North America’s love affair with trucks is long and deep—and about to change, as automakers increasingly electrify the popular segment.
Picture this: It’s 1966. “Eleanor Rigby,” “When a Man Loves a Woman,” and “Lightnin’ Strikes” are on the improved, transistor-equipped car radio. A sudden surge in truck popularity among recreational drivers hauling boats or campers has shocked auto executives. Rising industry star Lee Iaccocca is preparing Ford’s Canadian plants to ship an extra 4,000 trucks per month south of the border as a stopgap.
The Ford F-Series is just beginning its reign of 57 years and counting as Canada’s top-selling pickup truck, and will soon become the single best-selling vehicle in the U.S.—a run it has sustained for 41 straight years.
Today, the auto world’s victor faces a different kind of competition, as electric pickups emerge as a crucial battlefield among carmakers in a zero-emissions future. Rivals like GM and Stellantis are striving to improve their answers to Ford’s electric pickup, the F-150 Lightning, while Tesla’s first Cybertruck rolled off the assembly line this week. On Monday, Ford announced it was lowering the price of the Lightning, in some cases by nearly US$10,000, or $15,000 in Canada, as it converts more of its plant capacity to making EVs.
J.D. Ney, who leads the automotive practice with J.D. Power in Canada, said pickups and other large vehicles are going to be “really important” segments for automakers because of an ongoing shift in consumer preference. Over the past 10 years, people have moved away from sedans toward crossovers, Ney said, leaving close to 80 per cent of the light-vehicle market as small trucks and SUVs.
Darryl Croft, president and co-founder of the Electric Vehicle Network car dealership, said these heavier vehicles have been later to market than other types of EVs. (They are no small feats of engineering: the Hummer’s EV battery is heavier than a Honda Civic.)
Croft conceded that some traditional truck drivers “distrust” or are even hostile toward EVs. But advertisements showing the electric trucks’ unique features are winning many over. Ford notes its truck battery can act as a backup home generator, while Rivian offers built-in features for outdoorsy drivers to keep pets cool or illuminate their campsites.
There are still challenges ahead, though. Toyota has raised concern that large vehicle batteries use excessive amounts of critical minerals compared with smaller hybrids. Croft noted that the higher upfront EV costs can overshoot corporate fleet procurement budgets, despite the long-term fuel savings.
Paul Repar, who is president of the Shift Electric Vehicles dealership in Oakville, Ont., and an F-150 Lightning driver, acknowledged that trailer-towing has been a particular sticking point, because it requires topping up the battery, and EV chargers are often placed in single-vehicle parking spaces. Still, he said, Ford is candid about battery limitations, and the Lightning is otherwise the “quietest, best-riding, fastest” option.
This week’s Lightning price drop stirred up a “massive influx of inquiries from our customers,” Repar added.
For Cara Clairman, president and CEO of the non-profit Plug’n Drive, which offers no-pressure test drives of EVs across Canada, high price and lack of availability remains one of the biggest issues with electric trucks. She’s hoping this week’s announcements help change that.
“Canadians,” Clairman said, “really do love pickup trucks.”
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