The electric pickup market is heating up, first with Tesla’s big beef boy pickup concept sketch, then the stylish Rivian R1T, and now there’s the Atlis XT, which could be the most practical EV pickup if it can stay true to all of its unbelievable performance claims.
Atlis claims its upcoming full-size XT pickup truck will be available with a max range of 500 miles and a maximum towing capacity of 20,000 pounds, though you probably shouldn’t dream of managing both simultaneously.
The company was started back in 2016 by founder Mark Hanchett, formerly the director of law enforcement software and hardware developer Axon Enterprise Inc. The company is currently fundraising for its first prototypes and charging infrastructure development, and the XT is our first real look at what they’re cooking.
The truck is built on a skateboard-style electric platform with four electric motors, one to each wheel, and Atlis claims it will allow for 6.5 foot and 8 foot bed lengths, 12-inch or 15-inch ground clearance models, two-door or four-door body styles, and the company is even planning a dually option.
As for the body, Atlis claims the truck will have a wading depth of a meter, and the frunk opens up with the hood going up and the fascia coming down, just like the rear tailgate. Folks, we finally got a two-tailgate truck.
Right now, the company plans to have cameras and screens in place of traditional rear-view mirrors, dimming glass for the windows, and accessory power packs for juice on the go. No word yet on if they will make it look any better between now and production.
The truck is planned to also be available with 300-mile and 400-mile range options, as well as 5,000, 10,000, and 15,000 pound tow rating options. Atlis hasn’t released capacity figures for the batteries and motors it plans to use so the actual amount of horsepower is still unclear, but it claims the pickup should hit 60 mph from zero in five seconds and a top speed of 120 mph.
The craziest claimed figure, by far, is that the XT will be able to fully recharge its battery in as little as 15 minutes. So far, the quickest charge time on a production car is using a Tesla Supercharger, which still takes about 40 minutes to get about 250 miles on a Model S. There’s no clue just yet about how Atlis plans to actually achieve this, so I could easily see this figure scaling back a bit. Or a lot.
That’s, of course, if the truck ever actually happens. Atlis is currently taking reservations for the truck while its fundraising, and it’s aiming to have the truck on sale in 2020 with a starting price around $45,000. Seems unlikely, but we’ll see!