Automotive News recently posted an article talking about why electric pickup trucks are failing to win over buyers. As the article points, preorders for electric pickup trucks were not converted into meaningful sales.
Take, for example, the Tesla Cybertruck. Reservations reached more than 1 million by the time it went into production in 2023, and CEO Elon Musk was predicting 250,000 to a half a million annual sales. In 2024, it logged just 40,000 U.S. registrations. Similarly, as the Automotive News article points out, the Ford F-150 Lightning had more than 200,000 reservations, but it logged just 32,893 registrations in 2024.
So what’s the deal? Why have electric pickup sales fallen off the proverbial cliff? It should come as no surprise that we here at Pickup Truck + SUV talk have discussed this a lot. A lot, a lot. We agree with Auto News’ analysis, but (surprise) we have a few more thoughts.
Here’s exactly why we think electric pickup trucks are failing.
Price and capability isn’t what we expected
The two big reasons cited by the Automotive News are price and capability. Yes, and yes. When the Cybertruck was first revealed in 2019, it was supposed to start at $40k. With the average price of a new pickup truck ringing in at $60k these days, that would have been an attractive selling point. But it never materialized. The base price for the Cybertruck is now $62,490 – and that includes the $7,500 federal tax credit.
While Ford Motor Co. initially sold the base Pro Lightning for $41,669, the top trim started above $92k. And that $40k Lightning generally wasn’t available to the public. Then in year two of production, prices jumped $7k for the base model. And prices only went up from there. The base price for a Lightning at the time of writing this, including incentives, is $57,985.
The Chevy Silverado EV was supposed to have a $40k starting price, but the launch price of that electric pickup truck was double what was promised. Now the base price for a Silverado EV is $75,195.
The other big problem with electric pickup trucks that Automotive New cites is capability. Truck guys who buy trucks want them to do truck things. They tow. They haul. And the powertrain isn’t going to change that. While not every truck owner is a heavy user, many buy a truck with the expectation that they will at some point do some heavy lifting. Lower tow ratings and huge range reductions while doing truck things is not a selling point.
As we pointed out in a 2022 article about what’s stopping electric trucks from mainstream adoption, real-world range is a huge problem. We’ve seen outlets who purchased trucks with 320 miles of range that only got 270 miles of real-world range. That means owners would have to stop every 3.5 hours to find a charger along their route, hope it works, and waste 40 minutes to an hour to charge. Rinse, repeat.
The cost to charge electric pickup trucks
While original Teslas might have included the cost of charging with the price of the vehicle, that is no longer the case. And whether you’re “fueling up” with an at-home charger or on the fly at a public charger, it not only costs money but also time.
Public charging at Electrify America, for example, is currently $0.56/kWh. And with current gas prices being lower, the cost to charge is essentially the same as the cost of fuel. For example, I took a road trip this weekend in the Mini Clubman EV, and the cost of taking the vehicle from 40% to 86% charge was $17.58 at a public charger. If I had had the gasoline version and put 6 gallons of gas in it (the equivalent of filling the gas tank from 40% to 86%), it would have cost me $17.60 using the average cost of gas in Indiana ($2.90), which is where I would have filled up.
However, at a gas station, it would have taken me less than 10 minutes, and I could have peed, bought snacks and washed off my buggy windshield. Instead, I sat at the Electrify America station in the back of a Bank of America parking lot with no snacks, no public toilets and bug guts I couldn’t get rid of with windshield washer fluid and wipers. And I sat there for 30 minutes.
Infrastructure woes
That brings us to the problem with infrastructure. In places like the Midwest or rural South, charging stations are few and far between. And they don’t always work. We’ve previously written treatises about this problem, stating the need for proper charging stations along major highways. And while there were incentives and funds allotted for this purpose under the Biden administration, the future of EV charging infrastructure is uncertain under the Trump administration.
If the current state of charging infrastructure is bad and isn’t likely to get better any time soon, incentive for truck guys to buy electric goes down even further. While I live in a city and have easy access to charging stations within a 1 mile radius, the closest public charger, to Publisher Tim Esterdahl, who owns two gasoline trucks, after leaving his house is an hour and a half away driving on highways with high speeds, headwinds and generally poor weather conditions.
Many argue that you shouldn’t depend on public charging if you own an EV, and I don’t disagree when you’re talking about a daily driver. But truck owners who use their truck for truck things often tow and haul over longer distances, so that argument doesn’t hold. Esterdahl, for example, has a few camping trips planned over the next few months, and he’ll be driving hundreds of miles over several hours while towing a camper. With the current state of the infrastructure, those would be a long-ass, frustrating trips with two teenage boys to contend with. Most truck owners will say thanks, but no thanks.
The truck-guy attitude
This last reason why we think electric trucks are failing is subtle. But we think it explains a lot. Truck guys tend to be more conservative attitudinally, and they often think trucks should have a V-8 and a full ladder frame. Otherwise, it’s just not a truck even if it has a bed. Believe me, Esterdahl and I have had this argument often over the past few years as it pertains to unibody trucks like Ford Maverick, Hyundai Santa Cruz and Honda Ridgeline.
So, this was perhaps a misstep on the part of automakers launching electric trucks in the first place. They shouldn’t have gone all in with electric full-size trucks. We actually think compact and midsize trucks, which are more lifestyle-ly than work trucks, could have been more successful.
When I’ve previously asked Esterdahl how a full-size electric pickup truck could be successful, he unequivocally responded that the electric truck needs to be better than the gas truck in every way. That not only includes horsepower, max towing and range but also starting price and total cost of ownership. That’s a tall order.
Our take on electric pickup trucks failing
We’re not sure that full-size electric pickup trucks can ever be truly successful until the price comes down and the infrastructure improves significantly.
However, if the new compact Slate electric pickup truck can hold the line at $20k when it eventually launches, that could have potential. We don’t think people are necessarily opposed to EVs, but now that the early adapters have bought the EVs they want, convincing the mass population that they, too, should buy one is a harder pill to swallow.
It needs to be as easy as owning a gas vehicle, and it needs to cost the same. Full stop.
