alt Hacker NewsREO Trucks I4 4WD Pickup Truck Starts at $21,500
Comments
Would be nice to see actual pics instead of silly silhouettes. I am in the market for exactly this kind of truck (especially a manual) but this doesn’t inspire me to want to buy it.
> Physical Controls Levers, rockers, and real analog gauges. One small screen for diagnostics and CarPlay — nothing more. No subscriptions. No feature locks. Ever.
> Right to Repair Every panel off in under five minutes with common tools. Plain-English diagnostics on a $30 scanner. A 20-year public parts catalog at fair prices. No parts-pairing — in writing.
I'm very excited about this and pray it is successful.
It's weird to see a new vehicle announced like this that's not an EV. I wonder what it's like launching a gas truck when new battery-powered trucks are looming in the distance (or already here).
My first reaction after seeing a website with vibecoded aesthetics was to wonder if this is even real, but apparently, it is - at least to the extent of getting some press coverage:
https://www.topgear.com/car-news/usa/startup-wants-build-sma...
https://www.roadandtrack.com/news/a71667299/reo-industries-r...
i'd love a series hybrid version of this. to match performance of that I4 you can probably fit both electric motor and gas generator in a normal sized engine bay.
like a compact pickup version of what Edison Motors is doing to the fullsize pickup. i'd take an Edison conversion of an early 90s F250 over any new truck on the market.
They portray 5h charging at home as a downside. Something to scorn at. But, how long does it take to fill up a diesel truck at home? I haven’t gone to a gas station since getting an EV a few years ago. It trickle charges while I sleep. This is easily the biggest convenience.
Do I want to own one of these? No. I want my mechanic to be bored when I show up and need service…I guess that makes me a market laggard.
But I do love the pressure this (and Slate) puts on Toyota to restore some sanity to truck prices. There is a market of people who want reliable transportation without spending $40k++.
I am pretty sure that if you need an inexpensive car with a decent charging bed, you are better of buying a regular passenger car and tow a small trailer when you need it.
My dad bought one years ago and tow it with his corolla minivan whenever he needs it. Chance is that if you only need the bed a couple of times a year or are space constrained you are better of renting it.
I never understood those US mountainbikers who awkwardly wrestle their bike on a truck bed when they could more comfortably mount them on an hitch rack of a regular car or inside a van. VW Multivan must be the most popular van amoung mountainbikers here in europe.
Sad that in 2026 were getting excited about gas powered vehicles.
I await real details, currently this is just a promise with nothing to back it up. Would love competition in this space for light trucks, pressuring companies to build better vehicles that last, but this is atleast 3 years away
I’ll save my money for the 2030 Speedwagon.
No dealer sales is such an enormous perk. We need this everywhere but of course there's too much incumbent vested interest to keep the status quo.
At some point, the leadership team had a conversation that went something like this:
CEO: “We’ve spent tens of millions of dollars designing, developing, and tooling up to bring a new truck to market at a competitive price. We’ve worked out the entire manufacturing supply chain and have contracts in place with numerous vendors. We’ve placed orders for the thousands of parts, and hired highly skilled labor, and have extensively planned to have the man, machines, and materials all in the same place at the same time to actually pull this off. We have the working capital loans in place to let us run these operations. All that remains is the marketing outreach.”
CMO: “Okay, got it boss. Let’s start with one of the most highly visible parts of the marketing plan that literally every customer will interact with because of our sales model. Our contract marketing agency says they can develop a fantastic site for $200k - they have a great portfolio that shows they can make exactly what we need.”
CFO: “Fuck that, I just asked Claude to vibe code a marketing landing page. Looks great. Ship it.”
What have the Dodo, a Fisker and that in common?
Well, you all know the answer.
Who makes the engine and powertrain? I didn't see it on the site.
the site almost sells you on a ford maverick
"Wow, the same style engine, a reputable dealership network, a hybrid system with battery, and a turbo charger for only another 7 grand?"
Much like how I'd be reserving a Slate right now if 4WD was an option, I'd be reserving an REO right now if electric was an option. Kinda frustrating how this new slate (pun half-intended) of non-behemoth pickup trucks manages to be devoid of an option that's all of affordable, reasonably-sized, 4WD, and electric.
The website is black on black, not easy for me to see at all.
