaten out traditional gas-powered trucks to win MotorTrend's Truck of the Year award.
In addition, Tesla is still developing its electric "Cybertruck," which is also currently in development and reportedly has 1.5 million pre-orders.
A recent study analyzed consumer data and found that the vast majority of people who purchased an electric vehicle were very happy with their choice, with the percentage of electric vehicle-owning households that bought a second electric vehicle jumping to 65.3% over the past year.
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