Alternative Fuels & Propulsion RANDOM

[Robert Hall]

The R1T seems to between the mid-size and full-size trucks in dimensions.  The OL is about 6 inches longer than a Ranger but 13-15 inches shorter than the shortest F150 Super Cab/Super Crew 4drs.

Edited March 7, 2021 by Robert Hall

[balthazar]

^ Because it has a 4.5' bed. 

Ranger is now the size of an F-150 of 20 years ago (unfortunately).
Ranger wheelbase is 127", Rivian is 136", an F-150 CC/5.5 is 145".
Rivian would be closer to 142" with a 5.5' bed.

[Robert Hall]

^ ..and the R1T has an integral bed, if it were separate there would probably be extra length also. 

[oldshurst442]

1 hour ago, balthazar said:

OR... it’s there because you may need it occasionally.

My parody videos were making fun of such a statement. 

I understand lumber may not fit in the back of a 4 and half foot bed...but how many Home Depot runs to extend their backyard decks do Average Joe pick-up drivers do anyway?

How many Americans are constructing their own decks?  DIYers still exist in America?   If you tell me yes...I will be in shock!  Yes they exist.  But I have a sneaky suspicion that Rivians are not on these peoples radar even if Rivian offered a Ferd F Teenthousand version to haul bales of horses... 

What is it that AVERAGE Americans 'may need' to haul that is longer than 4 and a half feet on a regular basis?  Even for just ONE time???!!!  

This reminds me of my Greek from Greece upbringing (and I know Italians do this too) that my mom had two sets of dishes. The everyday shyt dishes we ate in...everyday... and the fine china Daulton Old Country Roses ones we had. That we NEVER brought out but we had JUST for that ONE special occasion...that NEVER came. I guess the Queen of England never had a REAL interest of visiting our home. *SIGH*  That the Queen never knew of my existence...   In the end, my mom got fed up of waiting for royalty to come and we started eating from them.  Yeah...I guess its nice to have JUST for that one BLOODY time one may need it...   But it seems to be a very silly way of purchasing shyt if you ask me.  

Ive ONLY owned cars in my life. And being of age where cars were downsized, so far in my life, I havent really had the necessity for a 4 and a half foot bed pick up truck let alone a 12 foot one... 

OK...THAT would be a lie. TWO lies. Ive owned a 2007 Ford Edge that made moving from one house to another flawlessly.  And when my mom passed away and I had to sell her house and move her shyt I had a need for a larger vehicle.  I RENTED A FULLSIZED VAN for the day... No biggie! No problem either as LIVING IN NORTH AMERICA...CONSUMERISM not ONLY makes it possible to OWN ANYTHING we want...including 12 foot bed pick-up trucks just in case we need it for that once in a lifetime event, but in a FREE MARKET SYSTEM...BUSINESS OPPORTUNITES for PROFIT makes it possible for business savvy folk to offer products and services to me and an REASONABLE price just with a phone call or phone app so I wont be saddled with too much vehicle for everyday daily driving duties...and I coould just rent a truck for 50-100 bucks plus gas...for the day. 

Obviously if Rivian wants to break into the U-HAUL it for yourself business in offering bigger beds to those folk who actually need big beds for their trucks, then they need to do that. But I also would imagine that aint really targeting those folk either.  They are targeting the posers.  

I would worry more about brand loyalty in those truck posers rather than how big the beds really are if I was Rivian.  THAT would be more of a challenge. The ones that are die hard Chebby guys and die hard Ferd guys and douche bad rolling coal Dodge guys...   Which brings me to the other thing.  These guys are probably V8 guys thriough and through with the occasional Turbo Diesel Cummins V6 guys...  A battery electric pick up truck is NOT on their radar. Therefore it dont matter...   A 4 and half foot bed is just more reasons for them to laugh at a Rivian truck. A truck they'd NEVER buy anyway... 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 7, 2021 by oldshurst442

[balthazar]

^ Remember this post every time some article whines that a Cadillac trunk is smaller than Bimmer's.

Seriously, all the Gladiator pics with some sort of 2-wheeled contrivance in the bed show it either a. with the front wheel removed, b. with the tailgate down and the rear tire to the tip of the 'gate, or c. a Bizzaro World rack that hoists said 2-wheeler completely above the top of the bed. 

Seems a canoe, a pair of dirt bikes, a pair of motorcycles, a snowmobile, a jet ski.... I dunno; all sorts of 'targeted lifestyle devices' are being called into play by Rivian for a box barely longer than 4-feet. 

