Electric pickup trucks have been an epic failure in the U.S. But Ford, of all companies, wants to try making one again. The much-hyped Tesla Cybertruck has been an enormous sales flop, barring a small group of loyal fans. Ford itself axed the F-150 Lightning last year, citing poor demand after federal tax credits expired last September. GM's Factory Zero plant in Detroit, which builds the Chevy Silverado EV, GMC Sierra EV, and Hummer EV, has sat idle since March due to lackluster sales.
Consumers have made it abundantly clear they don't want expensive electric trucks that can't meet their towing or road-tripping needs. Even if they tow or cover long distances rarely, they want their trucks to have those capabilities without having to spend more than a comparable gas truck.
The problem runs so deep that even Ford CEO Jim Farley rang the alarm bells last year, calling the economics of large electric trucks and SUVs "unresolvable" on an earnings call. And the company booked nearly $20 billion in charges linked to its EV pullback, which included canceling the next-generation all-electric Lightning and other planned large EV models.
View Price on AmazonThe upcoming second-generation Lightning will instead be an extended-range electric vehicle with a gasoline backup generator. Even among the electric trucks currently offered or planned for sale, their SUV siblings are winning handily. Rivian sold nearly 5,500 units of the R1S in Q1 this year, versus just 1,658 R1Ts, according to Cox Automotive.
Despite the proven success of electric crossovers and SUVs, Ford’s next-generation EV platform will debut on a pickup truck, not an SUV. Its upcoming midsize electric truck will ride on a dedicated software-defined EV platform and start at $30,000, targeting a market segment nobody has tackled yet. If it works, it could herald a new era for the brand. If it doesn't, it will raise serious questions about how Ford plans to compete in a future with more and more EVs.
Alan Clarke, Ford's executive director of advanced EV development, explained the automaker’s decision to lead with an electric truck in the recent Edmunds Podcast. He added that the trucks that have failed aren't a referendum on electric pickups broadly. They're a verdict on large electric pickups. "Big trucks are a tougher market than small trucks," Clarke said. According to him, full-size electric models are poorly suited for off-roading and rock crawling, as charging options can be scarce in the rural areas where you typically do those things.
And towing, he noted, is a "tough use case" for EVs due to the steep energy demands. Midsize trucks, by contrast, tend to haul lighter loads like jet skis, small boats, and compact motorhomes. "It's a much better use case," he said. Ford knows this segment pretty well. The gas-powered Maverick and Ranger both sell better than Ford’s EVs ever have.
Source: insideevs.com
