Meet 6 All-Electric Pickup Trucks That Will Be on the Road by 2025
It’s taken a few years, but the first all-electric trucks are finally starting to hit the roads. The battery-powered pickup is a different beast than the rest of its EV siblings. It has to do everything expected of a car or SUV and be powerful enough to carry a heavy payload and tow even more weight, all without using up all of its battery. That problem has taken automakers—both legacy brands and startups—some time to resolve, but the answer appears to be here. Between now and 2024, a handful of electric trucks are scheduled to on sale in the US. Here’s everything you need about some of the most exciting and capable EVs on the horizon.
Rivian R1T
Rivian R1T
Rivian
Release: Sept. 2021
It remains to be seen what will happen to Rivian, but no matter what, history will remember the brand as the first to put a battery-powered truck into production. The company started building its debut vehicle, the R1T, this past September and what a way to make an entrance. The sleek pickup is built on the Irvine, California-based start-up’s proprietary “skateboard” platform and features a quad-motor drive unit that sends power to each wheel and churns out a combined 800 hp and 900 ft lbs of torque. Thanks to that setup, the pickup can carry a payload of 1,760 pounds and tow an additional 11,000 pounds. The brawny truck isn’t just about lugging gear and cargo, though; it can also traverse intimidating terrain, like Utah’s infamous “Hells Gate,” with ease. The company also has an SUV, the R1S, in the works, but we have a feeling its $67,500 truck will determine if the brand has staying power or not.
Power: 800 hp
Torque: 900 ft lbs
Payload: 1,760 pounds
Range: 314 miles
Towing: 11,000 pounds
Starting Price: $67,500
GMC Hummer EV Edition 1
GMC Hummer EV Edition 1
GMC
Release: Dec. 2021
More than a few eyebrows were raised when rumor started circulating that General Motors was thinking about bringing back the dormant Hummer nameplate as a line of EVs. After all, few vehicles are more symbolic of ‘90s excess and inefficiency as the hulking utility vehicle. A few months later, the old truism about where there’s smoke there’s fire was again confirmed when the automaker announced it was bringing the model back as a zero-emission bruiser. While the reborn vehicle may be exponentially more efficient than its predecessors, it can still do everything they could and, actually, a whole lot more. In fact, the GMC Hummer EV may gave birth to a new class of pickup—the supertruck. The sold-out first edition of the brand’s electric vehicle is powered by tri-motor—one motor on the front axle, two on the rear—drive unit that can spit out a hair-raising 1,000 hp and 1,000 ft-lbs of torque. This allows it to carry a 1,300-pound payload and tow 7,500 pounds. How’s that for a comeback? Despite all its strength, the EV can still travel 329 miles on a single charge, and has some nifty new features like “Crab Mode” that allows it to drive diagonally. Starting at $112,595, it’s not priced like your average truck, but then again, the Hummer was never meant to be normal.
Power: 1,000 hp
Torque: 1,000+ ft lbs (estimate)
Payload: 1,300 pounds
Range: 329
Towing: 7,500 pounds
Starting Price: $112,595
Ford F-150 Lightning
F-150 Lightning
Ford
Release: Spring 2022
The F-150 Lightning won’t be Ford’s first EV, but it could turn out to be its most important. Unlike the Mustang Mach-E, which is a crossover SUV instead of a muscle car, the Lightning is a straight-up, battery-powered version of its best-selling vehicle. The Detroit giant knows better than anyone how seriously people take their trucks, and it’s clear that it has bent over backwards to make sure the all-electric version can live up to the nameplate’s reputation. While other pickups on this list may offer more horsepower than Ford’s entry, the F-150 Lightning is capable of carrying a 2,000-pound payload and towing 10,000 pounds. The automaker knows its customers want a truck they can take to work, and with specs like these, the Lightning is more than up for the task. There are also some nifty new features we could see making life easier on and off the job site. These include a generator that allows for bi-directional power flow so that you can use your truck to charge another EV or, if times are really desperate, keep your entire house running for up to three days. Ford’s biggest worry now could be keeping up with demand for electric pickup, which will start at $39,974.