As for the integral body/bed, seems reasonable that an extra foot of length would be more than handled by a truck-specific, battery skateboard structure.

[oldshurst442]

Isnt Rivian the start-up that sold us off on their SUVs as lifestyle? 

This is off their website on the truck side. The SUV has its own lifestyle motto...

https://rivian.com/r1t   

 

Quote

A truck built for whatever you call a road. Your electric adventure awaits.

 

Remember when the GMC Syclone came out?   The then automotive journalist's DID slam it by saying it was not a workable truck. Bed too small. Too low to the ground with absolutely no hauling capabilities.    Well...I remember those arguments quite well too and this is why I will defend my rant on top...

But lets be fair about it...the photo ops are all about lifestyle...nothing about Home Depot runs...

 

 

And a couple of others with the R1T going offroad.  

Which reminds me of another SUV truck thing  that also has a bed.   No bitichin' about this one's bed though. 

 

 

 

[balthazar]

44 minutes ago, oldshurst442 said:

The then automotive journalist's DID slam it by saying it was not a workable truck. Bed too small.

Would love to read a link, because I HIGHLY doubt it; it had a 6' bed.
Of course it was a limited volume performance truck (2998 built), and there were loads of 7'4" beds in the line, too.

- - - - -
RE the Hummer, I see that now. It looks so massive, I never really thought about it. Reports are saying 'about 5', which is 8" short of other GMC short beds, and a half foot longer than the Rivian super-short bed. I think Hummer should've at least matched the 5'8"box...

Edited March 7, 2021 by balthazar

[oldshurst442]

4 minutes ago, balthazar said:

Would love to read a link, because I HIGHLY doubt it; it had a 6' bed. 

No it didnt.

But the Syclone wasnt about Home Depot runs either.  It was a muscle truck.  But that was the thing. They whined about how it wasnt a functional truck, but they was missin' the point that it out accelerated Ferraris and Porsches. 

Kinda like with Rivian and its short bed. Its more of an expensive lifestyle machine.  We could slam it on how relevant it is as a lifestyle machine rather than it having a short bed of 4.5 feet.  In that pic, the surfboards hang outside of the truck, but they do seem to be hauled alright though. Skis could also fit nicely in the bed or on top of the roof so we could actually nix that argument too... We could have an argument on why bother we such an expensive toy just to go skiing and camping when a cheaper VW Golf could do the same thing. And I welcome anybody to do so but as far as Im concerned today, with short beds on expensive lifestyle trucks, there is nothing to see here, other than more money than brains would fit in here perfectly.  But to make a switch to EVs, we got to start somewhere...  Id say no thanx to this, but I dont have a problem with it.   I would prefer the HUMMER EV over this though 1000 and 1 percent!!!  

 

[balthazar]

7 minutes ago, oldshurst442 said:

No it didnt.

'91 GMC brochure :

 

'91 Cyclone brochure. Looks like the longer, but I'm sure it's the shorter 6'1" bed. 

Here's mag quotes about the Cyclone (cherry-picked by GMC) : 

Edited March 7, 2021 by balthazar

[oldshurst442]

Shiver me timbers matey!  I thought it was a 5 foot bed or something.   Maybe I was picturing it shorter back there because of its Typhoon (Blazer) cousin.   

 

 

 

Edited March 7, 2021 by oldshurst442

[Robert Hall]

Never realized the beds were so long on the old S10/S15s.  They seem so tiny compared to modern trucks. 

[balthazar]

Guy I've talked to occasionally over the last 12-13 years (his sister is a customer of mine) had a S-10 long bed still, circa 2010. By that time it was extremely rotted out, but standing by it I too was like 'this is a decent-size bed!'. 

The trucks overall are tiny, relative to now, but the beds were logically-sized to haul.

[G. David Felt]

4 hours ago, balthazar said:

RE the Hummer, I see that now. It looks so massive, I never really thought about it. Reports are saying 'about 5', which is 8" short of other GMC short beds, and a half foot longer than the Rivian super-short bed. I think Hummer should've at least matched the 5'8"box...

Yes, the Hummer like Rivian is an integrated 5FT bed. Off the GMC Web Site: Introducing the GMC HUMMER EV | Electric Truck Plenty long enough for the majority of Truck Owners doing what ever they need a bed for including life style camping.

[balthazar]

Rivian is not a 5’ box.

[G. David Felt]

1 hour ago, balthazar said:

Rivian is not a 5’ box.

