Tesla's Original Founders Back Tiny EV Truck Startup TELO

Tesla co-founders Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning are backing TELO, an electric vehicle startup developing compact electric pickup trucks as an alternative to Tesla's Cybertruck, Alan Ohnsman reported for Forbes.

TELO's compact MT1 electric pickup is backed by Tesla co-founders Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning. [Photo: Telo Trucks Facebook]

Twenty years after Tesla introduced the Roadster, the $100,000 sports car that helped launch the modern electric vehicle era, the company's original founders are supporting a startup with a very different vision.

San Carlos, California-based TELO plans to launch the MT1, a compact electric pickup roughly the size of a MINI Cooper. Starting at $41,520, the vehicle is designed to emphasize practicality over the bold styling of the Cybertruck.

Rather than pursuing mass production immediately, TELO is following a strategy similar to Tesla's early years.

Chief Executive Officer and co-founder Jason Marks told Forbes the company initially plans to manufacture 500 vehicles before increasing production to 5,000 units annually after about a year.

Marks believes the company can become profitable even at relatively low production volumes.

"A lot of EV companies that came after Tesla went right for high-volume manufacturing out of the gate. But that's not what Tesla did. If you look at their playbook, they built 2,400 Roadsters. Then they built 10,000 Model S vehicles, and then scaled from there," Marks said.

TELO co-founder Forrest North previously worked as a Tesla engineer.