Innovation in what makes for an electric pickup About The Segment It’s no exaggeration to say the electric pickup segment is seeing an upheaval as the biggest manufacturers rethink what a versatile utility can do for drivers today. With a spread of body styles, battery sizes, pack layouts and cab styles emerging across more models, there’s a broader array of options for use cases like family and daily driver, as well as work and recreation more varieties to help customers leverage that sub-$40k starting price. While some will help expand range and practicality while others push power or off-road adventures, the truck market is becoming as diverse as the utility segment itself.
From small and agile designs that are perfect for navigating city streets to full-sized, heavy-duty pickups built for tough work, battery-powered trucks are adapting to a wide variety of drivers and applications. While these battery-powered trucks come in different sizes and capacities, they all have one thing in common they can handle anything from everyday city driving, to serious hauling, towing and construction work. As automakers explore new platforms and uncover creative electric solutions, electric trucks prove that doing your work and being emissions-free go hand in hand. A closer look at these electric trucks reveals how new battery packs, sophisticated powertrains, clever packaging and smart engineering are reshaping the modern pickup into something totally new.
1. Toyota EPU Concept
Toyota attracted a lot of buzz at the Japan Mobility Show with the reveal of the EPU, a curvy battery-powered pickup concept designed from the ground-up with everyday usability in mind. Its approximately 199-inch length makes it smaller than a typical midsize or full-size pickup closer in size to versatile compact models such as the Ford Maverick or Hyundai Santa Cruz. And unlike the often-exciting show vehicles with exaggerated design elements, the EPU has crisp, production-friendly styling.
Compact Electric Truck Highlights:
- Roughly 199 inches in length
- Compact everyday pickup dimensions
- Clean production-ready exterior design
- Folding tailgate extends cargo
- Intelligent battery packaging approach
The EPU from Toyota illustrates that an electric pickup doesn’t have to mirror the proportions of a traditional full-size truck. The EPU’s narrow footprint brings it much closer in size to more compact pickup trucks, while still offering the utility expected of a workhorse. The interior continues the touch of the futuristic, modern overlapping digital displays and steering yoke, useful on a work-truck without sacrificing the simplicity of day to day use. The fold-down tailgate, a handy feature that effectively doubles as an extension for longer items like pieces of equipment and sporting gear, continues to complement the EPU’s forward-thinking, battery-focused design with its intuitively practical design.
2. Toyota 2021 Tacoma-Style Electric Concept
Prior to the debut of the new, smaller EPU, Toyota gave an earlier preview of its electric truck plan at an influential design showcase event back in 2021. The design concept was very muscular in terms of body stance and sharp character lines with broad proportions that played off the appearance of the gas-only Toyota Tacoma midsize pickup. This concept placed a clear focus on off-road capability and classic truck styling to make its electric nature clearer to fans of pickup trucks from previous generations.
Tacoma-Inspired Electric Design:
- Muscular pickup body styling
- Crisp character lines throughout
- Aggressive traditional truck proportions
- Strong off-road visual emphasis
- Familiar Tacoma-inspired appearance
The 2021 concept was a much different vehicle than the ultra-compact EPU. While the EPU was designed to focus on a smaller footprint, this concept used bold proportions and a traditional pickup truck look to signal its utility. The styling was meant to appeal to those who already loved the form and feeling of current trucks, with bold fender flares, a wide stance and familiar face giving the concept a link to the Tacoma persona. Comparing the EPU and the more conventional 2021 concept reveals that Toyota explored at least two takes on a future electric utility vehicle, giving you the choice of which type would be right.
3. Ford F-150 Lightning
As the first entrant in the electric pickup segment, Ford F-150 Lightning led the charge to bring battery-electric driving to America’s best-selling truck family. F-Series familiarity and practicality-good old-fashioned styling, ample interior room and traditional all-wheel drive-made the Lightning an easy first step into electric driving for consumers already familiar with the pickup truck experience. Further helping buyers get comfortable with the latest propulsion technology, the Lightning’s truck-like practicality was embedded in Pro Power Onboard power generation, with outlets in the truck bed, cabin and front trunk to go from worksite to camping ground to home backup in case of outage with its ability to generate electricity.
