Not long ago, anyone who was asked about the possibility of showing up at the construction site, at the cabin in the woods, or the local shopping mall in a zero-emissions pickup truck would have laughed it off so hard they would have been heard all around North America.
But today, the stark reality of climate change and the fact that we need to start chipping in to make a difference has resulted in a rather quick change of heart. Now we are dead serious about EV pickup trucks, especially in the United States and particularly in the most popular full-size segment. Sure, there are not a lot of EV representatives, yet. Just like there are not so many electrified, hybrid options – solely the Ford F-150 Hybrid and the latest Toyota Tundra i-Force Max can brag about their increased efficiency and performance.
Interestingly, there are currently more full-size EV pickup trucks than there are hybrids, when counting the new kid on the block Rivian R1T, the behemoth GMC Hummer EV Edition 1, and the already most popular for 2022, in terms of sales, Ford F-150 Lightning. Naturally, no one wants to be left out of the novel zero emissions party, and soon there will be a trifecta of GM options to choose from, considering the impending arrival of the 2024 Chevrolet Silverado EV and GMC Sierra EV.
Plus, the Stellantis representative – aka the Ram 1500 REV – will also be fashionably late, alongside the eternal tardive, aka Tesla’s Cybertruck. But what if many more carmakers wanted to join the EV fray, even if only virtually? Well, that would not be all too hard to do if we are to believe in the imaginative realm of digital car content creators. And there is no need to take our word for granted, as we have an eloquent example, at least according to the vision of the virtual artist known as Theottle on social media.
His proposal for the latest behind-the-scenes CGI making-of video is an interesting one because it revolves around the freshly introduced mid-size Kia EV9 SUV. Considered the zero-emissions alternative to the popular Kia Telluride, it will also come with three rows, but the middle seats have a cool secret – there are just two of them, and they swivel 180 degrees for a bit of MPV trickery.
Additional CGI artifices were deployed here, though, to make it a proper contender to the current lot of full-size EV pickup trucks that reside on the North American market – R1T, Hummer EV, and – above all – the F-150 Lightning. As such, the pixel master not only chopped the roof and trunk away but also decided the E-GMP-based vehicle can easily take a swing from its current mid-size position to a full-size pickup truck lifestyle with a digitally elongated wheelbase. Cool, right?
Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution. Full profile
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