The owner of MoonWake Coffee Roasters in the USA decided to experiment with modern all-electric pickups and see how well-suited they were for use as mobile coffee shops. Verdict: very well-suited overall, with a few caveats.
He picked a Tesla Cybertruck and a Rivian R1T to experiment on. Both come equipped with large traction batteries and can outsource their charge to power up external equipment. In contrast, traditional coffee shop vehicles have to lug a diesel generator around that’s both bulky and noisy, and requires a permission to use at certain events.
However, this is also where the first quirk revealed itself. While the Cybertruck had no issues whatsoever powering a pro-grade espresso maker from its 240V socket, the R1T had an inferior 110V outlet that couldn’t provide enough juice for high-end coffeemaking equipment. Having tried various options, the business owner concluded that the Rivian truck would be best used with less power-hungry coffeemaking appliances (think a kettle and a filter).
On the upside, both pickups fared well through the whole retrofitting process. Both had enough room for all the water pipes, pumps and filters needed to automate the process on a commercial scale, and both were convenient to access from the tailgate side.
One final argument in favor of EV coffee shops is that they still look fairly new and attract lots of visitors. At this time, MoonWake is still only using these two trucks in Texas and California, so it hasn’t accumulated enough data yet. Later on, we would at least like an update on how brewing coffee all day long affects range and battery life – both valid considerations for a business.