Let’s face it, people are starting to want electric vehicles more and more every day.
Especially because they are now being offered with just as much power as gas-powered vehicles.
And there’s no reason to stop at bike’s, scooters, and cars. Trucks, even though they need a lot of power to move, are also offered as electric options. (In fact, cities are moving toward operating electric buses throughout town, as well).
Electric trucks are quickly becoming popular on the market. Although the market may not adapt as quickly as regular cars, electric trucks will surely follow in line with the overall innovation of electric vehicles.
And if you’re looking to purchase one, you’re in luck. We’ve developed this list to give you the best electric truck options of 2018.
Before we go into the top 3 electric trucks, though, let’s go over a couple of the benefits, and drawbacks, they offer.
Electric Trucks and What They Offer
Here’s how buying an electric truck will benefit you and, indeed, those around you:
- Protecting the Environment: One of the most appealing reasons to purchase an electric truck is to help preserve the environment and contribute as little to climate change as possible. Especially because emissions from cars are some of the biggest polluters in the world.
- Saving You Money: Overtime, because electric vehicles don’t use any fuel, a completely electric truck will save you tons of money in the long–run.
Of course, everything has a drawback. Before you look into purchasing an electric truck, it’s important to keep the following in mind:
- Short Driving Range: This is by–far the most unappealing aspect of electric vehicles. Regular vehicles and hybrids have very long ranges that they can travel up to, with even hybrid options going up to 200–300 miles. The electric trucks being developed right now will have a longer range than most electric cars, but still won’t be able to reach these distances. Be sure you know where you’re commuting to everyday and how long of a battery life you need to get you there.
Right about now, you could be asking, “why are there only three choices?”
Well, that’s because this is an extremely new market, and there are only a few companies developing them as we compiled this list. Some of the options listed aren’t even available as of yet but are the most exciting options coming available to you soon.
Now here are some of the best electric trucks:
3. Workhorse W-15
Workhorse has been rivaling Tesla for which company will have the first electric truck to hit the market.
And although neither of them has become available for purchase yet, you can place a pre-order for the Workhorse W–15, and that’s more than what Tesla has as of now.
Also, from what we can tell, the Workhorse W–15 is the electric truck that looks as similar to a regular truck as possible – and that may be a more important factor than what a lot of people think. With technological advancement comes the desire to radically change the way things look and feel. But this doesn’t always pay off. (Just ask the creators of Google Glass).
The Workhorse W–15 isn’t making this same mistake, and although it’s a nice–looking vehicle with a modern feel to it, it’s still along the same lines that pickup trucks have always been.
Here are some of the features this truck will offer you:
- Lithium Ion Battery: This heavy-duty battery will give a range of about 80–miles that comes with an onboard generator that can actually charge the battery as you drive!
- All–Wheel Drive: This electric truck does not take away the advantages of buying a truck and gives you full all–wheel drive capabilities.
- Digital Dashboard: The inside of this truck cannot get much more modern with complete touch–screen options for the digital dashboard it is installed with.
- Power Export: Need a power outlet to charge or use power tools on the go? No worries. The W–15 allows you to do just that.
- Hybrid Capable: If you need a longer range than 80 miles, the hybrid range will give you closer to 300 miles.
- Power: This electric truck comes with 460 horsepower and can reach 60 mile–per–hour in 5.5 seconds.
2. Rivian Automotive A1T
Although there is very little to go on about this option (not even a picture), there has been a lot of buzz going around about it: all pretty positive.
The Rivian A1T electric truck will be showcased at the 2018 LA Auto Show and will be available in its 2020 line.
It’s being advertised as offering two options, each one offering different features concerning battery size and the range of distance you will be able to travel.
Here’s what we know about the Rivian A1T electric truck:
- Battery Sizes: One option will provide a 320–kw battery, whereas another will have more than double that with a 720–kw battery.
- Travel Distance: The cheaper option is said to go up to 200 miles, but if you go with the more expensive option, it can go up to 450 miles! That’s a pretty good distance for an electric vehicle.
- Power: You won’t have to worry about giving up the power of a truck to drive an electric truck. The top–end edition will feature a horsepower up to 800, and I have also seen that it will go from 0 to 60 miles–per–hour in 2.8 seconds. That’s pretty quick for a truck in general, let alone an electric truck.
- Price: The inexpensive version will be offered at $50,000, and the top–of–the–line version will cost up to $90,000. For a truck, the low–end version really isn’t that bad.
1.Tesla’s Upcoming Pickup Truck (4.5 Stars)
Apparently, this is Elon Musk’s new “favorite next project.”
And that’s really great, but he seems to still be in the “taking suggestion’s” part of development. That’s leaves him and Tesla a little bit behind in the race to the finish line, compared to the others, but we do know some very key things about what Tesla plans to make.
It’s pretty different…
Here some of the features:
- Size: I guess Elon Musk said that Andre the Giant would be able to fit in the driver’s seat, so you can expect a pretty big truck – big enough for a step ladder that will lower for when you need to step in it. Musk also reportedly said that it will be a 6–seater.
- Travel Distance: Distance will simply not be a challenge for the Tesla pickup truck. If Musk is correct, this truck will have a range of 400–500 miles and maybe even higher. That will be more than enough for anyone’s commute, and pickup truck drivers are often people in construction that need the extra mileage to get them to all of their stops.
- All–Wheel Drive: All–wheel drive will be standard in all Tesla electric trucks.
- Power: Again, those who need a pickup truck for construction and heavy lifting will not be left in the dust with the Tesla electric truck. This is not just going to be an appealing truck to look at. It will have a towing capacity of over 300,000 lbs! That’s crazy even for non–electric trucks.
- Tool Connection: Will have a power outlet for heavy–duty tools and maybe even come with a built–in air compressor.
- Storage: You won’t have to worry about running out of storage for items that may not be ideal for just sitting in the flatbed. The Tesla Electric truck will have built–in lockers, as well.
- Style: Musk also reportedly said that it will keep the same feel as a normal truck, so you won’t have to worry about any crazy different designs.
Finding the Electric Truck for You
Picking out that perfect electric truck will be fairly difficult as of right now, simply because there are few options entering the market.
But the options that are becoming available soon are pretty nice, and especially for electric vehicles.
The main downfall of electric vehicles is simply the distance that you can travel with them – only being able to drive 60–70 miles before having to recharge can really hold you back. Electric trucks will offer you more than that, however, and the options listed above are going to be able to travel 100, 200, up to 500 miles before recharging.
That’s a pretty good distance.
And let’s look at the biggest upside of buying an electric vehicle again – protecting the environment.
If that’s a major concern for you but you still enjoy driving around in a big truck, consider an electric truck. That way, instead of buying a vehicle that pollutes more than regular cars, you can drive a powerful vehicle without any emissions.
So, you now know the benefits of an electric truck and the options that are emerging on the market.
Keep an eye out for the one that you are liking, and we wish you luck on your search!
Keyword: electric truck