Tesla's pickup truck and Rivian's R1T can top the mighty Ford F-150
The mighty Ford F-150 can see a legitimate challenge in the near future if the vintage car manufacturer neglects to adequately prepare for the arrival of two electric trucks on the market – Tesla Truck and Rivian R1T.
The disturbance of battery-powered pickup trucks was highlighted in a note by analyst Adam Jonas on Morgan Stanley on Thursday. The address of the company's investors stated the analyst that an electric pickup launched by a new player like Tesla or Rivian could be a serious problem for Detroit-based traditional car manufacturers. With the advent of convincing cars, Jonas noticed that experienced car manufacturers like Ford could lose the opportunity to achieve a "first mover advantage" in the electric pickup market.
Promising Challengers
The West St analyst's score hits the nail on the head, bearing in mind that the vehicle's innate features such as instantaneous torque and generous towing capacity are factors that are crucial to the truck market. The Rivian R1T, for example, is listed with a towing capacity of £ 11,000, but CEO RJ Scaringe noted in a recent interview that the truck could tow far beyond its official rating. Thanks to R1T's four electric motors, the truck can also turn 60 km / h in just 3 seconds.
However, the Tesla truck has been mentioned several times by Elon Musk in recent months. Last year, Musk held a Twitter brainstorming session with their social media followers to list features that are important to truck owners. At the end of the session, Musk noted that the Tesla Truck would have two electric motors and dynamic suspension, a range of 400-500 miles per charge, four-wheel drive, a 240-volt power tool connector and even an air compressor to run other equipment. Musk also noted that the vehicle could tow as much as 300,000 pounds.
Tesla acid test
Anyone skeptical about potential interference from an electric vehicle does not have to look very far out. Over the past year, Tesla Model 3 has midsize since everyone shook the US car market, crawling on ubiquitous cars like the Toyota Camry and dominating the revenue rankings. By the end of 2018, Model 3 was the American best-selling luxury vehicle, despite being a sedan in a market that prefers SUVs and trucks.
With a battery-powered truck that is affordable and well-equipped, car manufacturers such as Tesla and Rivian can even challenge the American car industry's largest sellers, including the Ford F-150. One thing that would be an obstacle to this potential disturbance would, of course, be the ability of electric car manufacturers to scale production, especially in relation to the demand for pickups in the United States. In this light, the Rivian must still prove itself, since the production of R1T has not yet begun. Tesla, on the other hand, is already learning the art of mass production, as shown by his growing pain with the model 3 ramp.
One way to maintain Status Quo
Despite the upcoming challenge and Wall Street's latest warning, Ford has a way of maintaining the status quo on the truck market. Last year, Jim Farley, Ford's president of global markets, announced that the F series would go electric. Farley later added that the decision to adopt all electrical and hybrid power is a way of "future-proofing" the company's most successful vehicle line.
If recent observations are any indication, it seems that Ford at least tests an electric prototype of the F-150. As mentioned in a recent observation, a camouflaged electric F-150 has been detected charging on a station. The vehicle looked as much like a regular truck, with the exception of the charging station and the height of the voyage, which appeared to be the result of batteries installed under the vehicle. Assuming Ford does not show a bad time hubris by providing the electric F-150 mediocre specifications and range, the company can well turn the storm on electric trucks coming their way.