Power: 563 hp
Torque: 775 ft lbs
Payload: 2,000 pounds
Range: 300 miles
Towing: 10,000 pounds
Starting Price: $39,974
Tesla Cybertruck
Tesla Cybertruck
Tesla
Release: 2023
Elon Musk likes to talk a big game, and there’s no vehicle he’s been more effusive about than the Cybertruck. In fact, he went as far as to call it the “the coolest car [he’d] ever see” despite the fact the fact that it’s supposed to be a pickup. Of course, at a glance, that can be hard to tell. The Cybertruck has an angular, geometric shape unlike any production vehicle we’ve ever seen. But it does have a bed where you can store gear and cargo (or the matching Cyberquad ATV). It also sounds like it’ll be might pretty capable, with a payload and towing capacity of 3,500 and 14,000 pounds, respectively. And it won’t lack for zip: The EV will be able to rocket from zero to 60 mph in less than three seconds, should you ever want to enter it in a drag race. The big question about the Cybertruck, of course, is whether or not we’ll ever see it on the road. The pickup was first announced in the fall of 2019 and was supposed to go into production before the end of last year. In January, the truck was delayed until at least 2023, which begs the question: Is this just a supply chain issue or is the Cybertruck the next Tesla to enter a perpetual state of delay?
Power: 800 hp
Torque: 900 ft lbs
Payload: 1,760 pounds
Range: 314 miles
Towing: 11,000 pounds
Starting Price: $67,500
Chevrolet Silverado EV
2024 Silverado EV RST
Chevrolet
Release: Late 2023
You didn’t think Chevrolet was going to let Ford release an electric truck and not do anything about it, did you? Late last year, the other half of Detroit’s biggest rivalry unveiled its own battery-powered pickup, the Silverado EV. Like the F-150 Lightning, its designed for the kind of guys who want to be defined by the kind of truck they drive. This means it was built for the job site. The Silverado EV is powered by a dual-motor drive unit that will churn out 664 horses and 780 ft lbs of torque (both figures are more than Ford’s EV). It can carry a 1,300-pound payload, which is 700 pounds less than its rival, but it can tow the same amount, so it’s not exactly a weakling. The $42,000 truck, which looks sleeker than its gas-powered sibling, also will offer bi-directional charging, which could come in handy if someone else’s EV’s battery needs topping up. One feature it does that have that’s all its own is multi-flex tailgate which increases cargo capacity significantly. Either way, the Chevy vs. Ford rivalry is ready for the EV era.
Power: 664 hp
Torque: 780 ft lbs
Payload: 1,300 pounds
Range: 400 miles
Towing: 10,000 pounds
Starting Price: $42,000 (estimate)
Bollinger B2
Bollinger B2
Bollinger
Release: TBD
If you like the idea of the Hummer EV, but want something a little less … loud, the Bollinger B2 might be just what you’re looking for. The start-up’s battery-powered pickup sports a stripped-down angular look that will remind more than a few people of the Humvee General Motors’ original gas guzzler was based on. In addition to being one of the more striking models from the first electric truck generation, it’s also plenty capable with a dual motor powertrain connected to a 120 kWh battery back that spits out a very respectable 614 hp and 688 ft lbs of torque. Its 200-mile range leaves a little to be desired—it’s the lowest on this list by a good 100 miles—but it makes up for that by being able to carry a 5,001-pound payload and tow an additional 7,500 pounds. It doesn’t have the massive funding of a multinational conglomerate like some of the other entries on this list, which might explain why it starts at even more than the Hummer EV at $125,000.
Power: 614 hp
Torque: 668 ft lbs
Payload: 5,0001 pounds
Range: 200 miles
Towing: 7,500 pounds
Starting Price: $125,000
The Trucks That Didn’t Make the Cut
Canoo’s all-electric pickup truck concept
Canoo
You may notice that the list above doesn’t include all the electric trucks that have been announced over the last few years. That’s because for battery-powered pickup that looks like it’ll go into series production, there’s another one or two that vanish before they make it past the development phase. Take, for example, the Nikola Badger, which we haven’t heard about since the founder of the start-up behind it was charged with fraud by the SEC. Lordstown’s Endurance was supposed to be the first electric truck to hit the market, but has never gone into production, thanks to the company’s inability to stop hemorrhaging cash. Finally, there’s the Canoo’s modular pickup, which we just don’t know enough about to let ourselves get truly excited. Yet.
Source: Robb Report