Lucas Bell 
As the talks of electrification continue throughout the American auto industry, pickup trucks have somewhat taken center stage. Ford, General Motors and FCA are all officially in the process of building an electric truck, as are Tesla, Rivian, Nikola, Lordstown, and Bollinger. While these trucks are coming rapidly, the automakers aren’t all sold on the proposition entirely. According to a new report from the Detroit Free Press, the Dearborn-based automaker will not be electrifying its Ford Super Duty lineup any time soon.
The proclamation came from Kumar Galhotra, Ford’s President of Americas and International Markets Group during a forum hosted by Dan Levy of Credit Suisse. Galhorta said that the company has no plans at this moment to build heavy duty electric vehicles, though he did not state that the company won’t pursue this in the future.
This is a significant announcement from the Dearborn automaker, especially considering the massive investment they’ve put into the electric F-150 program. However, the Detroit Free Press report suggests that the decision has everything to do with market interest. Ford’s new CFO John Lawler also commented during the forum, noting that Ford’s goal is to build a profitable EV portfolio. The cost of the electric F-150 has been significantly reduced due to its component sharing with the ICE-powered models. So then it seems the level of interest in an electric Ford Super Duty is not high enough to off-set the additional development costs.
The creation of the electric pickup truck market is a good thing. And automakers new and old are pushing one another to create some seriously cool products as they enter into this white space. However, BEV tech needs to penetrate the heavy duty vehicle market if it is going to have staying power. In order to do that, automakers are going to need to make a vehicle just as capable as the current crop of HD pickups. Until then, it’s unlikely you’ll see buyers clamoring for an electric Ford Super Duty.
Keep the Diesels and Gas