Times are changing, and the truck of the future very likely won’t resemble the truck of the past. Alpha Motor Corporation understands and embraces this notion of change. Alpha, an electric vehicle startup company headquartered in Irvine, California, has a cool truck-looking vehicle in the works called the Alpha Wolf utility truck, and by golly, its throwback, retro cues and futuristic powertrain are quite intriguing to truck enthusiasts open-minded enough to give it a chance (once, or if, it reaches production).
The Alpha Wolf electric truck shares a platform with the company’s Alpha Jax four-seater CUV. Additionally, the EV startup also has an Ace Coupe, Ace Performance Coupe, and Icon in its lineup. Unlike the bizarre shape of, say, the Tesla Cybertruck, the Wolf looks surprisingly normal, perhaps quaintly familiar— like a classic mini truck with that Baja bar, off-road lighting, tubular bumpers, and huge tires barely contained by some fender arch extensions. Or perhaps it’s more akin to a Subaru Brat, revived and revitalized with modern-day EV elegance.
No matter what it resembles, it is distinctly Wolf and wholly unique. After all, it has a frunk—we like saying frunk. Adjacent to the frunk is the charge port on the driver side front fender, receiving juice for the four-wheel-drive or front-wheel-drive system. We don’t know much about the propulsion system, but Alpha intends to stuff in a 75 to 85 kWh lithium-ion battery that gives the Wolf a range of 250-275 miles and a decent 0-60 time of 6.2 seconds. Towing is expected to be in the 3,000 pound range.
Size-wise, the Alpha Wolf is akin to the once-upon-a-time Chevrolet S-10, a legit mini truck. At 188 inches long, it’s about two inches shorter than a single cab short bed S-10 but about 8 inches wider and 2.5 inches taller. Whereas the S-10 touts 15-inch wheels, the Wolf sports rollers up to 18 inches, which are massive for its petite stature.
Renderings of the Alpha Wolf depict some cool accessories, including round off-road lights, the rack in the bed, a solar grid (that reminds us of the Worksport Teravis solar tonneau), and a bed-mounted fire extinguisher and shovel. Pricing and details about these add-ons aren’t available yet.
The inside of the Alpha Wolf looks elegant but simple, with a large center-mounted display screen atop a streamlined dash, a fancy digital display for the driver, quilt-style seats touted as premium, and some sort of stacked center console setup. Alpha reports there’ll be Bluetooth connectivity, multiple charging ports, and some sort of premium sound system.
Alpha says the Wolf represents balance, endurance, and freedom; who can deny the appeal of those qualities? It was unveiled (in digital form) draped in SF Blue, inspired by the supposed-blue skies of San Francisco, California. The Alpha Wolf starts at $36,000 to $46,000, which doesn’t include any federal EV tax credits. Although there aren’t any three-dimensional Alphas available to evaluate yet, those wooed by the Wolf can make an online reservation. Look for more on the Alpha Wolf as details become more available … which hopefully they do.
The post Could the Alpha Wolf Bring Small Electric Trucks Back to the Future? appeared first on MotorTrend.
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