- For those of you who are above the ripe old age of 22,
then you probably remember the movie Back to the Future.
I mean, it really is a fantastic film.
For me, I remember being a small kid
watching the movie for the first time
and being absolutely enamored
with all of the futuristic technology that the movie had.
We're talking about things like self-lacing shoes,
hoverboards, and of course, who could forget flying cars.
While there were a few things
that the movie did get right when it came to the year 2015,
'cause that was the year they traveled to,
there are also a lot of things
that we may have missed the mark a bit on.
- Something very familiar about all this.
- While we certainly don't have flying cars today,
the fact still remains that all electric cars
are a thing of the present.
(out of tune flute music)
But move over Tesla, it's not just sedans
that are getting the all electric treatment.
In the last two years,
electric trucks seem to be popping up literally everywhere,
but what's the catch?
who's making 'em, where did they come from,
and how long are they gonna last?
Here's the good news, I'm Dustin with the Custom Offsets,
you guys can find me @dusti.co on the old Instagram,
and today we're finding out
just what's the scoop with electric trucks,
and if they truly are the way the future.
(rock music)
(drums beating)
Now, before we cross the wires
and jumpstart this thing into action,
I just want to take a second and say, hey,
thank you for all you guys tuning in
for following along.
Custom Offsets has been around since 2013
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or picked up a set of wheels and tires for your truck,
or even just subscribed to the YouTube channel
so we can keep making awesome videos just like this one,
we truly appreciate your support.
Thanks for being a part of the Custom Offsets family,
and it means a ton to all of us here.
While there are lots of electric trucks,
and really just lots of electric vehicles in general
on the horizon,
it does make us wonder just why
they've gotten so popular in the first place.
I mean, after all,
it seems that just the last two or three years
we've seen all sorts of vehicles
pop up all over the place.
Heck, even some of the big three
are introducing all electric vehicles, including Chevy,
but we'll talk a little bit more about that later.
For starters here,
we're beginning to see electric vehicles grow in popularity
because unlike when they were first introduced,
EVs, (record scratch)
can I call them EVs by the way?
'Cause electric vehicle,
I'm gonna call 'em EVs by the way,
it's my video, I do what I want.
Anyways, the Achilles heel of electric vehicles or EVs
has always been range.
While a petrol powered car or truck
could go three to 400 miles,
or sometimes even more on a single tank,
electric vehicles have been historically capped
to under a 200 mile range.
Recently though, we've seen these ranges extended
with some of these new electric vehicles
to be 350, 400, or even 450 miles or more.
Now not only is this freaking awesome,
but it also really changes the game
when it comes to the usability and functionality
of these electric pickups.
This coupled with the fact that electric vehicles
are getting much more affordable
to your average everyday consumer,
and it makes it easy to understand why Tesla blew up,
and why you see other manufacturers
getting into that market as well.
Speaking of Tesla, let's chat for just a second
about the electric trucks that we know of
that are coming out or currently on their way.
While there are a lot of trucks in the news right now,
it all started with the one and only Tesla.
Seeing the results they saw
with their electric cars in 2019,
daddy Elon Musk turned their sights
to the pickup truck market,
introducing the all new, all futuristic,
and bad-ass Cybertruck.
And it took the market by storm.
Heck, we were even so impressed with the Cybertruck
that we actually pre-ordered one on launch day,
but it didn't stop there.
Since Tesla played with the idea
of an all electric pickup truck,
the market has exploded with other contenders
that want a piece of the pie as well.
Companies like Nikola, Lordstown, Rivian,
and Bollinger were quick to fire off concepts
for their electric trucks, but it didn't stop there either.
Now we all know how 2020 went, right?
With the whole like, global pandemic
and the economic shutdown, and the microchip shortage,
and we all worked from home and it was
kind of a sad time, but you know it is what it is
and that didn't stop the big three
from making strides in the electric truck market
while the rest of the world was maybe slowing down.
It all started with Ford
who dropped the line in early 2021
that they were bringing back the F-150 Lightning,
except this time it was all electric.
Modeling after the Tesla $100 pre-order,
Ford saw a massive amount of pre-orders for this truck,
and has even stated at this point
that they're preparing to double production
of the Lightning by 2024, which is pretty wild.
Controversial, very wild.
But this all new F-150
just isn't cool because it's electric,
it really is a practical all electric vehicle.
It's a half ton truck with a ton of opportunities,
and I would even go so far as to say
that it's more versatile because of
all the plug in options that this F-150 has.
If you gotta plug into your job site, you know,
maybe like run a circle saw or something like that?
No sweat, Lightning does that.
Power goes out in your house for like three days?
Also no sweat, just plug your Lightning in
and it'll actually backfeed power
out of the battery into your house,
keeping your food cold in the fridge
so you don't have to toss it all out
when the power comes back on.
But it wasn't just Ford
that's jumping on the bandwagon here.
Recently both General Motors and Mopar
have committed to having fully electric trucks by 2022.
While details on both are still pretty vague,
rumor on the street is that we will learn more
about the all new and all electric Silverado and Sierra
on September 9th of 2021,
which is kind of a bummer
'cause I'm gonna be driving the Lifted Truck Nationals,
but I'm still gonna tune in
'cause I want to see the release.
Ram is also talking about an electric truck
stating that they will have
some more details shortly as well.
So why on earth would you want to own an EV pickup truck,
especially when gas and diesel trucks are so damn dialed in?
Well, for starters,
one of the biggest advantages of an electric pickup
is that unlike a gas or a diesel truck
which needs to rev up before you hit peak torque,
an electric motor in a pickup is gonna give you
that sweet, sweet power immediately.
Now, not only is this great for towing, right?
If you're towing or hauling a lot,
because it means that you'll have all that power right away
versus having to wait for it to build up.
Like we said, this coupled with the fact
that electric pickup trucks usually have more torque
than their gas or diesel counterparts anyway
means that electric pickups
are just downright ready to party.
But as I always say,
it's not always rainbows and unicorns
when it comes to electric vehicles.
The biggest disadvantage of electric vehicles
is that they do require a charge,
and that usually takes some time to happen.
Where petrol powered vehicles are as simple
as swinging by the old QuikTrip to fill up,
side note, if you don't have a QuikTrip in your state,
then you're missing out. (electronic beeping)
Sorry. Anyway, where were we?
Right, yeah.
So unlike stopping by to fill up your fuel tank
on the way to work,
electric trucks require you to plug them in,
surprise, surprise.
While charging speeds vary,
to get the full 350 plus charged miles that you need
it can sometimes take hours leaving you, you know,
maybe twiddling your thumbs at the charging station.
Additionally, while electric cars have come
quite a long ways in terms of the colder climates
like we are here in the Midwest,
there's still much to be seen
when it comes to electric trucks in the winter.
How are they gonna perform?
Will the battery life hold up
in the frigid Midwestern temperatures of Wisconsin?
Only time will tell.
So what do you guys think about this
all new electric truck hype?
Do you think they'll stick around
or do you think that they're gonna fail and fall flat?
Would you consider buying one, or better yet,
should we build one here at Custom Offsets?
Let us know down in the comments section below
and as always, if you haven't yet,
please consider subscribing to the channel
so we can keep making the awesome truck content
that you guys have come to love from us.
With that, I'm Dustin with Custom Offsets,
we'll see you guys on the next one.
(relaxed electronic music)