Photo: Jim Farley
Ford, General Motors (GM) and Fiat Chrysler are planning light-duty EV pickups, but the Detroit 3 may not be planning for a heavy-duty pickup EV anytime soon, as detailed in a new report from Automotive News.
The high-margin profit and heavy use cases offered by Ford’s corporate Super Duty customers is greater than Southwest Airlines, Marriott International and several other Fortune 500 companies, but executives say the diesel and gas trucks may be among the last to get electrified.
“If you’re pulling 10,000 pounds, an electric truck is not the right solution. And 95 percent of our customers tow more than 10,000 pounds,” Ford Motor Co. CEO Jim Farley told media at a Super Duty line reveal taking place at an event last month. “This is a really important segment for our country and it will probably go hydrogen fuel cell before it goes pure electric.”
Ford Needs to Cut Ad Spending, Revamp Dealers to Compete with Tesla and Others:Â CEO https://t.co/WINdohuzTY
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Diesel and gas are still seeing huge investments from legacy automakers, despite a shift to EVs in just about every other category — including light-duty pickup trucks.
The Ford 2023 Super Duty is gaining new gas and diesel engines, while GM is debuting a better-performance diesel engine in the 2024 Chevy Silverado HD, and the 2023 Ram HD is gaining a Rebel Performance variant.
The news comes just weeks after California approved a plan to ban new gas car sales by 2035, with New York discussing a plan to follow suit, as announced last week.