At this point the killer feature would be: privacy, control of your own vehicle, and repair ability.
Does it offer this? Wish someone would make that product.
Makes sense to me... the Toyota mini trucks of the 80s/90s were super useful and Tacomas are basically full-sized and not as efficient.
I love the concept here. The site and preannounce feels a little gimmicky. It’s definitely of the time but kind of hard to commit to without more detail. Like $25 isn’t a lot of money to reserve a real truck but seems like a lot for a maybe we’ll bring a real product to market.
It'd be great if they could come up with a photo of the truck. But an alternative to the oversized absurdities we have on the roads these days can't come soon enough.
can they pull this off - maybe - IDK the team - but this is possible.
cause of concern?
- i4 gas engine instead of using 4 electric motors - then using smaller engine to act as generator. plenty of Chinese have done this - quickest way to start a car company. otherwise they're gonna find out real soon - why other auto manufacturers went out of business or why reliability is a cause of concern even for big manufacturers. engines and powertrains can be complex.
electric motors are simpler.
REO missed one important point: monster trucks are about vice signaling and political identity. Most people that own monster trucks know they don’t need them for truck-like things, they need them to identify with their chosen group. There are also a lot of people who own them who think they will need them (like monster SUVs) and overbuy because literally bigger is better in their minds. REO is right in that there is no bottom market and I’m sure folks want a normal pickup, but I don’t think the market for small pickups is big enough when identity and politics (and existing policy) drive decision making at scale.
A truck with less towing capacity than my Honda Pilot?
Slate is an EV that's so much better than a world-polluting ICE.
ICE vehicles will hopefully be banned for sale everywhere by 2030 because they're more expensive and toxic to run than EVs.
Claude did a nice job of the website.
i think im getting good at recognizing claude code designed landers
The comparison table is laughable.
"Best value": Over how many miles? A hybrid often has a lower TCO.
"Gas I4, proven": Maybe it's a skill issue, but I can't figure out which I4 they're using or if they DIY. Meanwhile, the "unproven" Ford hybrid system is pushing trucks to 200k miles on a regular basis. (of course, your mileage may vary but it seems like they did a great job with this)
There's other issues as well.
I need to know if Ransom Olds is involved or not.
No pictures, no interior, no features. I'd wait until they demonstrate the truck exists.
Is there anything special in making a $21k gas truck in 2026? I’m guessing you could get a second hand gas truck for this price?
I heard this from a friend who
Looks like a Lada
The website is all hype with very little substance, as well as the taint of AI slop. If they aren't willing to share details, I'm not interested.
As a benchmark, I would use Slate, who have so far done an excellent job providing information and updates on their truck.
>Why Gas?
Because we hate you, and need to make some money off it
Um, if you're going to market a vehicle, you really, really, really, need to have pictures or at least detailed renderings.
Atm, this is a DoA product.
Incredibly disappointed to see it will be using a gasoline combustion engine.
fiction
It's another kickstarter/"pre-order"/vaporware car. Like Slate. "If all runs smoothly, first customer deliveries will take place in late 2028 or 2029." Expect price creep and delivery date slippage.
In the end, it's basically a Toyota Hilux.
My question is: why select a name that for most people, if they recognize the name at all, is a band from the 70s-80s? How many people other than old farts like me even know how to properly pronounce the name? (Because they'll think it's pronounced like the band name.)
It's one thing to ride on nostalgia, but how much nostalgia is there for a company whos heyday was 100 years ago, and went out of business (well, merged) 60 years ago? The only nostalgia this old guy has is remembering my grandfather talking about the Speedwagon he had back in the day.
I'm not up on the Maverick, but the comparison chart for the Slate EV feels pretty misleading:
- the Slate's range is now 205 miles across the board, not 150/240
- both the REO and Slate start as 2-door 2-seaters with pricier models adding capacity, but the chart boasts the REO seats "up to 6" while the Slate seats "2 (5 costs extra)"
- for repair costs, the REO just says "mechanical - affordable" (?) while labeling the Slate as "battery pack - $$$$". But an electric powertrain is far simpler and requires virtually no maintenance for 100,000+ miles, while an ICE engine requires regular oil changes, brake pads, timing belts, transmission work, etc.
- completely skips the cost of fuel over electric charging; between that and maintenance, the TCO of the REO is significantly higher