Tesla Chronicles #32 - Its the Trucks Stupid!

I have said for awhile now, that Ford deciding to make the F-150 an Electric Vehicle is a game changer for the EV industry. They surely aren't the first, as the Rivian R1T was the first EV Pickup to be sold in the US, but the F-150 represents one of the most popular vehicles sold in the US. Chevy Hummer and Silverado (2023?) are here or coming soon, and even Dodge and Toyota (Tacoma) are talking about future EV pickup trucks.

Why is this a game changer? Well, after crossover vehicles, Pickup Trucks are the next leading category for vehicle sales in the US, but there is more to it than that. Early EV adopters have had few, and honestly, not very compelling options to pick from. The Nissan Leaf, BMW i3, and Chevy Volt/Bolt platforms were never meant to replace your ICE vehicle. They were meant to give you a BEV commuter, that is it. But now, Tesla and many other companies are delivering very compelling crossover SUV EVs that are capable of replacing your ICE vehicles, so what about the trucks? I truly believe that many drivers that never before considered buying an EV will see some of these amazing EV trucks and they are going to be convinced.

Most pickups purchased in the US are never actually used like real trucks and just become day drivers for most people. This is such a huge waste in gas because someone likes to get into and drive a big truck. But now, that doesn't matter with the many BEV trucks we have coming and already here. Not to mention, many of these trucks are going to be Amazing for contractors, because they will no longer need to haul along a Generator to a work site, because their trucks can deliver power directly to many of their tools on the job. I actually believe that EV Pickups are going to appeal to many people that never really considered owning a pickup truck or even an EV in the past because they now sort of make sense.

Now, we see Tesla is selling their SEMI. They certainly are not the first company to produce an EV semi truck, but they are positioned to take the BEV semi industry to a whole new place. The batteries in one Semi = 14 Model Y's, which is a huge battery, but here is the thing. Long Haul trucking makes up something like 20-30% of the pollution from vehicles in the US, so if we can do something about that, I am all for it. But, for the EV industry, this is a game changer for one major reason, and that is increasing the charging speeds of batteries. Having a 1000 KWH battery is going to take like 5-10 hours to charge given the current state of the charging system capabilities, which is driving Tesla and others to develop charging technologies to increase charging speeds by 5-10 times. This is going to be a game changer for the consumer EVs because it will drive charge times down close to that of the time it takes to fill a gas tank.