2025 Hyundai Pickup Truck Concept Is Just Wishful Thinking, Would It Pose an EV Threat?

Most likely, everything will fall into place for EV adoption in 2024 - from prices and availability to range and charging facilities, all neatly arranged like the pieces of a giant puzzle. Of course, we will no longer see triple-digit growth, and that's pretty normal for a healthy automotive market environment. So, among the most eagerly-awaited EVs, there are models like the Acura ZDX, Audi Q6 e-tron, Caddy Escalade IQ, Dodge Charger EV, Hyundai Ioniq 7, Jeep Recon, Lotus Eletre, Ram 1500 REV, Tesla Model 3 Highland, and the Volvo EX30.

Note that most of them are of the crossover and SUV variety? There's just one passenger car and a singular pickup truck. Meanwhile, even Hyundai is expected to bring to market the Kia EV9 sibling – the Ioniq 7 and start a big family with the Ioniq 5, 6, and 7. But how about a Hyundai pickup truck? Yeah, what about it – since Hyundai already has a unibody compact pickup truck named Santa Cruz, and it's not doing so well against the sole rival, Ford's Maverick.

Well, if we remember correctly, Hyundai and Kia pledged they would bring more pickup trucks to the US market – and the rumor mill, along with the imaginative realm of digital car content creators, never forgets. As such, here is a virtual artist, better known as SRK Designs on social media, who has decided to trust his CGI instinct and come up with a dreamy ICE or EV pickup truck from Hyundai to reopen this particular subject of discussion.

As far as we can tell, this unofficial design project mixes and matches styling elements from both the Hyundai SEVEN concept of the Ioniq 7 crossover SUV and the current ICE-powered American flagship, the $36,400 Palisade. It recently went through a facelift, making it even more enticing to donate its underpinnings to a potential mid-size or full-size pickup truck series.

The only inherent problem is that both sectors have their powerhouses in America – the Toyota Tacoma and Ford F-Series, plus the competition in both segments is no slouch, either. However, there's a potential exit out of the predicament – what if Hyundai created this pickup truck as a larger companion to the Santa Cruz with ICE, hybrid (plus PHEV), and full EV powertrains?

That way, it could easily fight against all foes on equal footing. However, there's another issue standing in the way of Hyundai's hypothetical pickup truck ambitions – it needs a body-on-frame chassis rather than a unibody platform to make the most out of this unofficial jack-of-all-trades model. And I'm not convinced it could pull such a great rabbit out of the hat. How about you?