6 days ago
The Electric Pickup Truck Boom Turned Into a Big Bust
It's understandable why Tesla Inc.'s polarizing, oddly polygonal Cybertruck didn't ignite a sales frenzy, and the Rivian R1T's advertised monthly payment of more than $800 puts it out of reach for most consumers. But even Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Co., two legacy automakers that sell hundreds of thousands of trucks in the US every year, haven't been able to persuade more than a smattering of pickup-loving Americans to go electric.
Automakers collectively sold about 35,000 electric pickups to US drivers in the first half of 2025, down 4% from the year before. Meanwhile, 1.6 million gasoline-powered full-size pickups flew off lots during the same period, according to market research firm AutoForecast Solutions. Now automakers who rushed to invest billions of dollars to build plug-in pickups can't help but wonder how they overestimated interest from their most loyal customers so badly.