Electric F-150 Utility Advantages:
- Familiar F-Series truck ergonomics
- Dual-motor all-wheel-drive capability
- Pro Power Onboard system
- Multiple integrated power outlets
- Useful mobile generator functionality
The F-150 Lightning showed that changing to electric didn’t necessarily mean leaving all the familiar features behind. Its generously sized interior and the familiar F-Series cabin environment and dual-motor AWD configuration made the transition easier for traditional truck owners. Its Pro Power Onboard feature also added some convenience to the mix by offering what was basically a mobile power source, with outlets scattered around the truck capable of supporting work tools, camping gear and even backup power for the home during grid outages.
4. Ford Fathom EV Pickup
As the auto industry continues to steer into more accessible electric utility vehicles, Ford is designing the next platform around efficiency and a good price. The next-gen Ford Fathom EV pickup will use the automaker’s Universal Electric Vehicle (UEV) platform, and the standard-range Fathom EV is expected to start at $28,350 (plus $1,595 delivery), competing in the cheap mid-size segment that will launch in early 2027 to meet and sell demand for cheaper, battery-electric trucks. It is a smaller footprint on the outside but seemingly offers better roominess inside than a comparable Toyota RAV4 crossover, and the Fathom will be the first EV to be available with Apple Maps integrated natively into its navigation system. Ford CEO Jim Farley has taken friends and family out to look at prototype versions of the Fathom ahead of its official unveiling, which will be built at Ford’s Louisville Assembly plant in order to scale electric trucks at under $30,000.
Affordable Electric Truck Direction:
- UEV platform underpins development
- Target price starts $28,350
- Affordable midsize pickup positioning
- More spacious interior packaging
- Production planned for 2027
The Fathom EV pickup for Ford is Ford’s EV-related foray into affordable electric utility. The one-only entry builds on its targeted base price to highlight affordability, along with its cross-over based midsize positioning that delivers a relatively compact exterior footprint. Inside, Ford is designing with space-efficient packaging and says the vehicle will offer more room than a Toyota RAV4, the current class leader in cross over cabin space, which means it can deliver more without having to go larger on the footprint.
5. Ford Extended-Range Electric Vehicle (EREV) Pickup
Ford will add to its electric truck mix with an EREV pickup, recognising that battery-electric trucks in the top end of the segment ($50,000-$80,000) have not been the easiest to adopt. Instead of solely relying on a battery, it will be an EREV pickup equipped with an onboard gas generator that will produce electricity whenever that is needed. The future truck will feature a combined range of more than 700 miles (1127 km) with a single tank of petrol through a range extender.
Extended-Range Pickup Benefits:
- Onboard petrol-powered generator included
- More than 700-mile total range
- Reduced charging-stop concerns
- Battery operation suits daily driving
- Electric torque remains available
The EREV solution is meant to help offset one of the biggest practical issues with electric trucks: long distance work and hauling. Long-haul or high-mileage drivers might need to recharge more often, which makes a range extender a viable workaround. For daily driving the vehicle should operate most of the time in electric mode, with guidance from Ford’s executive insights suggesting about 90 percent of typical driving should be attainable using electric propulsion, with the range extender still available to top off a charge if needed.
6. Tesla Cybertruck
The Tesla Cybertruck is a radical departure from traditional pickup design: a durable ultra-hard stainless-steel exoskeleton paired with armoured glass to give it a bold new look. An NMC battery pack and available tri-motor all-wheel drive provides top specifications with the ability to accelerate from 0-60 miles per hour in 2.9 seconds. In addition to its sports car-level acceleration, the Cybertruck boasts a payload capacity of 3,500 pounds, a maximum tow capacity of 14,000 pounds, and enhanced ground clearance with adaptive suspension for off-road driving.
Cybertruck Technology and Capability:
- Stainless-steel exoskeleton construction
- Tri-motor all-wheel-drive option
- 3,500-pound payload capacity
- Up to 14,000-pound towing capacity
- Adaptive suspension supports off-roading
Unique looks and design for a pickup, the Cybertruck takes an unorthodox style and build approach compared to other pickups. With an exterior made of angular stainless steel body panels combined with a software-focused interior with a wide field of view through its glass windshield, the Cybertruck offers a very different perspective in the way it feels when driven, compared to its low-key truck rivals. Its performance values also set the electric pickup apart into a different class as top versions combine rapid acceleration with a large payload capacity and towing figures as well as adaptive suspension and elevated ground clearance.
