Make Way for the Eco-Beast

But to the rest of the country, the idea that a pickup truck is supposed to be as humble and affordable as a pair of bluejeans seems as obsolete as, well, a humble and affordable pair of bluejeans.

In 2020, pickups are glamour vehicles, effectively hauling the American automotive industry along with their collective chrome trailer hitch. “Automotive” industry, in fact, is something of a misnomer; it is basically the truck industry these days, as sales of light trucks, including sport-utility and compact utility vehicles, accounted for 72 percent of the United States light vehicle market in 2019, according to data compiled by Automotive News, a trade publication.

In truck nation, passenger cars have become so passé in the eyes of many American consumers that Ford last year announced sweeping plans to discontinue production of most of its sedan models in North America, including its revamped version of the Taurus, which was once the best-selling car in the country, to focus on trucks and S.U.V.s.

And the bigger, the better, apparently. The three best-selling vehicles in the country last year were full-sized pickups worthy of a Toby Keith video: the Ford F-series (which will soon feature an electric F-150 option), the Dodge Ram and the Chevrolet Silverado.

Size matters in terms of price, too, with luxury pickups often priced at Mercedes levels. The Ford F-450 Limited, for example, with its leather bucket seats with “active motion” and Bang Olufsen sound system, can run you more than $90,000.

Things are not so bountiful in the electric-vehicle category — at least not yet. Electrics still account for less than 2 percent of the United States market, according to the Edison Electric Institute, a prominent industry group. Part of the resistance is practical. You still have to charge the thing, right? But part of it, undoubtedly, is rooted in perception.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/02/style/electric-hummer-super-bowl-lebron.html?emc=rss&partner=rss