F-150

Make
Ford
Segment
Sports Car

Ford has made no secret it intends to launch not only a hybrid F-150 pickup truck but also an all-electric one. When, exactly? The Blue Oval refuses to provide a precise date, but the hybrid will arrive first. Both, however, will be part of the next-generation F-150 lineup, as opposed to the current one. Ford's also recent F-150 EV prototype demonstration clearly demonstrated the capabilities of instant torque and powerful electric motors. The demo truck successfully towed 10 double-decker rail cars packed with F-150s. That was about 625 tons in total. Impressive.

Combined with the fact that an EV produces zero emissions, Ford is not the only automaker prepping an EV truck. Tesla will soon join the party, as will GM. Ford's investment in EV truck builder Rivian is also a clear-cut sign it sees EVs as the future. Question is, who will buy EV pickup trucks, at least initially? The typical truck buyer? Existing F-150 owners?

Trucks.com recently spoke with F-150 chief engineer Linda Zhang (who was featured in the demonstration video) about the project and one of the questions was in regards to expected buyers. Zhang claims "There will be a range of customers. We have heard from some of our fleet customers that they will be very interested in the power and capability of the truck. The hybrid coming out next year will have exportable power and that's a big feature of interest to those fleet customers."

The key phrase Zhang mentioned, however, is "fleet customers." No, Zhang is not talking about rental car agencies but rather cities and corporations eager to reduce their carbon footprints. Think of the F-150 work trucks you see around town that are part of the municipal service fleet. These trucks and their drivers handle tasks such as park maintenance and highway and road construction.

Ford's own internal data, following the release of the F-150 EV demonstration video, indicated an increase from 10 percent to 18 percent of people saying they'd be interested in buying an electric pickup. Of course this is only a survey and real-life scenarios will likely differ, the fact remains there's intrigue. Once the general public sees these fleet F-150 EVs out and about, there's a good likelihood interest in private ownership will go up.

The F-150 has dominated the pickup truck market for 42 years and Ford has no intention to surrender.