Trucks for Car People

For car guys and gals who remember rad mini trucks of the 1990s and wholeheartedly regret selling their compact trucks in favor of more refined options, there’s allegedly a brand-new electric mini truck in the works that resembles an old-school Toyota Pickup. Heck yeah!  It’s called the Wolf (single cab), Wolf Plus (extended cab), and Superwolf (four-door), and it comes courtesy of Irvine, California-based startup Alpha Motors. Its nostalgic charm, retro vibes, and modern underpinnings should make this truck-ish delight a popular option for those who want to combine modern technology with warm and fuzzy memories. We sure hope all the special editions and cool collaborations Alpha Motors has teased come to fruition.

Canoo and Telo: Startups Reimagining the Truck

The car guy obsessed with the forward-thinking mindset and innovative designs of startup companies might find the traditional truck market a bit boring and stagnant. Pickup trucks have foundationally played inside the box—although they’ve endured some major upgrades throughout the generations, of course.

That’s all changing. EV startup companies like Canoo (founded in 2017 and headquartered in Justin, Texas) and Telo Trucks (founded in 2022 and headquartered in San Carlos, California) are gearing up to build petite car-like trucklets on smart, dynamic multi-purpose platforms. This clean-sheet approach—essentially reinventing the truck from the ground up—means that future trucks like these won’t be bound to the various constraints faced by traditional truck manufacturers. Cheers to a whole new breed of startups bent on disrupting the automotive industry—in the best ways. 

Hopefully these tiny trucks will come to fruition and help fill the demand for small and efficient vehicles with pickup beds. You can reserve a Telo MT1 for $152 (its overall length of 152 inches is equivalent to a two-door Mini Cooper) or a Canoo Pickup for $100. Don’t worry, both are fully refundable (good luck?) should things go south.

Ford Maverick: Fuel Economy King

Since fuel economy more than likely matters to the truck-ish buyer, it’s hard to ignore the Ford Maverick, Ford’s compact truck that slots below the mid-size Ranger. The Maverick looks like a truck and does truck things, despite its compact unibody crossover underpinnings derived from the Ford Bronco Sport and Escape. These underpinnings mated to a 2.5-liter hybrid powertrain afford it incredibly appealing fuel economy: an EPA-estimated 42 mpg (city) for the front-wheel drive trucklet and 40 mpg (city) for all-wheel drive version. (Yes, for 2025 you can pair the now-standard hybrid powertrain with all-wheel drive, a combo the public has begged for since the Maverick’s inception in 2022.) With no real competition from GM or Ram, the Maverick is only growing in popularity and resale value.  

Honda Ridgeline and Hyundai Santa Cruz: Crossover Comfort

When you want all the benefits of a small truck bed and the smooth, nice-handling ride of a unibody crossover SUV, there’s the Ridgeline and Santa Cruz—proof that compromise isn’t always a bad thing. These two truck-ish trucks look the part but like the Ford Maverick, aren’t based on traditional body-on-frame truck platforms. 

The midsize Honda Ridgeline—an underestimated yet handsome, well-rounded option for those in the truck-ish market—generally shares a platform with the previous-gen three-row Pilot SUV, although the Ridgeline is 10 inches longer. Powered by a 3.5-liter V-6 engine that makes 280 hp and 262 lb-ft of torque, the all-wheel-drive Ridgeline gets okay fuel economy (18/24 mpg city/highway) and can tow/haul about 5,000/1,500 pounds respectively. This truck-ish Honda is known for its In-Bed Trunk hidden underfloor bed storage and Dual-Action Tailgate that folds down and swings like a door. A TrailSport off-road-oriented trim joins the pack for 2024, and a next-gen Ridgeline could be on the way very soon.

Hyundai acknowledges that the Santa Cruz, introduced in 2022, is a Sport Adventure Vehicle, which is the fancy way of saying it’s part pickup truck and part SUV. Visually, it lacks any distinction between cab and bed, looking more like a small crossover SUV with a portion scooped out of the rear to create an open bed. This four-door truck-ish unibody crossover with a four-foot bed shares its platform with the Hyundai Tucson compact SUV, making its behind-the-wheel mannerisms more car-like than truck-like. There are two engine options: a 2.5-liter four-cylinder making 191 hp and 181 lb-ft of torque and a turbocharged 2.5-liter four-cylinder with 281 hp and 311 lb-ft. Like the Ridgeline, it can tow up to 5,000 pounds.   

Rivian R1T: Performance You Can’t Deny

Once a rarity, Rivian R1T trucks are now commonplace on city streets, freeways, and off-grid. While marketers for these peppy EV trucks have targeted the adventure crowd, they’d be prudent to focus on the performance-oriented car guy. Rivian thinks its 1,025 hp, 1,198 lb-ft of torque second-gen quad-motor R1T can clock a 0-60 mph time of about 2.5 seconds, which is absolutely insane for an off-the-shelf truck. According to Motor Trend, that time would smoke a Ford Mustang Dark Horse (3.7 seconds), Mercedes-AMG GT63 (3.1 seconds), and McLaren 750S Coupe (2.7 seconds), a $475,000 supercar. Rivian claims a top speed of 130 mph, which is also pretty bonkers.

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