In spite of the huge interest in the Tesla Cybertruck, over 50% respondents don’t consider the EV as a true blue truck
According to a new survey conducted by the AmericanTrucks.com, as many as 27 percent of the truck owners considering switching to an electric model are considering the Tesla Cybertruck. What’s more interesting though is that the Ford F-150 Lightning was more popular than the Cybertruck. Meanwhile, the Chevrolet Silverado EV took the third spot in the ‘most interesting’ segment. The fourth spot has been occupied by the Toyota Tacoma EV whose official details are awaited. Things get even more interesting once you realise the Rivian R1T is at the fifth spot.
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The survey, which is based on the response from truck owners who might be contemplating switching to electric vehicles, shows that just 9 percent have no intentions to go electric. 35 percent plan to switch to EVs in 2 to 6 years but they are concerned about the driving range, charging infrastructure and downtime. Even though the driving range offered by the current crop of electric trucks, along with the available charging infrastructure, is pretty acceptable, range anxiety is among the biggest factors keeping people from switching to electric models. In fact, a good 35 percent of respondents cited it as the biggest cause of conern.
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For the record, electric trucks rose in popularity in the USA in 2022 but the volumes are rather minuscule when compared to the traditional ICE offerings. For instance, almost 16,000 Ford F-150 Lightnings were sold in US in 2022. Meanwhile, F-Series lineup clocked a massive 650,000 unit sale. Even the Rivian R1T and R1S has a cumulative sale of 20,000 units. The ray of hope here is the Tesla Cybertruck, which has already bagged over 1.6 million pre-orders.
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Recently, during the 2023 Investor Day, Tesla revealed its plan to offer a 48 Volts system on the Cybertruck. This is pretty rare in the EV world, in spite of all the advancements made in the past few years. As per the Texas-based carmaker, the old lead-acid batteries had many cases of malfunction and needed replacement in every four years. The new lithium-ion batteries, though, should last the lifetime of the vehicle.