this post was submitted on 24 Jun 2026
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Bezos was one investor, not the owner
source
Bezos was seed money AND part of the owner conglomerate that raised all the capital the company started with in 2024. That is enough for me to avoid this like the plague as it will, certain as the sun is hot, be enshitified to the core
If you do not believe me, here is an article explaining how this is all a big Amazon initiative
https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/08/inside-the-ev-startup-secretly-backed-by-jeff-bezos/
I would truly not be surprised that this would be an attempt to take over there ev truck market, but manufacturers should have been paying attention. There's a huge market for small ass trucks, no one is catering to it
While I'm sure they'll try to enshittify, the downside to that plan is that they need to make sure no one takes their place and they need to have something people want that they can enshittify. The benefit of simplicity is that it makes it simpler for another manufacturer to pick up the slack.
That's incorrect. The Ford Maverick and Hyundai Santa Cruz exist and are very popular.
Toyota is about to release one to compete with the Maverick, and Dodge has a small and a mid sized truck in the works.
Those are midsized. I would say Hyundai is the only one with the Santa Cruz, and that's not really a truck.
Edit: I stand corrected, I had assumed the maverick was rwd/awd, not fwd/awd. I'm going to amend my statement and say the maverick is also not really a truck. I consider having the drive wheels under the payload to be an important aspect of a truck. Not that it really matters in the grand scheme of things.
The Santa Cruz is exactly as much as a truck as the Ford Maverick is (which is to say, they're both unibody vehicles).
The Santa Cruz is absolutely a truck. It even has a 3500lb towing capacity. Plus it's only 4in shorter than the Maverick.
Neither are small.
I'm guessing you've never seen them next to a regular pickup. They're 20-40in shorter in length than a Ram 1500 (depending on cab configuration).
My Santa Cruz is shorter than their engine compartment. When I park between two regular trucks mine looks like a hotwheels truck.
Shit, it's even smaller than a Toyota Helix.
And they are still inefficient monsters compared to what a real small truck should be:
Ford Maverick (2022+):
Length: Approx. 199.7 inches (5.07 meters) almost 1.7 meters larger, 6 feet or so
Width: Approx. 72.6 inches (1.84 meters)
Height: Approx. 68.7 inches (1.75 meters)
Bed Length: 4.5 feet (approx. 54 inches / 1.37 meters) 45% LESS cargo space than a kei truck
Typical Kei Truck (e.g., Suzuki Carry):
Length: Max legal limit is 3.4 meters (133.9 inches / 11.15 feet).
Width: Max legal limit is 1.48 meters (58.3 inches). Often around 1.4 meters.
Height: Varies, but typically around 1.9–2.0 meters (75–79 inches) including the cab/bed height, though the cargo bed side walls are very low (often ~1 meter total height from ground).
Bed Length: Typically around 2.0 meters (78 inches / 6.5 feet), which is actually longer than the Maverick's bed in some configurations relative to the vehicle length, though the total footprint is much smaller.
You gotta add a normal US truck to your stats.
The Santa Cruz and Maverick are 2-3.5ft shorter than a Ram 1500.
I have a Santa Cruz, and it looks like a toy truck next to the normal ones. Especially next to duallies.
oh yes most others are way bigger… but I was comparing the "small" trucks that are actually available in the USA to make the point they are not in the same level the real small trucks are
Kei trucks are power limited and speed limited for urban use only.
yes. they are small so they can work best in urban areas… nobody wants a kei truqk to work a farmein texas