- Tesla Cybertruck
- Ford F-150 Lightning
- Rivian R1T
- GMC Hummer
- LDV T60 EV
- Bollinger B2
- BYD Ute
- ACE Yewt
In what seemed like the blink of an eye, the ute and pick-up segment transformed from being a deeply conservative one to one with a virtual tsunami of all-electric options looming on the horizon.
Don’t sweat it though, as popular models like the Toyota HiLux, Ford Ranger, Mitsubishi Triton, Volkswagen Amarok and Nissan Navara aren’t going to just disappear overnight, but there’s no doubting the future is electric.
Some are ultra-pragmatic workhorses, some are pitched squarely at the ‘lifestyle’ crowd, and others fall somewhere in between. All are linked by a common thread – there’s not a combustion engine in sight. But which ones are actually coming our way, and which is worth getting excited about?
Tesla Cybertruck
The Cybertruck certainly wasn’t the first all-electric utility concept, but it sure got a lot of people interested in the idea of a battery-powered load-lugger. Its faceted stainless steel styling and outrageous 2.9-second 0-100km/h stat sure got chins wagging when it broke cover as a concept back in 2019, but three years on the Cybertruck has still yet to enter production. Worse still, it appears that it’s going to be a non-starter for Australia – which must surely rile up the many Aussie punters who laid down a cash deposit for one way back in 2019.
Tesla may release a smaller brother to the Cybertruck for European and Asian markets (and presumably us), but if the Cybertruck’s development timeline is anything to go by, it could be a while before we even know what it looks like… let alone whether we’ll get it.
Ford F-150 Lightning
Ford’s electrified F-150 is the antithesis of the Cybertruck. Its bodywork screams ‘trad Yankee pick-up’, and were it not for its blanked-off grille, distinctive LED daytime running lamps and battery charge port, you’d be hard-pressed to pick this out from a conventional F150 at a distance.
And if you think America’s conservative heartland is allergic to a pick-up that doesn’t run on hydrocarbons, think again: demand for the Lightning is so popular that Ford has doubled its production targets from 40,000 units per year to 80,000 by 2024. It’s not hard to understand the appeal. In the ‘States, the F-150 Lightning is priced just under the Tesla Model 3 and offers 318kW, 1051Nm, and a 386km single-charge range from its 98kWh battery. Get the optional 131kWh battery, and power leaps to 420kW while range gets pumped up to 483km.
For Australia, the odds of getting the Lightning on our soil seem a little higher than the Cybertruck. Earlier this year, Ford Australia committed to offering the turbo-petrol versions of the F-150 for local sale here, which, if demand for the large pick-up proves popular enough, could open the door to more specialized F-150 variants like the Lightning down the line.
Rivian R1T
For a box-fresh brand, Rivian has hit the ground (or should that be gravel) running with a remarkably well-resolved ute in the form of the R1T. With four electric motors rather than the typical dual motor setup, the R1T is able to deliver a maximum of 623kW and 1231Nm to its four all-terrain tyres, and sprint to 100km/h in just a shade over three seconds. On top of that, it features torque vectoring for better handling on- and off-road, independent suspension on both axles with variable height air springs, and a peak range that starts at 505km for the base model, and tops out at 640km with the optional 180kWh battery.
There’s other good news too: Rivian has taken an interest in expanding to Australia. As CarsGuide reported previously, Rivian has outlined its plan to take its cars to the global market starting with Western Europe, then the Asia-Pacific region. Furthermore, Australia has been singled out as a country where Rivian has done its due diligence on whether its direct-sales consumer model is legally compliant, and that’s a level of effort that would only be exerted if there was a serious intent to come our way. Watch this space.
GMC Hummer
The Hummer returns in EV form, but it ain’t here to hug trees. The reborn Hummer remains a behemoth, with an ecological footprint that’s even bigger than its physical one thanks to its huge 247kWh lithium-ion battery pack – but the rest of its spec sheet is simply staggering.
It boasts a combined power output of 750kW from three electric motors (one at the front, one for each rear wheel), four-wheel steering that allows it to crab sideways around obstacles, a 529km range, adaptive air suspension, a 4.5-tonne kerb weight, and a 0-96km/h sprint time of three seconds flat.
As a ute it’s not exactly builder-friendly thanks to a relatively short tub, but it’s perfect for toting a weekend’s worth of gear and hitting some gnarly trails. It’ll also fit a generator, which you may well need if you really want to get off the beaten track.
Coming to Aus? Don’t count on it.
LDV T60 EV
While it might seems like the Americans are establishing a lead in the EV ute realm, it’s the Chinese who are likely to bring the first production electric pick up to the Aussie market. LDV has already announced its electrified EV T60 for New Zealand, where the battery-powered version of the T60 (which is already available in Aus with turbo-diesel four- and six-cylinder engines) offers very sensible figures of 130kW of power, 310Nm of torque, and a 325km max range from its 88.5kWh battery pack.
Set to be priced from just under NZ$80,000 drive-away (AU$72,000), it’s not a cheap thing, but with a 980kg payload it could be just the zero-emissions workhorse some businesses might be searching for.
Bollinger B2
Speaking of utilitarian, the Bollinger B2 was the very definition of the word. Made almost exclusively from right-angles, the B2 allowed loads measuring almost the full length of the vehicle to be carried thanks to cabin pass-throughs from both the rear tub and the front trunk. Unfortunately, the B2’s gestation has stretched even longer than the Cybertruck’s (the B2 was first announced for production in 2018), and the company has recently announced that it will hit the pause button on the B2 and its SUV sibling, the B1, in favour of developing a EV platform for commercial trucks. How boring.
BYD Ute
Like LDV, BYD hails from China. Also like LDV, BYD has aspirations to sell us an all-electric ute. We currently don’t know much about BYD’s ute offering, but the company is aiming high in Australia – its local operation aspires to make the brand a top-five company in Australia in terms of vehicle sales, and it will launch six models over the next two and a half years – including the aforementioned EV utility.
We’ll see it on sale here in 2023, the company says, and it will be positioned as a purely-electric dual-cab rival to vehicles like the HiLux, Triton, Ranger and Navara. Details are thin on the ground right now, but BYD says to expect a feature-heavy fit-out and a maximum range of 450km.
ACE Yewt
The ACE Yewt is a ute by definition, but most people would struggle to place it in the same category as things like Ford Rangers and Toyota HiLuxes. Looking more like the uncomfortable fusion of a Smart Fortwo and a Proton Jumbuck, the Yewt is actually an Australian creation that’s based on Chinese EV city car underpinnings and pitched at operators like couriers, florists, caterers and other businesses looking for a compact light-duty delivery vehicle.
Its numbers are closer to golf cart territory than that of a proper production ute, however. Maximum range is a claimed 150-200km at “partial load”, acceleration to 50km/h takes a leisurely seven seconds, and top speed is 100km/h. At least the 500kg payload is respectable for something so compact. Want one? It’ll cost you $25,995 before on-roads.
Keyword: Electric utes - Cybertruck, F-150 Lightning, GMC Hummer, Rivian R1T, LDV T60: which ones will we get, and which ones do we really want?