On Thursday April 24, 2025 Forbes broke the news of a new EV startup unveiling its first truck that night in Long Beach, California. It boasts a baseline price tag of less than $20,000 after EV tax incentives, customizability due to its modular design, an accessory 84.3kWh battery pack that extends the standard battery range from 150 miles per charge to 240 miles, and an 80% charge in about 30 minutes off of a Level 3 DC charger.

The headquarters for this startup is in Troy, Michigan, employs about 400 people, and they plan to assemble these vehicles in Indiana, with the first vehicles planned to be available in late 2026. The customizability ranges from the paint or wrap options (starting at $500 and can be applied by users), tire sizes and a variety of exterior accessories and styling options, to the interior allowing for variations in center console, seat coverings, auxiliary buttons, etc., even the key fobs. This truck can even be converted from a 2 seater truck, to a 5 person SUV through the use of a kit that will be sold separately.

As a person who is moderately interested in EVs but prefers hybrid vehicles, and as someone who is irritated by the integration of features into touch screens and the move towards subscription culture, this seems like a great intro vehicle for getting into the world of EVs without many the things that I’ve grown to detest about them. But, what’s the catch?

Jeff Bezos is listed as one of the key investors of the startup. As if the billionaires aren’t in the news enough…

If you don’t have qualms about the business practices of Bezos and his treatment of Amazon employees, you may not see this as an issue. But with entering the “billionaire space race” *Insert eyeroll here* Bezos has been engaging in a pissing contest with Musk. And now with him getting involved with an EV startup that is effectively taking aim at Tesla, it feels an all out dick measuring event.

I am genuinely curious about where this goes, I just wish Bezos wasn’t involved.