Telo Trucks on Thursday unveiled the first pre-production unit of its MT1 compact electric pickup truck.
The next step toward getting the tiny truck into customer hands, California-based Telo said in a press release, is safety and durability testing, followed by regulatory homologation, which Telo hopes to finish next winter.
Telo MT1 electric truck prototype. (Mar. 2025)
Unveiled in 2023 in an early concept form, the MT1 stands in stark contrast versus current electric trucks, with a very compact size and focus on efficiency. It’s just 152 inches long—the same as the outgoing-generation Mini Cooper SE two-door hatchback—yet Telo claims it has room for five adults, with the same legroom as full-size crew cab pickups.
The MT1’s 60-inch bed is longer than that of a Rivian R1T. A midgate allows long objects, including a 9-foot surfboard or a 4×8 sheet of plywood, to fit behind the front seats, Telo claims. An underbed storage nook that Telo calls the Monster Tunnel will offer additional space.
Telo MT1 electric truck prototype (Mar. 2025)
Telo claims to have more than 5,000 pre-orders for the truck at $152 apiece—referencing the truck’s length. The actual base price is $41,250 for a 300-hp single motor rear-wheel drive model with an estimated 260 miles of range. Telo plans to offer a larger battery pack stretching range to an estimated 350 miles for $3,980 extra, and a 500-hp dual-motor powertrain for $4,769 extra.
The company previously said its larger pack would have a 106-kwh capacity, but it hasn’t quoted a capacity for the smaller pack. It has claimed that the MT1 will be the world’s most efficient electric truck, something Telo hopes to achieve with help from another EV startup—Aptera. The fellow California startup plans to supply solar panels to Telo, although it still hasn’t gotten its own solar-assisted EV into production.
