Yesterday General Motors CEO Mary Barra confirmed the automaker has an electric pickup truck in the works.
Barra dropped the news during GM’s Q1 2019 earnings call, in which the automaker reported after tax net income of $2.1Â billion on earnings of $34.9Â billion. The executive only briefly touched on the forthcoming electric pickup, however, saying the automaker would provide more details at a later date.
“We intend to build on our truck leadership,” she told analysts during the conference call. “And with that in mind I want to address media coverage of the various industry partnerships around battery electric vehicles and trucks. As you know GM has an industry-leading truck franchise and industry-leading electrification capability. I assure you we will not feed our leadership on either front. We intend to create an all-electric future that includes a complete range of EVs including full-size pickups. And we will share additional information when competitively appropriate.”
Rivian R1T electric pickup
The way this statement was framed, it seems as though Barra was addressing media coverage related to its failed discussions with electric vehicle start-up Rivian. The Michigan-based EV maker wants to shop its electric skateboard chassis and other vehicle electrification tech around to major OEMs, but it wouldn’t have been allowed to do so if it were to enter the proposed partnership with GM. The Detroit-based auto giant wanted Rivian all to itself, so the company backed out. This allowed Ford to swoop in a make a $500 million investment in Rivian.
Rivian R1T interior
Ford and Rivian are now working on a new EV together, with Ford saying it ” intends to develop a new vehicle using Rivian’s flexible skateboard platform.” It’s not clear what type of vehicle they are working on, though it seems very likely that it is a pickup truck or utility of some sort.
Rivian launched late last year with two battery electric concepts, the R1T pickup and R1S three-row SUV. The production versions of these vehicles, slated to arrive in late 2020, are expected to deliver up to 400 miles of range starting in late 2020.
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Comments
Is this better than no comment?
Unacceptable, I need to know all the details RIGHT NOW so I can tell you how s***ty is and how un-competitive and awful it will be and how everyone elses also fictional electric truck will blow this truck away even though they don;t even exist……
I love the competition. I hope more and more electric cars populate this planet.
I really question the pick up EV market.
Truck buyers are not tree huggers. While Torque may interest them the charge times and lack of charging stations in most areas trucks are favored is a problem.
Off road is an issue as you get off road there is no electric. You go dead you do not fill Jerry Cans with Volts.
Then there is the price. Trucks are expensive now and EV is only going to be more expensive.
Right now the only way to make money is selling higher priced models like a Porsche or Tesla S and everything else is losing money.
The VW low price electric is losing $3000 per unit. The Bolt I expect also has no profit. Tesla is dying since they tried to sell a lower priced car and really have invested little in the S that was making money.
The move to Cadillac with EV is smart. The first truck based model should be an Escalade like model with EV as it has image, status and the ability to bring a higher price that would prove profitable.
Fleet sales are great for EV but is there any money to be made there not yet.
It was ok to lose money on this technology to start up the market but the time has come EV needs to start bringing some income. Any income would be a start.
Sorry but I would buy an EV Canyon !!!
I however would never buy an EV 1500 or 2500 do to the reasons you put forth.
After all the Canyon can’t do all that much HD truck stuff, but I love my Canyon for all the day to day running from jobsite to jobsite its a great size truck.
But I think I will always need a HD for moving equipment and the HD stuff and would not buy an EV for that until forced by someone.
I think there is absolutely a segment of potential truck buyers out there, but we’re waiting in the wings for an efficient mid-sized truck with mid-sized capabilities. I’m not a tree-hugger but I do love the outdoors and as an engineer I’m pretty passionate about efficiency and utility.
A 250-300 mile range Colorado/Canyon crew cab, 4WD, with some moderate towing ability would suit me just fine. I find myself having to tow a light duty utility trailer quite often but won’t stomach getting high teens mpg on my commute with an ICE truck; not when I’m currently driving a Bolt and charging it for free at work and nearly free (off peak) at home.
Hey I would buy a electric truck that uses the same idea as the Volt.
It seems that if what Mary says is true, they must be getting close. Cuz the competition says they will launch in 2020. I find it hard to believe that GM would launch before the others, when this is the first time that this was even mentioned. They must be doing their development in Area 51 to keep such a deep secret.
I’m all for EV’s. But as others have mentioned, price is going to be a big factor on their success.
TSLA got its market share by waiting until electric sedans were competitive too.
Oh wait.