Ask Nathan: Will We See a Lucid Pickup Truck, Jeep Gladiator Ownership and – PHEV Questions?

Image: Lucid Motors

In this week’s Ask Nathan:

  • Will they build a Lucid pickup truck?
  • 60,000 miles on my Jeep Gladiator!
  • PHEV (plug in hybrid) questions that need answers!

The first question

Image: Lucid

Q: (via Twitter @NathanAdlen) Do you think we will see some sort of production Lucid pickup truck EV?

I know that Fisker is serious about it. Maybe a Lucid pickup would be a good thing? I have no idea what to think and I haven’t hear anything. Have you?

  • D.EC
Image: Lucid

A: We know for sure that the Lucid Motors CEO Peter Rawlinson has thought about a Lucid pickup truck of some sort.

There are a ton of EV pickup trucks coming to dealerships over the next two years. It simply makes sense that pickup truck loving Americans would warm up to a EV pickup, before an EV car. There’s a very good chance that Lucid is watching how the Ford Lightning (among others) does in our market.

Not a lot to go on, but I did find a beefy quote from an interview with Lucid Motors CEO Peter Rawlinson.

I provided a few quotes below from Green Car Reports, that leads to the CEO mentioning a pickup truck. This was an hour long interview that covered a lot of territory back in August 2020. He provides no details, but some insiders suggest that the Lucid pickup truck will most likely be based on the upcoming Lucid Gravity SUV. Which is based on the Lucid Air platform.

Rawlinson said that the SUV “is going to be as awesome as the Air,” and is being conceived to share an assembly line with it. A second expansion of the Lucid plant will make room for it, he explained.

Lucid does have a product map that potentially includes several more models beyond the Air. And the body shop, including the paint shop and general assembly, will be flexible for all future products for the next seven or eight years, Rawlinson said. “We looked at a whole range of products we may want to make and we designed the paint shop from scratch to accommodate that. Our SUV will be a similar length to Lucid Air; length is a big thing with the paint shop,” he said. “But if we want to make a longer vehicle like a pickup or something like that, which we may want to make in the future, the paint shop is future-proof for pickups.”

Green Car Reports

CEO Rawlinson stated that Lucid isn’t planning a pickup at the moment. Still, the mere mention of it as a consideration during the production process suggests it’s on his mind. With all of the media attention shining on EV pickups, and his obvious dislike for Tesla – it would be epic if Lucid beat Tesla to the EV pickup truck punch.

We’ll see!

  • N

The next question is actually a comment from a happy viewer who bought a Jeep Gladiator in 2019.

Q: Just so the haters know, my 2020 Jeep Gladiator passed 60,000 miles without a single problem.

Nathan and crew! I bought my 2020 Jeep Gladiator in 2019 during the early days of the pandemic. I named it Hägar and we’ve had many adventures together. Over the past 2 years, Hägar and I have driven from Santa Monica California to Orlando Florida twice! We also went to the Easter Jeep Safari three times! This from our home in El Paso Texas.

Hägar is a Gladiator Sport with the Penta-Star V6 and a manual transmission. I added 33-inch Wranglers recently, and modified the speakers for better sound. But that’s it. Everything works perfect and I average about 20 miles per gallon on regular. That’s over two years working for a medical equipment company that has accounts in 33 states. The other reason I put on so many miles in a short time. My hardtop works great and hail doesn’t seem to bother it much. My hood has a lot of hail damage but the rest of my Gladiator looks good.

Thanks to you Tommy and Roman for getting me excited about the Gladiator! This was my first Jeep and I love the community and the adventures we have had. I know there are a ton of haters out there. I live in Texas and get tons of grief from my friends about my Jeep. Sometimes I read the boards and see lots of hate there too. Well, Hägar says they can suck it!

We will have many adventures in the future and I will let you know when we pass 100,000 miles. I wanted to thank the Fast Lane team for giving me so much content about the Gladiator. You guys are the best!

Daniel and Hägar

A: Thank you!

I love midsize pickups and the Gladiator is one of the most unique amongst the group.

Congratulations on buying a gem, and I hope you send updates. The Gladiator is still a bit of a unknown quantity with long-term ownership and overall reliability. I know that some folks like to slam Jeep products regardless of whether or not they even owned one.

Tommy has the same basic powertrain in his Jeep Wrangler, and he’s pretty happy with it so far.

I am curious about your towing experience; if you have towed that is. The base model powertrain, with the manual transmission, has the lowest towing numbers among the Gladiator lineup. I believe it’s 4,000-lbs. There are quite a few Jeep fans out there who are curious about its capability in base form.

If you happen to tow in the future, please drop me a note and tell me about your experiences.

Cheers!

  • N

The last question comes from a reader who left a comment after last week’s Ask Nathan, regarding PHEV pickup trucks.

EV charging cable 2018 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV
Image: TFLcar

Q: (Via: Ask Nathan) Here’s my issue with PHEV… most of my work commutes are five miles one-way.

The ICE would likely never get fired up, except for an occasional longer trip. This really muddies the water when it comes to things like maintaining fresh gasoline in the tank (add Sta-bil to every tankful?) and how often to change the oil in the ICE?

If the ICE only works for a couple thousand (or even one thousand!) miles per year, do you change the oil once/year in an engine that
is designed to go 10k on an oil change? Does synthetic oil go bad sitting in a crankcase for a year?

How about getti g the ICE up to temp to burn off condensation, so that the engine doesn’t start “making oil”? Or too much condensation rusting out the exhaust because the ICE didn’t get hot enough? These are questions that many of us will want answered.

  • Longboat

A: These are great questions, and there are a few answers that I can provide.

Using the 2022 Toyota Prius Prime (PHEV) 1.8L Atkinson-cycle, 4-cylinder as an example:

Synthetic oil usually should be changed every 7,500 – 10,000 miles. Toyota recommends getting your 2022 Toyota Prius Prime oil & filter changed every 3,000-5,000 miles for conventional oil. Some owners swear that 8,000 miles is fine based on your HV/EV driving ratio.

Depending on the battery, your driving habits and even environmental conditions (batteries hate high heat and cold weather) your engine will cycle to add power, or replenish power in the vehicle. During these times, the engine will swill oil, burn gas, blow off moisture, and move fluids – albeit a tiny bit.

On top of that, if you manage to drive less than 20-ish miles in EV mode every day, your experience will feel like driving an EV; however, it’s not. You see, even if you drive thousands of miles all in EV mode (it’s possible), your engine will still run from time to time. Each automaker is a bit different, but they all have a pre-set algorithm they follow to keep the engine in top shape. Every once in a while, the engine will run a bit on its own if it isn’t used often enough.

The point is to make sure the fluids are in use, doing what they’re supposed to do – without the need for adding additives.

If the vehicle simply sits on its own for months on-end, without being started, then problems can arise. In Toyota’s case, they say that they recommend the car doesn’t sit for more than four months.

I hope that helps!

  • N

One final thought to all of my U.S. readers – HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!