Electric Pickup Trucks Bring New Surprise, Delight

New tech and unique designs aim to lure truck buyers to go electric.

Nissan’s Project 72X, a concept based on the 2022 Frontier, illustrates potential design and engineering moves that could end up on electric pickups. (Nissan)

Legacy pickup truck OEMs are betting big that they can sway buyers accustomed to monster towing capability and hundreds of miles of driving range that electrified trucks can match, if not beat, the ICE-powered benchmarks. “We know that there is apprehension,” conceded Mike Koval Jr., Ram brand CEO, during an interview with SAE Media at the 2022 Chicago Auto Show. As pickups are huge profit-makers, there is a lot riding on attracting more than just early adopters to buy, and love, an electrified truck.

Without a combustion engine, the underhood eTrunk compartment of the 2024 Chevrolet Silverado EV is almost large enough to fit a Chevy Spark. (Chevrolet)

Key technology and design drivers behind the EV truck push are unfolding. Ford expects nearly half of its global vehicle volume to be fully electric by 2030, the fruits of a $30 billion investment in electrification through 2025. Ford’s next EV, the 2022 F-150 Lightning, offers an extended-range battery pack that the company claims can deliver 300 miles (483 km) driving range. Engineered on the same “footprint” as the conventional F-150 truck, the Lightning uses a traditional body-on-frame architecture with fresh styling “to help our loyal customers transition to the all-new electric truck and still be able to use all of the accessories – i.e., bed caps, toolbox, bed liner, etc. – previously purchased,” explained Kenny Moore, Ford Truck exterior design manager.

New and clever functionality features are a major attraction of all-electric trucks. The transverse “gear tunnel” on Rivian’s R1T is a novel, practical idea that had some veteran pickup designers wondering why they hadn’t thought of it first. Without an ICE under the hood, EV pickups feature “frunks” (front trunks) that provide lockable, deep-well storage.

The Lightning’s Mega Power Frunk “adds lots of valuable space with electrical plugs that were not previously possible,” said Moore. “We have had customers in the past say they wanted a truck but didn’t want to sacrifice trunk space, so they ended up going to an SUV. Now they can have the best of both worlds.”

Without underbody exhaust systems and liquid-fuel tanks and related plumbing, EVs are reshaping pickup design. That can mean more occupant space and additional room for storage and other features. It also brings greater overall efficiency. Compared with its 2022 piston-engine namesake, the Chevrolet 2024 Silverado EV’s front-end geometry, along with an EV-specific approach to cooling inlets, substantially reduces the vehicle’s coefficient of drag, which increases the electric driving range. (GM has not yet released the truck’s coefficient of drag but estimates a 400-mile driving range.)

According to Ryan Vaughan, exterior design director for Chevrolet full-size trucks, the Silverado EV’s front-end design also is optimized for improved access to the commodious eTrunk, which is Chevy’s name for a frunk.

Chevy beats Ford in V2L

Electric powertrain architectures also let designers re-imagine pickup cabin interiors. “You’ll be able to use the truck as a mobile productivity center, whether your productivity is manual or digital. Battery-electric vehicles will allow an entirely different set of experiences and thinking for how a truck can make work, rest, drive and play happen,” noted Scott Anderson, Ford Truck interior design lead. Upgradable digital and physical tools will be a crucial part of a truck’s makeup. “Flexibility over time will be a huge trend, and we will be able to flex and serve customer needs to enable experiences they didn’t even know they needed or wanted,” Anderson said.

Using an electric truck as a mobile external power source (known as vehicle-to-load, or V2L) is an emerging technology trend. With its debut on the F-150 Lightning, the available Ford Intelligent Backup Power can provide up to 9.6 kW of power to a household during an electrical grid outage. The Silverado EV will join the V2L game and ups the ante on Ford. Its “off-board power capability of up to 10.2 kW means you have the ability to power your home, campsite, or even another EV,” said chief engineer Nichole Kraatz.

Besides their focus on surprise-and-delight features, EV pickup development teams also are working to improve EV fundamentals. “Electrification has its own safety nuances that we need to pay attention to, especially with a larger vehicle like a truck,” observed Brian Latouf, chief safety officer for Hyundai Motor America. With larger battery packs and higher voltage, engineers “need to protect the battery pack just like you would an occupant,” Latouf said. That protection requires appropriate structural load paths and other design and technology considerations. “The battery pack has to be in the ‘thou-shall-not-crush zone,” he stressed.

Fast-follower advantages

Customer feedback is informing Ram product planners and engineers what consumers want and need from an all-electric Ram 1500. The team recently established a dedicated “Ram Revolution” website to collect data from thousands of pickup owners and those wanting to influence the battery-powered truck’s specifications.

The 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning’s “frunk” delivers commodious storage space, and the ProPower onboard-power option provides a total of ten 120V outlets, plus a 240V outlet in the cargo bed. (Ford)
When it debuted at the LA show in 2018, Rivian’s R1T surprised veteran truck designers with its novel and practical “gear tunnel” storage compartment. (Lindsay Brooke)
Ram CEO Mike Koval, shown at the 2022 Chicago Auto Show, promises that his company’s 2024 Ram EV will offer “a suite of solutions” to set it apart from the competition. (Stellantis)

“When we come to market with a full battery-electric vehicle in 2024, our suite of solutions will set us apart from the competition,” said brand boss Koval. He indicated that new surprise-and-delight innovations and Stellantis-leveraged technologies are likely to be seen on the Ram 1500 EV. “We’re looking at all sorts of different solutions for the light-duty and also the heavy-duty space, and for our commercial vans as well,” Koval said.

Arriving late to the still-nascent EV pickup segment isn’t problematic for Ram, Koval asserted. “There is an absolute advantage because we’re able to adjust. We’re able to adjust the specs, so that we deliver electrified vehicles that re-define the segments in which they will compete by offering more power, more range, more capability and more functionality,” he said, adding that Ram will release “a constant drumbeat” of news about the 2024 electric pickup throughout 2022.

“This whole EV transformation has sped up pretty quickly, but the reality is we haven’t seen real market penetration,” Koval said. “That’s still to come, which is why Ram is focused on bringing the right vehicle at the right time. We have a track record of doing that.”

Personalization to continue

Pickup buyers traditionally match their truck purchases to work needs and personal tastes. Toyota’s all-new, fourth-generation 2022 Tundra offers a choice of ICE and hybrid-electric powertrains, the latter a first for Tundra. Toyota has shown a concept all-electric truck, but specific details haven’t been revealed publicly. “Technology trends and niche personalities are dominating the interior design of pickup trucks,” explained Benjamin Jimenez, general manager of Toyota’s Calty Design Research in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He noted that the different 2022 Tundra grades are tailored to make the truck “feel uniquely custom.”

Calty president Kevin Hunter noted today’s trucks are essentially lifestyle vehicles. And because they are viewed as an alternative to big luxury sedans, pickups are getting more sophisticated, Hunter noted, citing the new ultra-premium Tundra Capstone edition.

Personalization is likely to remain highly profitable for both OEMs and the aftermarket as electric pickup popularity grows, the experts maintain. “Much of the desire for personalization comes from customers loving their truck,” said Wade Willatt, senior product planner for the Nissan midsize Frontier and full-size Titan pickup trucks. He doesn’t foresee electric-truck customers “loving their trucks less” than they do ICE models and doesn’t anticipate any drop in “the desire for customers to make their truck uniquely their own.” Nissan’s Canton, Mississippi, complex, home to Frontier and Titan production, is slated to support two all-new, electric vehicles beginning in 2025.