It's hard to imagine a more
quintessentially American vehicle
than the pickup truck.
But this age old love affair
is about to get a shock
that could change that relationship forever.
Outside of North America
trucks with open pickup beds
are generally considered utility vehicles
for commercial use
and don't sell in particularly high volume
but in the US
they're practically a cultural institution.
[Commercial Announcer] Whether you drive America's truck
there's one place you'll want to be.
Pickup trucks have been kind of the centerpiece
for much of the US auto market
for 60 or 70 years really.
Certainly since World War II
if not earlier.
They represent the highest volume vehicles
in the US
and they represent the highest profit vehicles
in the US.
Had one since I was in my twenties
couldn't function doing what I'm doing without one.
This is probably
fourth or fifth truck.
I've had the same model of truck
since I was seventeen,
and I'm now 52.
For work, this one fits my purposes perfectly.
The numbers are staggering;
nearly one in five vehicles sold in the US
are pickup trucks.
And in April 2020
for the first time ever
pickup trucks outsold passenger cars,
which have been on a steady decline for years.
With reliable sales and healthy profit margins
you would expect manufacturers
to not mess with proven formula.
Because the manufacturers have this
big question that they're always fighting with.
How many of our resources
do we apply to our current business models
that make money for us right now?
And how much of our resources do do we allot
for longer term future investment?
The interest in electric trucks
has been building
for a while in the background,
but as we all know
when Elon Musk makes a splash
everyone kind of watches.
Tesla essentially threw the first pitch.
In a game that few people
outside of the auto industry
even knew was being played.
And as of mid 2020,
no fewer than seven models
by seven different manufacturers
are currently in development
supported by an astounding amount of marketing hype
for a category that has yet to deliver
a single vehicle to market.
Seein' the world mot as it is,
but how it could be.
That is how you change the world.
What makes this race especially exciting
is that it isn't just a battle
between the major well-heeled industry players
but also a lineup of young companies
that resemble Silicon Valley startups
complete with flashy names and headline-grabbing CEOs.
Tesla has proven
that it's possible to come out of nowhere
as an automaker
and become a real player
and a real force in the industry.
And I think every one of them
is hoping to be the Tesla of trucks,
including Tesla.
I think a lot of these startups
are feeling like we don't need
to steal 50%
of the F-150's market share.
If we can steal
four percent of the F-150's market share,
we're going to sell a lot of trucks.
While early adopters may be enticed
by new tech or environmental impact,
the electric pickup's fate
will come down to convincing loyal customers
that it's demonstrably better
for the same or less cost.
And that's where the innovation race comes in.
I saw that a model T got 24 miles per gallon.
The average car
still gets about 24 miles per gallon.
Physics of that recipe
of pistons going up and down
and routing power,
you can't get past.
So the only way to have a quantum leap
is to reinvent it.
Typical fraternal combustion engine vehicle
will have north of 2,000 moving parts.
Every moving part is a loss of efficiency.
That's what's really different about our pickup truck.
It only has four moving parts.
The wheels.
There is nothing simpler
than a motor in each wheel
and a computer watching
that motor very precisely.
After 95 years
pick up trucks get about 15 miles per gallon.
We've invented a pickup truck
that gets equivalent of 75 miles per gallon.
Five fold it's efficient.
Comparing gas to electric,
one of the first things that you notice immediately is
the delivery of torque
and how much tool there is,
in an electric vehicle.
There's zero lag.
So as soon as you step on the throttle,
you're getting instant torque.
And that's great
for the type of usability
that you want in a pickup
when you're rock crawling or off-roading
or even just normal driving situations.
It gives you a lot of confidence
and it's really enjoyable to drive.
Every night when you go home,
you can plug it in
just like you plug in your phone
and it's ready to go to the next day,
fully charged, ready to roll.
But still floating around
are concerns that have been part
of the EV debate all along,
particularly around range anxiety.
With electric trucks,
range can vary widely on the carrying
or towing load,
reducing it by up to 50% in some cases.
And the notion of freedom
that is heavily baked into American truck marketing
is limited by rapid charging infrastructure,
which is still far from widespread,
especially in rural areas
where pickup trucks are common.
And then there's another factor.
You personally, would you be able
to switch to an electric truck?
Hard to say.
It kinda all depends
on how expensive they are.
I would, if it was cost effective.
So how much do these trucks cost?
Well, according to what's been announced so far
there's a pretty wide range
from around $40,000 in the low end
to well over a hundred thousand dollars,
and different models are clearly targeted
toward different types of customers.
Nonetheless, that range begins well
above the cheapest gas powered pickups in the market.
Even when taking into account the current,
various federal and state level credits
for electric vehicles.
The good news though,
is that the core technology
behind this segment, batteries,
continue to get cheaper.
Since 2010 battery prices have fallen 87%.
That's lithium ion battery pack prices
from 2010 to 2019.
That's a really, really sharp drop.
And that's starting to get you
to the point where automakers
can make and sell an EV
for a reasonable profit margin.
For most automakers
it's still lower
than the margins they make
on their average internal combustion engine vehicles.
But it's certainly getting closer
as we saw with Tesla Model S,
start at the high end
and kind of work your way down.
I think you'll see something a bit similar
with pickups is that some
of these that come out
are going to be targeted
a little at the higher end
for the first few years
until those costs come down a little bit further.
What's fascinating about trucks is that
in many ways they are perfect candidates
for electric, electric drive trains.
They're larger.
They have more space for the battery packs.
You can hide or integrate
the additional cost of the EV components into its price
easier than you can, say, a compact car.
I think that all
will help trucks potentially succeed
if you can get the end user to go for them.
One thing that companies are succeeding
at already is setting expectations high
such as GM claiming a three second
zero to 60 time
for its thousand plus horsepower Hummer EV
or Nikola offering a 600 mile
estimated maximum range
on its hydrogen cell fuel equipped Badger.
But delivering on the promises of these prototypes
in a mass production vehicle
is a whole other challenge
especially for the startups.
They don't have to just make trucks.
They've got to get a supply chain going,
distribution system, assembly,
plants, everything.
So it's relatively easy to produce a single
or even a couple
concept vehicles that look really neat.
Building high volume electric trucks
at a high quality
and distributing them throughout the country
or throughout the world
is a much bigger undertaking.
Long term, they're either gonna need a lot more money
or they're going to need to align
with a traditional automaker.
Some of the startups
have already embraced the cliche,
if you can't beat them, join them.
Usually in the form
of a healthy contribution
to their balance sheet.
Michigan-based Rivian counts Ford
among its family of investors
with a legendary F-150 maker
committing half a billion dollars so far.
Meanwhile, business fleet focused
Lordstown motors has made its relationship
with a legacy brand
a little more physical.
GM was closing a plant here
in Lordstown Ohio.
It made Chevy Cruises
and we were able to purchase a plant,
but most importantly, intact.
So 2,000 robots
four stamping presses,
full paint booth,
body shop,
you know, everything.
There's a huge workforce around here.
It's great.
Generations of automotive maker.
And we're going to be here
for a long time
because this is the future.
In addition to taking
over a former GM plant,
Lordstown recently announced
that it will be going public
in a deal that would net almost $700 million
to fund operations.
And one of its principal supporters,
you probably guessed it, general motors.
The next few years are going to be particularly interesting
to watch as the entangling
industry alliances shake out
while the different models make it to market, hopefully.
But there's more than just corporate profit
riding on the promise of the electric pickup.
Its success could be a major inflection point
in the American adoption
of electric vehicles.
Historically, there's been this
incredible mismatch between
what consumers are buying
in North America,
which is far more trucks and SUVs.
And the segments
that a lot of those EVs
that we saw over the last 10 years launched into,
which were Sedans
and often compact Sedans at that.
So once there's compelling
pickup truck options
I think they're going to sell well.
I'm actually pretty optimistic
that that could change the game a little bit
in the US
in terms of EV adoption
over the next five years.
[Commercial Announcer] The market today,
one is leaving the others behind.
It's really a cool thing
to disrupt something that
hasn't changed, essentially, in 95 years.
I think all pickup trucks
are going to go electric.
There's no reason
for them not to.
Disruption doesn't usually
happen overnight, but rather in fits and starts;
and eventually an idea
that was once esoteric or whimsical
or maybe even ridiculed
becomes simply another reasonable option.
And then one day you wake up
and it's the default.
I think that's what's gonna be fascinating
about the personal transportation space
over the next 10, 15 years.
We're not going to see
any one dominant form
of powering of power system for these vehicles.
We're going to see
an increased diversity in them.
And I've always said
there isn't the silver bullet
that's gonna solve all our problems.
There's a bunch of copper bullets
that add up to a silver bullet.