Electric Chevy Silverado Debut
Here's the new Electric Silverado Link
Forum Discussion
Does anyone have any figures on what percentage of each pickup class is used to tow?
I could see the compact (ranger/colorado/tacoma/etc) being prime for EV conversion. I'm betting the vast majority never do any serious towing and most rarely haul anything significant in the bed. It would be fairly easy to outfit them as an EV and the bulk of buyers would not experience any significant loss due to towing capability...since they don't use it.
At the 1/2ton it may be a numbers game. Say with the F150 selling something like 1 million units per year, even if 20% never tow, that's still 200k units per year that may be viable for battery EV.
By the time you get up in the 3/4 & 1 ton models, a large enough percentage are used regularly for towing, it may not be viable.
Another thought: What about a modular BEV/PUHB system? Maybe a modest 125-150mile battery range but you can upgrade for an extra $5-10k for a 15kw propane generator (no worries about gas/diesel going bad) that is designed to mount in the front of the truck bed. That keeps the battery cost down making the truck more sellable but if you are doing a long weekend and worried about range, you can throw the generator in the truck (but you don't take a hit on range dragging the generator around). In long range mode, the generator would start immediately before the battery bank runs down. Not towing, this would likely double the range of the truck. It would also be more than sufficient for household backup power. Even for a lot of people doing modest towing, it may make it viable.
I could see the compact (ranger/colorado/tacoma/etc) being prime for EV conversion. I'm betting the vast majority never do any serious towing and most rarely haul anything significant in the bed. It would be fairly easy to outfit them as an EV and the bulk of buyers would not experience any significant loss due to towing capability...since they don't use it.
At the 1/2ton it may be a numbers game. Say with the F150 selling something like 1 million units per year, even if 20% never tow, that's still 200k units per year that may be viable for battery EV.
By the time you get up in the 3/4 & 1 ton models, a large enough percentage are used regularly for towing, it may not be viable.
Another thought: What about a modular BEV/PUHB system? Maybe a modest 125-150mile battery range but you can upgrade for an extra $5-10k for a 15kw propane generator (no worries about gas/diesel going bad) that is designed to mount in the front of the truck bed. That keeps the battery cost down making the truck more sellable but if you are doing a long weekend and worried about range, you can throw the generator in the truck (but you don't take a hit on range dragging the generator around). In long range mode, the generator would start immediately before the battery bank runs down. Not towing, this would likely double the range of the truck. It would also be more than sufficient for household backup power. Even for a lot of people doing modest towing, it may make it viable.
