At this moment in automotive history, there seems to be a lot of interest in affordable trucks. This is a good thing! Cars are too damn expensive as it is, and trucks are wonderfully useful machines. There are three potential new affordable pickup trucks on the horizon that seem to have captured the attention of the car-interested public: Ford’s upcoming allegedly-affordable electric pickup, Slate’s $26,400 electric pickup, and the lone combustion-powered member of this triumvirate, the proposed REO Runabout pickup truck.
Of all of these, I think it’s safe to say that the biggest wildcard is REO. Ford is, well, Ford; Slate has Amazon money behind it; but REO? Who are they? Why do they think they can compete in this notoriously difficult business of making cars? Are they for real? Is this some scam? As car enthusiasts, we have been burned many times before, after all.
So what’s going on? Well, you may recall that a few weeks ago I interviewed real estate broker Zach De Bernardi, the man behind REO. The interview was very interesting, and I came away thinking that De Bernardi has an absolute metric crapton of work ahead of him, towering obstacles, and odds of success that wouldn’t make me want to stake my mortgage on the outcome. But I also believed he was sincere in his goals. And I think the goals are very good ones, and I think the trucks and associated company he’s planning incorporate some genuinely good ideas.
So that’s why I thought it’d be good to have him on our podcast, which you can listen to right here:
Or, if you’re into using your eyes and ears, here’s a YT link so you can watch our eyes, to see if we’re lying:
Or to listen to more podcast episodes, you can go to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or you can use the RSS feed and point your favorite Podcast player at it.
It’s one thing to read what someone is planning and another thing to actually see them talk about those plans, and for something that is as dependent on trust in the person running the show, I thought an actual, recorded interview with De Bernardi would make the most sense.
Everyone is skeptical. We all remember companies like Elio and that EV truck maker Nikolai or Lordstown Motors, all of which had big ideas and lots of promises and hopes and are now just ashes. Companies like Elio took millions of dollars in deposits and produced nothing. It’s understandable that people’s initial reactions are skeptical.
I’m skeptical myself! And yet, I still manage to feel a bit of hope when I talked to De Bernardi. The goals of the company seem to make sense – build affordable, combustion-powered trucks that are free of so much of the technological frippery of our time, and are designed for people who appreciate the utility and charms of a well-designed, straightforward machine.
I love all of that! I tried to ask De Bernardi the hard questions, to feel out the company’s plans, and I found his answers to be quite honest and reasonable. They’re not going to fall for vain boondoggles like trying to design their own engines or anything like that. They’ll rely heavily on trusted, established suppliers and try to leverage existing standards. They’re open to future tech advancements, like automated driving systems and EV powertrains, but the plan is to keep their trucks modular and upgradable, so those things can be optional.
REO is still very much at the beginning of this process, but they’re making steps. They’re working with outside firms to help engineer and design the truck, which makes sense, but I’m really eager to see some kind of prototype before I form real opinions.
Even if you read the previous interview, I’d encourage you to watch or listen to this podcast. I think it’ll give you a good sense of who is actually behind this company, which will help you to decide how you feel about them, which is important because to succeed, REO needs people to make (refundable, $25) reservations. A lot of reservations will make the company seem “real” to suppliers and investors. And having those will in turn make the company far more likely to succeed. But for that to happen, a lot of people will need to take a leap of faith. These reservations are a bit of a chicken-and-egg problem.
Oh, also, De Bernardi sort of challenged our readers to figure out the engine being sourced for the REO Runabout T4X. It’s an inline-four turbo, somewhere around 2 to 2.5 liters, power between 260 and 325 hp. What could that be?
Anyway, I can’t think of a better way to form an opinion about a potential new truck-making startup than listening to their CEO talk about their plans for an hour. Have at it!
Still feels more legit than Olympian Motors. I was blocked and banned from all of their social media when I asked the tough questions.
To call it a $25 reservation is stupid. The idea of a truck exists, I dont even think a plan of a truck exists. Its a “refundable” $25 towards a ponzi scheme.
Who has REO hired to make anything happen outside of a design firm thats going to spend all of what little money they have? You could take literally any random person from just about any role at an existing OEM or Tier-1, give them this same ground breaking idea of a cheap pickup, give them some AI renders and I bet they pull something out of their behind before REO does.
I am tired of tech bro asswads thinking that producing a physical product is something they can simply ‘disrupt’ their way through.
Are there efficiencies to be found in product development? Probably in most companies – mostly because of new technology and tools (which aren’t free).
Are there efficiencies to be found in the production of motor vehicles? Possibly, but not that many. Every automaker in the world has tweaked their production processes to eliminate labor unless it’s cheaper than automation. They have been doing this for four decades in the US. There’s not much more fat to be trimmed.
Vehicles are an incredibly complicated product to produce. You can’t just post ‘cheap car factory’ on your vision board and will it into reality.
Enough with the grifter. F this guy and the bullshit he rode in on.