California startup Telo Trucks has taken its prototype MT1 onto public roads in San Carlos, offering an early glimpse at an electric pickup that rejects the bloated scale of modern American work rigs.
It matches the bumper-to-bumper footprint of a two-door Mini Cooper.
That compact layout relies on a cab-over profile echoing Japanese kei trucks, placing the front seats practically above the front axle. Despite that stubby nose, the four-door cabin seats passengers comfortably, while the rear accommodates an eight-foot cargo bed measuring 96 inches. Telo claims the pint-sized vehicle can tow 8,000 pounds.
On the Road
During an initial test drive in California, The Verge reported that the MT1 felt planted from the passenger seat, crediting the underfloor battery for anchoring the center of gravity. At the controls, the outlet observed a stiff and somewhat springy ride over uneven pavement without cargo weighting down the rear axle, accompanied by the swift acceleration typical of electric drivetrains.
Marks had the tester come to a complete stop outside Telo's headquarters on the same stretch of pavement where Tesla once conducted early Roadster customer drives. Production models are expected to sprint from zero to 60 mph in roughly four seconds, according to company estimates.
Split Voltage and In-House Cells
Underneath the floor, Telo builds its own battery modules. The company individually fuses every cell to keep an isolated defect from cascading across the entire pack, using passive thermal management to protect longevity.
Buyers will have a choice between a base 77kWh pack and an optional 106kWh version that Telo estimates will deliver up to 350 miles of driving range. The MT1 also employs a split 400V and 800V electrical architecture. The 400V circuit makes the vehicle compatible with Tesla V3 Superchargers, while the 800V side takes full advantage of high-output public stations rolling out across metropolitan areas.
Born From a Canceled Bike
Marks founded Telo in 2022 alongside former Tesla battery engineer Forrest North and industrial designer Yves Behar of fuseproject. Marks had spent years working on vehicle safety validation at National Instruments, while North previously created electric motorcycle brand Mission Motors and co-founded EV charging app maker Recargo.
Both founders owned large pickups in the San Francisco Bay Area and found them ill-suited for dense city neighborhoods. Their original venture, however, was an electric motorcycle. After pitching VC investors and polling about 200 pedestrians on the street, the pair discovered that roughly 90 percent preferred a small truck. They scrapped the nearly finished motorcycle the following week.
North told The Verge that oversized trucks have "jumped the shark," citing pedestrian risks from towering vehicle grilles. Telo has not yet confirmed retail pricing or specific production delivery dates for the MT1 as engineering continues with its 30-person crew.
RRFiled by The Reviews Roundup Desk
What the reviews are saying: verdicts on new devices from the outlets that tested them, summarised and credited to each. This desk does not test products itself.
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