In America, the GMC Hummer EV behemoth, the new Rivian R1T kid on the block, as well as the mighty Ford F-150 Lightning, have already set the pace across the novel zero-emissions full-size pickup truck segment.
And the situation is getting better – at least theoretically. Soon, these models will be rivaled by the Chevrolet Silverado EV, its GMC Sierra EV sibling, the Ram 1500 REV, as well as the unorthodox Tesla Cybertruck. So, we could say they are pretty well into the EV revolution.
However, the situation is pretty different when it comes to smaller offerings. Only the Ford Maverick unibody compact pickup truck is electrified, and only the N400 Toyota Tacoma is making its hybrid soul known to North America with 326 horsepower coming from the i-Force Max assembly. But what about fully electric offerings? Nope, there is nothing from legacy automakers.
Interestingly, it's the imaginative realm of digital car content creators that presents a solution to the conundrum – and possibly a global one. Dimas Ramadhan, the virtual automotive artist behind the Digimods DESIGN channel on YouTube, has taken up the task of revealing this idea of an Amarok EV - in CGI, probably because he was sick and tired of waiting for VW to get the revived Scout brand up and running.
The second generation of the popular body-on-frame VW Amarok pickup truck was revealed last year and is now based on the Ford T6.2 platform shared with the latest Ford Ranger – even the assembly takes place at Ford's manufacturing plant in Silverton, South Africa. Both two-door single-cab and four-door double-cab configurations are available for this iteration, complete with four TDI (diesel) and one TSI powertrain option.
However, there's no electrified presence in the real world – and certainly not one to wear the legendary GTI badge. Well, that changes across the parallel universes of CGI as the pixel master reworked both elements from the ID. series and the iconic red GTI patterns into the styling of the second-generation Amarok.
Frankly, it's not a bad design at all because the ID. series deploys a sleek design pattern that seems to be easily applicable to any model in the Volkswagen roster. On the other hand, the author's quirkiness doesn't shy away from this design project as the title says "all-new VW Amaro Electric," but the CGI expert forgot to erase the classic tailpipe from the ICE-powered exhaust system!
Anyway, it's probably going to be a long way before we see a Ford Ranger and VW Amarok platform adopt the zero emissions lifestyle – though it wouldn't be out of reach for that to happen when the Blue Oval debuts the second-generation architecture for the F-150 Lightning if the company decides to make it modular and applicable to smaller body-on-frame models, 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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