Being first to market with new technologies is a big deal for automakers. A race is going on among auto manufacturers to be the first to market with an electric pickup for consumers. Tesla has already announced an electric big rig and has taken orders for its electric Tesla Semi. It has talked of an electric pickup in the past with nothing firm announced so far.
Ford’s electric pickup will be a version of its incredibly popular F-150 truck, the best selling vehicle in the United States. Ford has promised a full battery-powered version of the F-150 and its recent $500 million deal with Rivian is seen as a boost to its electric vehicle ambitions. Ford was clear when it announced the significant investment that the agreement would be for a vehicle on the Rivian skateboard EV platform and was in addition to the electric pickup and electric SUV it was already working on.
Ford had previously promised that its electric pickup would be made, but the automaker has given no firm date on when that electric pickup will land. Ford has stated that the electric SUV inspired by the Mustang will land in 2021. Ford has promised a plug-in hybrid version of the F-150 truck, but no launch date for that vehicle has been announced. Spy shots of the electric pickup Ford is working on did surface in February 2019. It was impossible to tell if that truck was the fully electric F-150 or the plug-in hybrid in testing.
GM has been mum on an electric version of its Chevy and GMC trucks. Speculation suggests that Chevy might be at work on a battery-powered version of the Silverado. Other rumors are suggesting that Chevy is instead eyeing a battery-powered version of its Colorado mid-size truck. If Chevy did go the route of making a mid-size electric pickup, it would have that segment to itself and might appeal to users more interested in hauling smaller loads with a longer driving range. GM’s electric pickup ambitions were certainly setback when Ford swooped in and nabbed the Rivian deal. Ford was able to seal that deal because GM refused to budge off its demands for exclusive access to Rivian technology.
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Source: IBT
Comments
Ford is ahead of Tesla and GM in this field, and has the most truck experience of all. I see the new Ford EV truck officially announced before the end of 2019. And by the same measure, Lincoln should have its EV truck, too.
I have to wonder if Ford actually wants to be first to market. An electric truck faces several challenges that even electric sedans struggle with. The blocky front and tall body means air resistance will really screw over mileage on the highway. The weight and tires also reduce mileage. That means a truck will need at least a 150kWh battery to get 300 miles range, which will push the base price up over $100k.
With that kind of price tag, consumers will realize that electric trucks are luxury products. They will also realize you can’t do truck things with such an expensive product, and you definitely can’t find superchargers in locations where you’d want to go do truck things.
I think Ford realizes these challenges, that is why they want Rivian to take the first blow here. Tesla knows this as well, and that’s why they’re going with a ‘specialty’ truck first, and won’t build a regular F-150 competitor until later on.