Page 38 - Green Builder Nov-Dec 2021 Issue

BATTERY-POWERED

TRUCKS Promise

More Than Mobility

When powerful, all-electric

pickups hit the road next year,
they’ll change not only the way

you and your employees drive,

but the way you work.

BY MATT POWER, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

S WE LOOK FORWARD TO 2022, car makers
worldwide have doubled down on a massive
shift from combustion to electric, battery-
powered work vehicles. There’s a reason,
however, that trucks have been slower to hit
the market than sedans. Pickup trucks, in Ready to rumble. Far more than just pickup
particular, occupy a hallowed place in the trucks, electric vehicles such as the F-150
American psyche. That’s the kind of loyalty Lightning, due out in 2022, can power your
car makers hesitate to disrupt. But change has jobsite, help you hook up a trailer and coach
A come. Electric trucks break ground in so many your employees on how to drive more safely.
ways that they’re almost a new species of vehicle. And automakers COURTESY OF FORD MOTOR CO.
clearly feel that the time is right. Their new philosophy: “If we
build it, they will buy.”
Based on early sales, they’ve made the right choice. “We have
150,000 reservations already,” notes Nathan Oscarson, brand range,” Oscarson adds. “Our batteries will be lighter than others,
manager for commercial vehicles at Ford Motor Co. “We’re plus they’ll ride low in the chassis, so [the F-150 Lightning] won’t
going to build as many as we can to meet the demand, and we’re ride like a typical truck. It will be better.”
expanding.”
The scale of that growth eclipses old records of investment PRICING: SAFE BETS
and commitment, even for Ford Motor Co. Ford is partnering How much will would-be electric vehicle (EV) truck buyers pay?
with SK Innovation and pouring $11.2 billion into construction No one knows. But so far, car makers apparently haven’t hit the
of two new plants—one in Kentucky, the other in Tennessee—to ceiling.
build the batteries and chassis for the new F-Series electric trucks. GMC, for example, targeted luxury buyers first with its Hummer
At the center of Ford’s plan: In-house production of the EV SUV. An EV version of the Chevy Silverado will follow. The
all-important batteries that will drive their power trains. Oscarson company captured 10,000 pre-orders for the Hummer in the first
says that carefully controlling manufacturing of the battery cells, 10 minutes it became available online a year ago.
including materials sourcing and testing, will make the company GMC’s price for the Hummer EV, at $113,000 (U.S.), tracks sig-
feel confident in the availability and performance of its battery nificantly higher than Ford or other electric pickups. Ford’s F-150
packs. Lightning base model could go as low as $42,000, although the
“The key thing is developing these batteries with a 300-mile $53,000 mid-range XLT model may appeal to building pros. The

36 GREEN BUILDER November/December 2021 www.greenbuildermedia.com