Analysts Expect Electric F-150 to Capture Commercial Sales
[Stay on top of transportation news: Get TTNews in your inbox.]
Commercial buyers will be among the fastest adopters of electric pickup trucks like the Ford F-150 Lightning that will go on sale next year, according to industry analysts.
That’s because electric trucks lend themselves to the driving patterns of light and medium commercial vehicles, in that they often drive specific routes or hub routes with a return to base for long periods to allow for charging, said Mike Ramsey, the automotive and smart mobility analyst at Gartner Inc.
The F-150, with an existing large base of commercial users, will be popular, he said.
“I think commercial buyers are absolutely going to be snapping these up,” Ramsey said. “There is a lot of pressure on companies to reduce their carbon footprint. Moving their fleets to electric is a quick way to do it, and the F-150 offers them a way to do it without making a lot of compromises.”
To be sure, there is plenty of consumer interest too. Ford already has 70,000 retail reservations for the electric truck, Raj Sarkar, the automaker’s general manager for commercial vehicle marketing, told Transport Topics.
Still, Ford does a huge fleet business. Its share of the Class 1 through Class 7 commercial trucks and vans market in North America exceeds 40%. That amounts to nearly 125,000 commercial and government customers in North America, and some also will be purchasing the electric eTransit van that goes on sale this year. That embedded customer base gives Ford an advantage over its rivals, especially startups entering the electric truck market, said Stephanie Brinley, an automotive analyst for IHS Markit.
The electric eTransit van goes on sale this year. (Ford)
“Big commercial buyers have other vehicles that Ford can offer them so that they can stick with one brand and one service opportunity, and it is much easier for them,” she said.
Ramsey sees charging infrastructure synergies for companies that plan to run both electric vans and pickups.
Brinley said Ford priced the new truck close to comparable internal combustion pickups, making it attractive for commercial buyers. The commercial-grade entry model starts at $39,974 before any federal or state tax credits and purchase incentives. That buys a powertrain that produces 426 horsepower and 775 pound-feet of torque and 230 miles of range. Ford will offer a more powerful extended range system that will make an estimated 563 horsepower and 775 pound-feet of torque and 300 miles of range.
Ford plans to target a version of the extended range truck to the commercial market starting at $49,974. The deal includes an 80-amp Ford charging station for drivers who take their vehicles home at night or for small business customers. The commercial-grade truck will have a maximum of 2,000 pounds of payload and 7,700 pounds of available towing capacity with a tow package. Both trucks will offer 2.4 kilowatts of power for tools, lights and other needs.
The commercial version features vinyl seats. (Ford)
Other features in the commercial versions of the pickup — which Ford calls the Lightning Pro series — include vinyl seats and a standard full-size spare tire.
Those are two important considerations for commercial customers, Sarkar said. They look for durability as well as ease of cleaning and maintenance for the interior of the truck.
“The full-size spare comes back to that notion of minimizing downtime,” he said. “But that’s a challenge when you are developing EVs. The battery takes up a lot of space, and finding the right way to package a full-size spare is not easy.”
The vehicles also come with a three-year subscription to Ford’s EV telematics network. That shares vehicle data over the cloud allowing fleet managers to track vehicle health, status and range. It also can log and pay for public charging events centrally, reimburse employees for home charging, remotely pre-condition the cabin while plugged in, and generate alerts and reports for maintenance managers.
Ford plans to have the truck available by the middle of next year. Meantime, it will face growing competition over the next several years. General Motors plans an electric version of its Chevrolet Silverado, which is the second best-selling vehicle in the U.S. after the Ford F-Series. Rivian, an Irvine, Calif., startup, is producing 100,000 electric delivery vans for Amazon and is developing an electric pickup aimed at consumers. Ford is a Rivian investor.
Lordstown Motors, another startup, is specifically targeting the commercial market. But the company has recently run into cash problems. Still, not all analysts are counting it out.
“With the right mix, leadership, strategy, time horizon and a rejuvenated capital structure, there may be paths Lordstown can take to be a potentially vibrant part of the US EV landscape,” Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas said in a recent report for investors.
Want more news? Listen to today's daily briefing below or go here for more info:
