The Pickman Is a Tiny $10,000 Electric Pickup That Promises 4,000 Pounds of Towing

[alan auerbach]

It'll also supposedly haul 2,000 pounds in the bed.

Electric pickups are all the rage now, but they're just so expensive—and so big. What I really want is something that I can tool around town in, go to the store, or maybe do some yard work with. You could always get a Kei truck,but the street-legality of those in some states is a bit finicky. That is not the case with Low-Speed Vehicles (LSVs) and, therefore, not the case with the Pickman family of EVs.

The Pickman—available in two-door Classic or four-door Passenger spec—is a $10,000, 75-mile capable EV pickup. It has a four-kilowatt electric motor (about 5.4 horsepower), room for up to four and a bed out back that you can stuff 2,000 pounds worth of goodies into. And by goodies, I mean rocks or something. You can also apparently tow up to 4,000 pounds with the appropriate package. I suppose that's possible with 5.4 horsepower, but I would like to see it done by someone else before I tried it, to say the least.

And before anybody assumes this truck is nothing but a series of renders, companies have imported other versions of the truck to the United States before, just not in the volumes or configurations that the current importer, Kylectric Auto Inc., is planning on. Those previous imports also were not able to drive on public roads like the latest set of imports built by Kaiyun Motors will, as their LSV status was not yet officially approved.


That LSV status allows vehicles like the Pickman to drive on roads with a speed limit lower than 35 miles per hour and on private roads, of course. LSVs have found popularity in places like retirement communities, golf courses, homesteads and other low-speed, short-range commuting or utility applications. I'm not sure I would want to be stuck behind one of these since it has a top speed of just 28 mph, but at just 52 inches wide, they would probably be pretty easy to pass once they got out of your way.

However, the Pickman's top speed isn't its party piece—it's the utility. The bedsides all fold down to provide a flat surface out back for large objects like plywood or pallets, there's ample storage space in the interior and there's a frunk with plenty of room for odds and ends. So it may not be especially fast, but it's definitely more than a runabout toy.

If you're interested in ordering one, you can check out their website for more details. The price was originally slated at around $5,000, but unfortunately, that has doubled to $10,000. Still, we'll take what we can get.
There's even an off-roading version, named the XR, which has the same work capacities but with bolt-on fender flares, all-terrain tires and an additional 50 miles of range courtesy of an auxiliary battery pack. The price for that is $15,000—also not bad.

Kylectric Auto says deliveries of the new Pickmans will kick off in September

Source: thedrive

"Room for up to four"
Four what?