Wanna Bet Who Is Going to be Fashionably Extra-Late at the EV Truck Party or Not?

A few years ago, when passenger cars started their unrelenting decline, things could not have looked any better and more traditional for crossovers, SUVs, and trucks. And I mean traditional as in CUVs were offered to folks who not long ago wanted a station wagon or a minivan in their life, SUVs to customers who always considered passenger cars to be too restrictive for their planned adventures, and trucks to the peeps who loved to work and haul with their four-wheeled partner.

Alas, once the soccer mom/hockey dad MPV lifestyle almost disappeared, the station wagons fell out of favor, and even sedans or sports cars started fearing for their nameplate’s life, automakers understood they needed to diversify the offerings. Plus, now that we have destroyed our planet enough that the consequences cannot be ignored or hidden anymore, the EV revolution became something that wasn’t preached by those pesky green lifestyle advocates but rather one of the solutions to potentially insure our survival as a species, on the long run.

As such, carmakers are now sometimes juggling with more than they can chew, and it is partly their fault for trying to convince everyone that the higher profits from CUVs, SUVs, and trucks are the only way forward. Sure, a lot of good things came out of that strategy, as well, including (if we are focusing on the U.S. market) stuff like the revival of the compact truck sector with unibody stars like the ritzy Hyundai Santa Cruz and best-selling, electrified and more affordable Ford Maverick, the impending arrival of mid-size heroes like the all-new Ford Ranger Raptor (to dwell alongside the Bronco Raptor SUV sibling and the Ford F-150 Raptor and Raptor R ‘uncles’), and the uprising of EV full-size pickup trucks.

The latter has been an anticipated paradigm shift – but only in recent times because, as I said before, the truck sector was more traditional than any other high-rising segment. Alas, with the advent of the EV revolution and the constant desire of automakers to blur the lines between the practicality and comfort of CUVs and trucks, now we have cool stuff like the Rivian R1T and R1S pair, the GMC Hummer EV behemoth and its upcoming GMC Hummer EV SUV sibling, or the best-selling Ford F-150 Lightning. And with a starting price that is lower than everyone else’s (even after the recent hikes that brought the base MSRP up to $55,974), no wonder that in 2022 this was America’s most popular EV pickup truck.

Sure, some might argue that Rivian had more sales when the R1S and R1T combined, but we are pretty sure that Ford will end 2023 on an equally positive note. But let us not get ahead of the times because the competition will be a lot stiffer going forward. Remember, there are numerous new rivals incoming. GM alone has another couple of attempts at full-size EV pickup truck greatness after spectacularly failing to drive the point home (or a lot of units) with the GMC Hummer EV. Alas, that could easily change once the 2024 Chevrolet Silverado EV and 2024 GMC Sierra EV hit the market. When that happens, the Ford F-150 Lightning will finally have its electron-sipping work cut out for it. And the only ones to profit from this feud will be the consumers.

But what about Stellantis or Tesla, aren’t they going to try and have a saying in all of this? Well, after watching the Super Bowl LVII (by the way, congratulations to both the Kansas City Chiefs winner and Philadelphia Eagles runner-up for a 38-35 game well played!) commercials – including the 60-second “Premature Electrification,” (which is embedded below, just in case you didn’t catch it during the original airing), now we have a better picture of what to expect from all OEM players going forward.

This is because, after many delays, now we also know what the freshly baptized Ram 1500 REV production truck looks like and how it intends to treat the EV revolution at Stellantis. By the way, production is scheduled to begin next year, and most likely the company will offer it as a 2025 model year. And with that being said, one might think it is easy to say that Stellantis will be the one that is most fashionably late at the North American full-size EV pickup truck party.

However, I am afraid that I cannot rule out Tesla from the competition just yet. As such, while the GMC Hummer EV, Rivian R1T, and Ford F-150 Lightning will soon brawl with the 2024 Chevy Silverado EV and GMC Sierra EV, most likely there will be one last shady honor to consider – which rival between the Ram 1500 REV and Tesla Cybertruck will be last to hit the market, and why. For now, considering all the delays and the fact that its Cybertruck was presented back in 2019 – it might be Tesla who snatches the shameful laurels. Besides, I am now rooting for Stellantis because their Ram 1500 REV looks directly positioned as an F-150 Lightning foe, more than anything else.