A 500 hp truck that can haul 5 people and a 4-by-8 sheet of plywood in a footprint the size of a Mini? The Telo MT1 can do that.
Even if you’re a fan of today’s latest and greatest, there’s no getting around the fact that modern trucks are just freaking huge. Even your “midsize” truck these days almost invariably comes as a crew cab with brawny, aggressive styling to make it seem big, bold…and worth the sort of money you have to shell out for it. That’s to say nothing of the even larger and more expensive truck likely sitting next to it in the parking lot. That’s where companies like California-based Telo Trucks comes in, with ambitious plans to build — with millions in financial backing — a true mini-truck that’s modular in design, electric and remarkably capable for its diminutive size. In the video below, Nathan had the opportunity to check out and even drive the preproduction prototype before the company’s latest update Thursday.
At 152 inches in length, the Telo Trucks MT1 is right around the same exterior size as a Mini Cooper…and we’re talking about the hatchback, not the larger Countryman SUV. It further measures out to 73 inches wide and 66 inches tall. So, as you’d expect, the other dimensions outpace the Mini, but even still, a modestly-sized individual can still stand head-and-shoulders over the cab, and you can hardly say that about even a stock Toyota Tacoma, let alone a full-size truck.
Another major point of Telo Trucks’ magnum opus: It’s electric. And for those of you out there who didn’t click out immediately upon reading that, here’s how that development shakes out. The MT1 packs a 500-horsepower (at least in its dual-motor configuration), with a 106-kWh battery pack promising 350 miles of range, per the company’s figures. When the time to recharge does come, Telo claims you can replenish the pack from 20-80% in about 30 minutes. A single-motor version with 300 horsepower and a smaller battery will also be available, with 260 estimated miles on tap.
What about more of the truckish stuff, though? Telo specificially mentions Toyota Tacoma-like capability, and to that end promises a 1,700-pound payload capacity. The company also incorporated a Rivian-esque gear tunnel into the design, while you can also get a camper shell integrated with a solar panel and a solar tonneau cover and cab roof that further extend the MT1’s range capability. Telo says that each bit of the truck you festoon with solar panels increases the range by 12-15 miles per day, but we’ll have to test the production version to verify that figure when the time comes.
So, how much will the MT1 cost and when will it arrive?
From the exterior to the interior, the Telo Trucks MT1 is a markedly different take on what a modern “truck” represents. That doesn’t just refer to its size, but also the design. Take a look inside, and the components (the gauge cluster particularly) have more of a utilitarian look and feel, though the panel is all digital.
Now, apart from the headline figures and eye-catching look, there’s a matter of how much the MT1 — an electric truck, remember — will actually cost. At the moment, Telo is trying to court prospective buyers with a $152 reservation fee, a nod to the vehicle’s overall length. Beyond that, the base price for this tiny truck is $41,520 for the single-motor configuration, per the live configurator page. That’s for the two-wheel drive, single-motor model. The dual-motor will set you back $46,019, with the long-range battery bringing that price right up to $49,999. Add in the solar cab roof and camper shell…well, you get the picture.
Telo Trucks, as it presently exists, brings in folks with industry experience including Tesla alumnus Forrest North as one of the company’s founders and CTO. Jason Marks, the CEO, formerly led autonomous system developments at National Instruments, while CCO Yves Béhar is an industrial designer who founded Fuseproject, a multidisciplinary studio, in 1999. Aria Group, a full-range design, engineering and manufacturing firm, is Telo’s partner to actually build the first MT1 trucks.
The company says it presently has more than 5,000 reservations for the MT1, but getting to the actual launch point requires significant financial investment. It did recently bring in $5.4 million in its latest funding round, which may help get the truck it first revealed in 2023 over the finish line. Thursday’s event closely precedes the planned production launch, so we may see actual trucks in customers’ hands as we make our way through 2025.
Nathan goes into a huge amount of detail on the Telo MT1 below:
