The renaissance of the modern electric vehicle has been hampered from day one by the physical limits of the current state of battery technology. Inefficiencies in the form of heavy battery packs and low power density have long limited not only the range and performance of electric vehicles, but the forms they can take – there’s a reason Tesla started with a roadster rather than a cybertruck. But the steady advances in propulsion systems over the past few years – along with the skyrocketing demand for larger, electrified vehicles for the U.S. market – have resulted in a turning point in 2021: the advent of EV pickups and SUVs.
Yes, we all know the Model X existed and Tesla “did it first” – save me your tweets – but the sheer number and variety of new, all-EV pickups and SUV models are either ready to hit the showroom or to be in active development, frightening compared to just a few years ago. Let’s take a look at some of this year’s highlights.
GM relies heavily on its proprietary Ultium battery Technology and is investing $ 35 billion in self-propelled and EV technologies by 2025. The company has also announced that it will sell 30 EV models by the end of 2025 and Electric vehicles only after 2035 with the 1,000 PS GMC Hummer EV serves as an avant-garde offer.
Jonathan Ernst / Reuters
The Hummer EV has been a surefire hit since its debut last October. More than 10,000 potential buyers had paid down payments on the $ 112,000 Hummer Edition 1 until last December. Likewise the EV-SUV variant of the Hummer unveiled in April had its pre-orders sold out in protocol – not bad for a vehicle that won’t hit the road until autumn 2023. Supplies for the Hummer EV pickup are included should start this month. There were even rumors about the adjustment of the Hummer EV frame and drive system for military applicationsalthough no final decisions have been taken on this proposal.
Lobsters are just the beginning. In April, GM confirmed that its second EV model an electrified Silverado. We still don’t know much about the Silverado other than that it will leverage GM’s Ultium battery technology, that the company is aiming for a range in excess of 400 miles, and that the EV pickup will do so offer all-wheel steering, which shortens the turning radius at low speeds and increases cornering stability at high speeds – especially when towing loads.
We’ll have a full rundown of the Silverado’s capabilities once it makes its official debut GM’s keynote at CES 2022. Additionally, GM unveiled its third upcoming electric vehicle in July – a full-size GMC pickup, like this CNBC. Virtually nothing else is known about it at this time, even if the existing GMC Sierra branding is used. Hopefully we’ll get a few more pointers in the New Year.
Not to be outdone is the Stellantis Group (formerly FCA and parent company of Chrysler, Jeep Dodge, Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Maserati and many others) announced in July that the company will also invest $ 35 billion in its electrification efforts by 2025 and will have 55 electrified vehicles (40 BEVs, 15 PHEVs) available in the US and European markets by the end of the year. Additionally, Stellantis is working on an all-electric Ram EV to compete with the Silverado and Ford F-150 Lightning, though the Ram is not expected to hit the market before 2024. search Wrangler BEV concept in March, released its “light hybrid” Wrangler Sahara 4XE in May and debuted its PHEV Cherokee 4XE in September before the vehicle’s release in 2022.
Ford also had a year worth honking its own horn, starting with the Mustang Mach-E’s release in February. The EV was hit a bit scared to start but consolidated its position with the publication of the performance-oriented GT edition. In total, Ford had sold more than 21,000 Mach-E units last October, despite a handful of recalls for loose screws and “sleep deeply” Software error. That’s not bad for a first-year crossover SUV working to overcome ingrained customer nostalgia, but the Mach-E’s numbers are nothing compared to the hype that Ford’s upcoming F-150 Lightning EV has garnered.
The company’s F-150 electrification efforts did was hardly an industry secret but if Ford debuted the Lightning on May 19th (or May 18th if you’ve watched Speech by President Biden) America’s car buyers almost lost their minds with almost 45,000 people sign up for a pre-order EV collection within the first 48 hours.
Interest in Ford’s upcoming Maverick light hybrid pickup truck was no less widespread. the Detroit News reported in August that allegedly more than 100,000 people had signed up to pre-order the mini-truck, a large number of whom were California-based. Granted, these people weren’t required to pay a deposit, so whether all of those pre-orders translate into actual sales – or whether people just choose to upgraded their existing ICE Fords with the Eluminator system instead – remains to be seen.
Some of the biggest headlines in the 2021 EV truck space came from the outstanding startup Rivian. While competitors like Lordstown Motors found themselves critically low cash and the subject Justice Department fraud investigation, Rivian has already reached its first production milestone: actually produce vehicles (although the initial delivery window of July to September). But that’s not half of it.
That year, the company also announced plans to install 10,000 charging stations across the country North America by 2023, revealed a membership plan for owners offers both breakdown and off-roadside assistance as well as exclusive OTA software updates and outlined his Remote maintenance program who would offer remote diagnostics and on-site repairs for the electric trucks. The startup also has big plans for the future. It announced plans to put $ 5 billion in a second production facility in the USA and is allegedly targeting Great Britain as the location for his first international battery plant.
Some of these future plans will include partnerships with other companies like Amazon that have a 20 percent of the shares in Rivian, bought 100,000 vehicles from the startup in 2019 and has already started delivery in San Francisco and The angel with them – but they won’t include Ford. Although Ford invested half a billion dollars in the EV startup two years ago, Ford announced in November that the two companies would no longer work together on an upcoming EV. Looks like Rumor has it electric Lincoln will probably stay dead for the time being.
FREDERIC J. BROWN via Getty Images
At the other end of the headline spectrum, surprisingly, is Tesla. Despite the company’s hugely profitable year, the development of its Cybertruck was slow. While CEO Elon Musk announced in January that “Series production“Of the EV-SUV starts in 2022, it increasingly looks that way that will happen later in the year – after Ford’s F-150 Lightning and GMC’s Hummer EV hit the streets, both of which debuted well after the Cybertruck.
Of course, American automakers are nowhere near the only ones jumping into the EV game. Mercedes announced in April that its compact SUV EQB is almost ready for series production and will be launched in the USA next year. It is “Sustainer“Delivery van concept, however, could take a little longer to get to market. Hyundai, on the other hand presented its Ioniq 5 SUV in February with plans to release it on the side this winter promises its Genesis vehicle line will go fully electric by the middle of this decade. In the meantime, Kias Niro EV is still a reserved sleeper hit.
We’ve seen a lot of hype and grandiose promises about EV pickups and SUVs over the past few years, but 2022 will be the year it all comes down to earth. Consumers will finally be able to see these vehicles on the streets, in their neighborhood, and likely in a traffic jam, rather than just in an exhibition space or a livestream presentation stage. This is a great opportunity for automakers to further expand the benefits of battery electrics over their internal combustion engine predecessors – this time with America’s most popular type of vehicle.
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