The Rivian R1T. The R1T was supposed to arrive in Canada early this year, but that has been pushed back to at least this July.Jeremy Sinek/The Globe and Mail
Petrina Gentile: There’s a battle brewing between new electric truck players and traditional auto makers – all vying for a piece of that lucrative truck market. According to DesRosiers Automotive Consultants, out of all the new vehicles sold in 2021, more than one in five was a pickup. That’s a lot of trucks.
Mark Richardson: They’re scrambling to get their electric trucks on the road.
Gentile: It’s been tough for carmakers dealing with one issue after another: the recent truck blockade at the bridge linking Detroit to Windsor, supply issues, the global semiconductor chip shortage and the COVID-19 pandemic. Manufacturers have scaled back production and some vehicles, especially electric ones, are taking longer to make it to market.
Richardson: This could be a good thing for consumers. It might mean more options when they finally do make it to the showroom.
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Gentile: True. Let’s face it – Tesla started the race by unveiling its edgy-looking Cybertruck back in November, 2019. Despite apparently having more than a million preorders, posted by the Cybertruck fan club, it’s not yet on the road. And it’s not expected until early next year.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk introduces the Cybertruck at Tesla's design studio in Hawthorne, Calif., in Nov. 2019.The Canadian Press
Richardson: A friend of mine has his preorder in. He literally said, “why not? It’s just a hundred bucks and I could be the coolest guy in town for a month or two.” He also said it was butt-ugly. When it’s time to actually pay for the thing, that’s when we’ll see how many supporters it has.
Gentile: It’s surprisingly cheap, starting at US$40,000.
Richardson: Yes, and topping out at US$70,000 for a three-motor all-wheel drive. Except Tesla removed all the specs and pricing from its online order page last October, with no explanation. So we’ll see.
Gentile: Time will tell. Tesla has a target on its back. There are several U.S. startup companies all working on truck EVs, like Rivian, with its R1T.
Richardson: Trucks are where the money is. If makers can build heavy haulers instead of ultra-lightweight compact cars, then EVs really will become mainstream on our roads. And new companies like Rivian, loaded with literally billions of dollars in investment cash from companies like Amazon and Ford, can make a clean start with a truck like the R1T. It looks good, but it still has challenges.
Gentile: They all have challenges, but this is Rivian’s first product and a lot is riding on it. Who knows how reliable or dependable the R1T will be? And it’s expensive, starting around $90,000. But it’s estimated to have an electric range between 480 to 640 kilometres and will tow up to 11,000 pounds. It was supposed to arrive in Canada early this year, but that’s been pushed back to at least this July.
Richardson: They’re still on target to make it to market though, unlike Detroit-based Bollinger, with its B2 electric truck.
Gentile: It’s too bad. Although it was expensive, at US$125,000, the B2 was cool with unique features including foldable and removable body panels on the doors, windows, windshield and roof. You could also extend the bed length by removing the rear cab wall and the rear seats so you could carry cargo up to 16 feet long. But Bollinger just ditched plans to bring it to market. It wants to focus on commercial EVs instead.
Richardson: There’s money in those platforms, too. Magna Inc. has an all-electric platform that it’s happy to sell to pickup truck makers. Electric vehicles are simpler overall than internal combustion, so they’re more straightforward to build. Once the battery has the power and range, it’s all about those unique features for deciding which truck to buy.
Gentile: Ford is banking its F-150 Lightning all-electric truck, which is based on its best-selling F-150, will make it to market before the competition. It starts around $58,000 and has a range of up to 480 kilometres with the bigger battery pack. Nearly 200,000 have been preordered to date. It’s built at the new Rouge Electric Vehicle Centre in Dearborn, Mich., and is expected to arrive this spring. But I wouldn’t hold my breath.
Richardson: I’m not holding my breath for any of these trucks to arrive soon, but this is a long game. EV pickups will be in it for the long haul, if only their batteries can cope with the long haul.
Hummer EV Edition 1. The Hummer EV shares the same EV platform and battery technology as the Silverado EV.Courtesy of manufacturer
Gentile: Well, GMC is showing some promise – I’ll be driving the Hummer EV Edition 1 pickup in Arizona at the end of March. You’re old enough to remember the old Hummer nameplate? Maybe it has a shot of making it to market this year?
Richardson: Ugh. It might make it here by then, but it’s the epitome of American overkill. It’ll be a four-tonne truck trampling through the wilderness. More than half of that weight will be from the batteries, just so it can make a thousand unnecessary horsepower for owners to brag about.
Gentile: But at least it’s more environmentally friendly than the original Hummer. The Hummer EV also shares the same EV platform and GM’s Ultium battery technology as the Silverado EV – that’s right, Silverado is going electric, too.
The 2024 Chevrolet Silverado EV RST. The Silverado won’t arrive in Canada until the fall of 2023.Paul Sancya/The Associated Press
Richardson: I’m looking forward to seeing the Silverado EV. GM’s Ultium battery tech is very advanced and it should be long-lasting, with cells that talk to each other through Wi-Fi connections – no wires. This is exactly the same technology that’s in the new Cadillac Lyriq, several steps beyond the Bolt EV.
Gentile: And the Ultium battery pack uses less cobalt and more nickel than the Bolt’s battery pack. But the problem is Silverado won’t arrive in Canada until the fall of 2023.
Richardson: When it does, GM says it’ll only be either a stripped-down work truck to be sold to fleets, or a fully loaded luxury vehicle, close to six figures. If I want to buy one, I’ll probably wait until the better-priced trim levels arrive, maybe the following year.
Gentile: But that’s too late. Silverado will go head-to-head against the Lightning, and it has the advantage of coming out first. Silverado is late to the party.
Richardson: Speaking of late – what about Ram? I’ve not heard much about its electric truck.
Gentile: That’s because they haven’t said much about it. The RAM 1500 electric is supposed to have a range of 800 kilometres and tow up to 10,000 pounds. But it’s very late to the party – it isn’t coming out until 2024. Can it even capture a piece of the market at that point?
Richardson: Pickup truck buyers tend to be intensely loyal to their brand, whether they’re fleet purchasers or individuals. I think a difference of a couple of years between first and last will be painful, but not overly so. I’m sure Ram buyers will wait.
Gentile: I disagree. EV truck buyers can’t wait to get their hands on a truck. I agree truck buyers are loyal, but I think they may be tempted to cross-shop this time around.
Richardson: One thing is for sure. If a maker brings out a new EV truck and it’s not an improvement on its competition from the previous year, it’ll be dead in the water.
Gentile: Not necessarily. I think Tesla is exempt from that.
Richardson: Maybe so – Tesla does seem to play by a whole different set of rules.
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