Correct, Rivian is 4 1/2 ft, Hummer is 5 ft, the point was it was an integrated bed, but 5ft long. Rivian has stated they can build longer beds. Ford EV Concept F-150 truck had a 6ft bed, but for the skateboard platform they will be using has stated it will also be an integrated bed of various lengths to support the wide needs of the market. 

I would also expect gm in building their full size and probably a mid size ev truck will have also integrated beds of various lengths.

[balthazar]

You’ve seen OEM info stating their EV F/S trucks are to be integral body/bed??
 

That would be a mistake.

[surreal1272]

Per Rivians website about the R1-T

”For maximum length, we developed the tailgate with a gooseneck hinge system, extending the bed floor to 83.8 inches with the tailgate down. With the tailgate up, the bed length measures 54 inches, making it easier to get around and park every day.”

Edited March 8, 2021 by surreal1272

[oldshurst442]

1 hour ago, balthazar said:

You’ve seen OEM info stating their EV F/S trucks are to be integral body/bed??
 

That would be a mistake.

Why? 

Asking because I do not know about truck strength and dynamics.  An integral body/bed will have an adverse impact with hauling and towing capacity?

Or is it more of a manufacturing thing and the lack of flexibility of switching easily to market demand regarding bed sizes on the production line?  

 

Edited March 8, 2021 by oldshurst442

[balthazar]

Trucks have long wheelbases [mine is 153" and it's not the longest]. That, in & of itself, is not a problem.

Where the problem comes in is in 2 areas- off-roading & heavy bed loads. Both can deflect the body with some negative consequences.
Ford tried a 'unibody' pickup '61-63, but there were customer issues when trucks had heavy loads- the doors sometimes would wedge shut/not close if loaded when open. Off-roading puts tremendous stress on a truck, and an independent bed allows for a flex point between the two, alleviating damage. Recall when toyoter was having so many issues on the FJ- people were taking them off-road and the body sheet metal was cracking/ripping. No; don't recall? 

'Journalism'.

Technically one could build a chassis/frame/skateboard strong enough to resist damage, but how frickin’ heavy are we going to go? A BE F-150 is going to weigh 8000 lbs as it is.

I also believe it's cheaper to build the bodies & bed separate when you have a lot of body configurations (unlike Rivian will have). It also allows a huge aftermarket partnership- flatbeds, custom bodies, etc.

You have to ask what a full-size truck with an integral bed/body offers the consumer, other that greatly-reduced choice. Because I don't know what that might be.

Edited March 8, 2021 by balthazar

[ocnblu]

13 hours ago, Robert Hall said:

Never realized the beds were so long on the old S10/S15s.  They seem so tiny compared to modern trucks. 

Compact trucks with long beds were out for years, these are all useful 7' beds, as opposed to the useless Rivian ~

[G. David Felt]

@ocnblu Down vote for your Useless comment about Rivian. You have NO EVIDENCE that a 4 1/2 ft bed will be useless nor will the truck either. Maybe check your hatred at the door in regards to EVs.

[G. David Felt]

SAVE THE DATE

GMC has their next Hummer Reveal coming for the Hummer SUV.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CMKTuVMpPxI/

[balthazar]

It'll be fine. 
 

[G. David Felt]

[G. David Felt]

Leaked Rivian documents seem to imply that they will handle fast charging better than Tesla.

According to the story on Electrek, Rivian is going to offer chargers that can handle up to 300kW hours of charging compared to Tesla Level of 150 kWH or for those rare places that have been upgraded you can get 250 kWH of charging.

Rivian Adventure Network charging stations revealed with higher capacity than expected - Electrek

[ocnblu]

The 4.5 foot bed on the Rivian AND the Hummer will render them useless for all but the daintiest of truck tasks.  That alone makes them a joke.  Why hasn't anyone posted a Rivian in the joke thread?  It's high time.

6 hours ago, David said:

NO EVIDENCE

Are you serious?  Or goofing like always?

[G. David Felt]

30 minutes ago, ocnblu said:

The 4.5 foot bed on the Rivian AND the Hummer will render them useless for all but the daintiest of truck tasks.  That alone makes them a joke.  Why hasn't anyone posted a Rivian in the joke thread?  It's high time.

Are you serious?  Or goofing like always?

Nope not goofing, the bulk of trucks ARE NOT used for commercial or job type work like @balthazar
Bulk of trucks are personal owned and used for various lite work loads. According to the GMC web site the Tailgate is 32" so for the Hummer at 5ft, you add the 32" when the tailgate is down and you have almost 8ft, more than enough for hauling all kinds of stuff.

