Hoping to get @samabuelsamid’s opinion/insight on something:
There is a noticeable gap in the plugin electric truck market. Now, I realize it is a relatively new market, but why is noboby releasing a full electric pickup truck with a long bed (8 foot)? Ford is really pushing for market dominance (and they have it) with the construction/contractor segment, but how can they justify not having a long bed option? Many, many contractors need to carry longer items in their beds (myself included), and just lowering the tailgate is not a viable option. This is also an issue with their hybrid trucks… still no long bed. Is there anybody out there making, or planning on making a long bed plugin (or hybrid) electrick pickup?
Basically it comes down to very little demand for regular cab long bed these days apart from the commercial market. Almost 90% of F-150 sales now are short bed, crew cab. Very hard to make the business case at this point for an electric long bed. However, as electric gets an increasing share of sales in the coming years, I expect that we will probably see at least an extended cab long model. Most of the commercial customers that do opt for a regular cab, long bed are going for F-250 or F-350 super duty, not the F-150 light duty. The silverado with the mid-gate will have the ability to accomodate longer items with the tailgate up and mid-gate open
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Thanks for the response Sam. I’m not talking about regulr cab long beds, I’m talking about crew cab long beds. I transport glass shower doors daily, all of the glass is too long to fit in a short bed. Many other contractors need to transport longer items (4x8 sheets of plywood or drywall for instance).
An F250 or 350 is huge overkill for these types of job needs, especially when you factor in the higher height of the larger trucks, it makes them to difficult to use. Not to mention the huuuuge price difference between them…
As far as midgates go, the first time you hit a speed bump or dip with a vulnerable corner of tempered glass over the opened tailgate, the tailgate is going to pop up and explode that glass…
Unfortunately I think Sam’s sentiment still stands - Ford and most other manufacturers will be targeting dead center of market demographics for a while as they try and make these vehicles maximally profitable.
Anecdotally, most people who buy pickups simply want minivans that don’t look like minivans. IMHO it’s destroyed the truck market, but that’s how it goes. These people won’t buy something with an extra long body that will struggle to fit in normal parking spaces etc.
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FWIW, Ford got caught by surprise with the demand for the lightning. The original plan was for only about 25,000 a year. by the time they broke ground on the factory, it had bumped to 50,000 and by the time pre-production units were coming off the production equipment it was up to 80,000. Within a few months after that, they were at 150,000 per year, a production rate they expect to hit in mid-2023. With these much increased volumes, I wouldn’t be surprised to see at least one or two other configurations added to support some of these other needs.
I am just hoping that they have one out in time for when I need to replace my current truck…
In Europe, it was mainly sub compacts for years that were electric, plus the Tesla. Now it is starting to get into the normal sedan and a few compact SUVs. There are no trucks, no or few full-sized SUVs, I believe the Ford Transit is due to be electrified or has just been released, but I haven’t seen any trucks over here that are electric - the F150 is way too big for our roads, the Ranger counts as an oversized vehicle around here and 90% of trucks are Toyota Hilux or Ford Ranger sizes, there are a few Dodge RAMs and even fewer Ford F150s, I’d guess less than 1% of the truck market, here in Germany, they are special imports.
The manufacturers concentrate on getting market share first and that means adding models that sell in high volumes.