Dive Brief:
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Telo Trucks announced on June 15 that it had recently signed a production agreement with Michigan-based contract manufacturer and supplier Schwab Industries related to its tiny Telo MT1 electric truck. Schwab will build all of the MT1’s body in white — the welded stamped steel inner structure that the battery, panels, and front and rear subframes attach to.
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Two days later it provided an update on the battery pack and charging capabilities of the truck. A split-pack configuration will allow a high rate of charging even on legacy 400-volt infrastructure like most Tesla Superchargers, while the startup assured up to 400 kW on 800-volt chargers.
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“This is all part of trying to get as much capability into as small a footprint as possible, and also trying to optimize for the infrastructure that exists today,” summed Telo co-founder and CTO Forrest North.
Dive Insight:
Telo isn’t the only company aiming to reboot compact trucks in electric form, but it’s the most radical-looking one. With the upcoming Slate truck and the yet-unnamed affordable Ford electric pickup, the Telo MT1 from California startup Telo Trucks is part of a new cohort seeking to simplify and scale down — although Telo avoids Slate’s back-to-basics approach.
The distinctive MT1, which was first shown as a design concept in 2023 and has since advanced to the prototype stage, essentially does away with the long hood of other modern pickups, and instead follows a “cab-over” design that hasn’t been popular since in 1960s-era pickups and vans.
The result is an overall length of 152 inches — about the same as a two-door Mini Cooper — which should bring tremendous advantages in maneuverability and urban parking. However, the Telo has a 60-inch pickup bed good for 4x8 sheets of plywood, plus room for five adults including as much legroom as full-size crew cab pickups like the Ford F-150. And an underbed storage compartment called the Monster Tunnel counters Rivian’s Gear Tunnel.
“One of the reasons it’s taken so long is because we wanted to be 100% sure that our vehicle is meeting our expectations for crash safety,” said CEO Jason Marks in the manufacturing announcement. Marks explained that side impact, roof crush, front end and more now meet its expectations for the vehicle.
“This is the bones of the vehicle, the most important part of the vehicle that defines everything else,” said Marks in the video.
Telo has opted for contract manufacturing in an initial low-volume phase, to keep its costs very low. Thus far it’s raised about $30 million, including a $20 million Series A funding round announced last September. Some of its funding has come from Tesla co-founder Marc Tarpenning.
On the charging front, the MT1’s split-pack configuration for its battery pack allows it to function either as two 400-volt packs in parallel or as a single 800-volt pack in series. Telo has also said that it wants to deliver the world’s most efficient electric truck.
Telo will need all the advantages it can claim, as it’s set to face several rivals at potentially lower prices. Last week, Slate revealed that the starting price of its pickup is $24,950. Ford has said that it will deliver its $30,000 electric truck in 2027. Telo has pegged its starting price at $41,520, but its interior looks more upscale, with modern infotainment.
The company still targets first deliveries of its MT1 by the end of 2026 — a target that could prove essential for keeping up with that compact-truck cohort. Marks promised more engineering updates, as well as an update on Telo’s timeline to market, soon.