Same with Rivian, the tailgate down makes it more than long enough for most people hauling long stuff.

[G. David Felt]

Just grabbing off the registration site and their data example is old as you have to pay to get the latest numbers, but clearly commercial truck / business truck use is not as big as personal purchase of a truck for private use.

[balthazar]

1 hour ago, David said:

According to the GMC web site the Tailgate is 32"

I couldn't find the specs on site, but there's no way the bed is 32" deep / the tailgate is 32" tall. Re-check your source.
That aside, carrying loads with the tailgate open is certainly not as secure or safe as with it latched.

RE: commercial vs. private registration- that's pretty meaningless. 1. not all commercial ventures use commercially-registered trucks ( ask me how I know) and 2. Not all cargo hauling is done by commercial ventures.

[balthazar]

1 hour ago, David said:

Nope not goofing, the bulk of trucks ARE NOT used for commercial or job type work like @balthazar

Where does one draw the line between personal stuff and 'commercial or job-type' work, and more importantly; WHY?

[ocnblu]

Family farms considered personal or commercial?  And to try to add the length of an opened tailgate to improve paltry load area specs is hilarious.  All sorts of unsafe situations arise.

[ykX]

I have bunch of coworkers who drive full size trucks.  They are engineers, so it is their personal vehicles but they constantly use their trucks for home renovations, home maintenance, hunting, etc.  They want a full size bed.

[ccap41]

4.5ft bed is a joke. Trying to defend that because "personal vs commercial" is equally a joke. 

[balthazar]

"Our vehicles only fit people up to 6'2" in height because that covers almost all driver scenarios. We're redefining vehicle interior dimensions - you're welcome!'

Edited March 9, 2021 by balthazar

[G. David Felt]

Totally disagree with you as Ford has sold plenty of short bed auto's and now your all just ballooning up your chest to pound and say look I am a man, I need full size bed, you jane, me tarzan and now we just went backward in time.

Majority of truck buyers are not on farms, not having their own business and even for engineers who buy it are not buying an 8ft bed. 6ft is most common and even then I have heard plenty of complaints about how long it is to park. 

Your all as auto enthusiast over blowing a 4 1/2 ft for RIvian and 5ft for Humer bed.

In fact the only one here I would expect to have a full 8ft bed is @balthazar as it is his life blood line as his job. His lovely decks, ramps, etc. that he has made proves the need for a full size bed, the rest of you I doubt you would really need it or could even justify it except once or twice a year. In fact I think @ocnblu is the only one who has owned a truck off and on between all the auto's he buys for himself.  Yet I have never seen a picture of him hauling anything as the mid size truck is not full size. Chevrolet Colorado in all configurations is a 6'2" long bed except CrewCab where it only comes in 5'2" long bed and it seems to please plenty of buyers.

@ykX @ccap41 I do not see any pictures nor do I remember you having owned a full size pickup. So if you have not and do not own a truck, then how can you say full size 8ft bed or anything longer is needed?

[ykX]

18 minutes ago, David said:

@ykX @ccap41 I do not see any pictures nor do I remember you having owned a full size pickup. So if you have not and do not own a truck, then how can you say full size 8ft bed or anything longer is needed?

I don't remember you owing EV vehicle either, just the opposite, but yet here we are.  In any case, I am not a truck guy and unlikely to own one.  I just passed what I heard from my coworkers.  And I heard from number of them that they prefer full size bed in their trucks.

[balthazar]

TO clarify, I do NOT have an 8' bed. My previous F-150 was (regular cab), but I hadn't started my contracting business then. I hauled plenty in that 8' bed; firewood, scrap, car parts, lumber, etc. I do miss the amazing capacity of an 8' bed... however, I am nicely settled working out of the back of a crew cab (the more important criteria), and an 8-ft bed/crew cab truck is EEEEnormous; too much. That's the only legitimate truck size people can complain about parking.

My 2500HD crew cab is a 6.5' bed. That's a compromise; 8-ft material is fine but 12-fters are 7' in (to top of tailgate), and 5' out. That's iffy but doable. If I did decks regularly I'd have to do something different. The deck I built last fall, I think I had (20) 12-ft 2x6s in the bed- that's a lot of volume/weight. I drove slow.

