I never once imagined that I would be attracted to pickup trucks, but that all changed when I test drove a Ford F150 Lightning over the weekend. I had a hard time filling up at the Tesla Supercharger station, but that time alone convinced me of many things about electric vehicles. But according to the latest reports, demand for electric trucks like the F150 Lightning appears to be waning.

On the one hand, I am not terribly surprised by this, but Ford took this gamble with its most popular pickup truck model. It was only a few days ago that Ford announced layoffs of 1,400 workers at the Michigan plant where the F150 Lightning is built, further exacerbating the year-over-year decline in sales posted for the fourth quarter of 2023.

Not only are sales slower than expected, but it appears that Ford dealers are beginning to build up inventories. Even Tesla is not immune to this decline, with the company reporting that Tesla deliveries are down for the first time in nearly four years. So what is happening?

One of the biggest reasons for the slump in interest is that EV trucks, including the base model Ford F150 Lightning, are unpleasantly expensive. It starts at $49,995, and the top-of-the-line F150 Lightning Platinum costs at least $92,000. If that sounds outrageous, there is also the F150 Platinum Black Edition, limited to 2,000 units and starting at $97,000.

This is not just a Ford problem, other EV pickup trucks are priced similarly--the Rivian R1T starting at $69,900 and the Tesla Cybertruck at $57,390. These prices are for their respective base models, with the top-of-the-line models approaching the six-figure mark.

Car shopping site Edmunds has released a survey showing that the suggested price range for EVs is $30,000 to $40,000. This price range is not too unrealistic, given that there are more all-electric sedans and small SUVs in this price range than ever before. Take the Tesla Model 3 and Model Y, for example, which start at under $40,000 after rebates.

To be fair, however, Tesla did reduce the price, but even so, the company's first quarter deliveries were down 8.5%. According to the company, this was due to one of its factories preparing for the Model 3 update and the shutdown of its Berlin plant. However, demand remains soft and competition from Chinese automakers such as BYD appears to be intensifying.

At the same time, demand for EV trucks is not as high due to competition from small SUVs and crossovers: according to the Edmunds survey, 10% of those surveyed are interested in electric pickup trucks, with SUVs and crossovers ranking higher at 43% and 42% respectively

Also, the demand for electric pickup trucks is not that high.

It also helps that many of these SUVs and crossovers are tens of thousands of dollars more affordable than EV pickup trucks like the Ford F150 Lightning. in further exploring EVs, I have rediscovered another type of vehicle that could take interest away from expensive EV trucks. I was at the New York Auto Show 2024. At the New York Auto Show 2024, I was surprised by a plug-in hybrid SUV called the Toyota RAV4 Prime, which I found to be "a real bargain.

Consumers who are anxious to switch to a fully electric vehicle may be heartened by plug-in hybrids like the RAV4 Prime. At the same time, they can experience the savings of all-electricity, albeit with a much shorter range. For drivers who expect to use these plug-in hybrids for short trips or commuting, these plug-in hybrids have value. Ford offers a plug-in hybrid in the Ford Escape.

For many potential EV buyers, price is an obstacle. Instead of Ford taking a huge gamble with the F150 Lightning, they should have originally gone after a cheaper small pickup truck.

The Ford Maverick was the only truck to see positive sales in Q4 2023, up 22% to 22,628 units. Given consumer interest in small SUVs and crossovers, Ford could have drawn broader appeal by creating an all-electric version of the Maverick. The base version starts at about $24,000 and looks much more attractive on paper than the $50,000-plus cost of most EV trucks.

According to Edmunds, the average EV sales price last year was about $61,700, about $14,250 more than non-electric vehicles. Even if an all-electric Maverick costs about $40,000, that's still quite a bit more than buying a Ford F150 Lightning.

I sincerely hope there is still time to turn things around, because an all-electric pickup like the F150 Lightning, unlike a gas-powered vehicle, has about the same acceleration and range as the average sedan and offers the utility of towing capacity and a flat bed.

We understand that needs vary from person to person, but a small EV truck could potentially have enough appeal to rival other all-electric SUVs and crossovers.