All that said, the most common bed size in the 1500-series trucks is 5'5" / 5'8", not 6.5'. I've been monitoring the GMC locator since Dec, plus I've also looked at the Ford & Ram locators occasionally; I know this to be true. IMO, 5'5" - 5'8" beds are ALSO useless- obviously down on capacity and ability to carry common-length materials. 8-ft material is fine (6' in / 2' out), but 12-ft material is out. Yes; less folk carry 12-ft material, but the capacity is still down. They're not for work.

[balthazar]

Here's a current snapshot of GMC's inventory within 250 miles of me, by bed lengths : 

 

Note the absence of a 4.5' bed... 🤔

Edited March 9, 2021 by balthazar

[G. David Felt]

3 minutes ago, balthazar said:

Here's a current snapshot of GMC's inventory within 250 miles of me, by bed lengths : 

 

Note the absence of a 4.5' bed... 🤔

Yes, this proves that the bulk of truck buyers are not buying the mid or full length beds. I stand by believing that most truck buyers will be fine with a short bed of 4 1/2 ft or 5ft beds.

[balthazar]

Except you’d be wrong.

Let’s take a hypothetical from your basket: ‘BEV buyers will be fine with 125-mile range vehicles because most people only drive 30 miles/day.’ ‘A 2025 BEV with a 125-mile range battery pack will do fine in the market.’

[balthazar]

The market has already emphatically voted, and the options are well established; 5.75’, 6.5’ and 8’. 

If a 4.5’ bed ‘would suit most truck buyers’ that same logic would tell you another, smaller contingent would be accepting of a 3.25’ bed; the ‘other side’ of that line. 

[G. David Felt]

54 minutes ago, balthazar said:

The market has already emphatically voted, and the options are well established; 5.75’, 6.5’ and 8’. 

If a 4.5’ bed ‘would suit most truck buyers’ that same logic would tell you another, smaller contingent would be accepting of a 3.25’ bed; the ‘other side’ of that line. 

They market has only voted about the current options, they never had a small bed in a full size truck like 4.5. The closest we have had is the history of the Chevrolet Avalanche and the Escalade EXT which is a 5'3" bed. We also have never had an EV option, so it will be interesting to see how Rivian does as well as Hummer. Currently Hummer is sold out through 2024, Rivian is sold out through2023, so we are in interesting times.

Chevrolet Avalanche

Cadillac Escalade EXT

Auto Trader for a 300 mile radius for Chevrolet and GMC 1/2 ton pickups had the following available. 880in the 70-79" size for bed.

[ccap41]

3 hours ago, David said:

Totally disagree with you as Ford has sold plenty of short bed auto's and now your all just ballooning up your chest to pound and say look I am a man, I need full size bed, you jane, me tarzan and now we just went backward in time.

Majority of truck buyers are not on farms, not having their own business and even for engineers who buy it are not buying an 8ft bed. 6ft is most common and even then I have heard plenty of complaints about how long it is to park. 

Your all as auto enthusiast over blowing a 4 1/2 ft for RIvian and 5ft for Humer bed.

In fact the only one here I would expect to have a full 8ft bed is @balthazar as it is his life blood line as his job. His lovely decks, ramps, etc. that he has made proves the need for a full size bed, the rest of you I doubt you would really need it or could even justify it except once or twice a year. In fact I think @ocnblu is the only one who has owned a truck off and on between all the auto's he buys for himself.  Yet I have never seen a picture of him hauling anything as the mid size truck is not full size. Chevrolet Colorado in all configurations is a 6'2" long bed except CrewCab where it only comes in 5'2" long bed and it seems to please plenty of buyers.

@ykX @ccap41 I do not see any pictures nor do I remember you having owned a full size pickup. So if you have not and do not own a truck, then how can you say full size 8ft bed or anything longer is needed?

Nobody sells a 4.5ft bed and I've criticized the possible tiny bed the Maverick may have. 

I think the 5.5ft beds that are in 90% of half tons is on the small side. If I can't fit a single yard of dirt, rock, mulch, cut down tree, etc, I don't want it. That's TOO SMALL. I've certainly borrowed my dad's Taco(6ft bed) for plenty of things and know a 4.5ft bed would not get the job done on pretty much all of those jobs except renting equipment. 

Next time I use my dad's Taco and utilize the entire 6ft bed, I'll be sure to take a picture just for you, sweetie. 

Edited March 9, 2021 by ccap41

[ykX]

A guy at work got 2020 Bolt.  Due to the new model coming out they have crazy discounts on 2020 (MSRP $37k and he got it for $24k, and that is without incentive)

So he let me test drive it at lunch.  Interesting experience.  I was surprised how fast it gets going, it is probably not a Tesla but it accelerates very fast.  When you turn on regenerative braking you don’t even need to touch brakes on local roads.  Though one pedal driving needs to get used to, it is a little weird.  The biggest bad thing is for some reason the seats are horrible, simply horrible.  They are very narrow and hard.  Not sure why, because plenty of width in the car.  Would be a definite no for me just because of that.  I truly hope they changed it in the new one because they truly are horrible.  The back seat is tight as well, I think even for kids.  I wouldn't fit behind the front seat set for me.  Otherwise, it would be nice commuter car.  The driving experience is a little weird, like really fast golf cart.  The handling is ok, it is soft, not sporty, would be ok for commuting.

[Drew Dowdell]

On 3/1/2021 at 2:00 PM, balthazar said:

^ Clouded judgment. I would think a permitted/allowed business in a commercial zone would have a solid case to sue the city- far lesser claims have overturned a knee-jerk municipal ordinance before.

Electric car sales in CA have fallen every 6 month period since the first half of 2015 (thru the first half of 2020). Electric trucks have risen, but they peaked in the first half of 2019 (they were down slightly in the 2nd half of '19, so pre-COVID).

CA has 256 thousand BE vehicles registered (USDoE), and 15 MILLION registered total. 

Build charging stations- that's fine. But stop 'oppressing' IC consumers. 

At 14.5 sq miles, population of 60,520 est, and 18 existing gas stations ... it's purely a symbolic gesture. 

[balthazar]

1 hour ago, ykX said:

So he let me test drive it at lunch.

Does it have a ‘bogging’ feel when the regen brakes are working, or is it just like any other brake system (sans the pedal differences)?

[Drew Dowdell]

For the record, my Avalanche bed is 95% empty 99.9% of the time. I have a little cargo organizer back there so my oranges don't roll all over the place when I pick up groceries. It will do more hauling duty some day (even later this month when I help a friend move), but I have no illusions that it gets used as a truck. I bought it because I like it, but I could have just as easily gotten a Leaf and an account at U-Haul and had all the utility I need and still spend less money. 

[ykX]

9 minutes ago, balthazar said:

Does it have a ‘bogging’ feel when the regen brakes are working, or is it just like any other brake system (sans the pedal differences)?

It feels like you press brake pedal quite hard right after you release gas pedal.  You can change how hard the regenerative braking works but even at lowest setting it is significant.  With actual brake pedal you can modulate pressure but this is digital, either "on" or "off."

 

[balthazar]

Yuck, I was imagining something like that, in accordance on how many electrical motors work on/off power.

I’m hard on the accelerator, but I’m very gentle on the brakes; I brake like a tractor-trailer. It would be tough to go to something so unrefined/coarse like that. 

[G. David Felt]

2 hours ago, ykX said:

A guy at work got 2020 Bolt.  Due to the new model coming out they have crazy discounts on 2020 (MSRP $37k and he got it for $24k, and that is without incentive)

So he let me test drive it at lunch.  Interesting experience.  I was surprised how fast it gets going, it is probably not a Tesla but it accelerates very fast.  When you turn on regenerative braking you don’t even need to touch brakes on local roads.  Though one pedal driving needs to get used to, it is a little weird.  The biggest bad thing is for some reason the seats are horrible, simply horrible.  They are very narrow and hard.  Not sure why, because plenty of width in the car.  Would be a definite no for me just because of that.  I truly hope they changed it in the new one because they truly are horrible.  The back seat is tight as well, I think even for kids.  I wouldn't fit behind the front seat set for me.  Otherwise, it would be nice commuter car.  The driving experience is a little weird, like really fast golf cart.  The handling is ok, it is soft, not sporty, would be ok for commuting.

At 6'6" tall I can have the front seat set for me and still get in the back fine. Yes I would not want to do it for long trips, but big people can fit in the bolt compared to so many other sub compacts that they cannot fit in.

Did you press the Sport Button? That takes a full second off the 0 to 60 time and makes all launches from a stop fun.

I honestly did not have the bogging feeling on the regen. I wonder if his needs to be reset as for me it was a smooth but fast slow down or in lowest setting a much more traditional long brake to a stop.

I found the highest regen setting was very much like Tesla regen, noticeable and quick to a stop to maximize power recovery. Medium setting was noticeable that regen was on but longer in coming to a stop. For the wife and I the lowest regen setting was like how a normal person brakes to us.