Ford Gives Up, Adds Gas Generator to Its Electric Pickup Truck

"What's the only thing sadder than a car company giving up on all-electric vehicles in 2025? Try Ford's new all-electric pickup, powered by a gas generator on the side. According to TechCrunch, that's exactly the direction Ford has decided to go with its next-generation of pickup trucks. On Monday, the company announced it had ended production of the all-electric F-150 Lightning, which it hailed as the "best selling electric pickup truck in the US" as recently as November."

"In its place, Ford is rolling out an "extended range electric vehicle" version of the F-150 Lightning - complete with a gas generator that can add 700 miles of charge to the truck's battery, TC report s. It's not known when the EREV will go on sale. In its announcement, Ford said it will report $19.5 billion in expenses related to the changeover, in order to update vehicle and battery factories. All told, it sounds like a pretty robust retreat from electrification."

""Rather than spending billions more on large EVs that now have no path to profitability, we are allocating that money into higher returning areas, more trucks and van hybrids, extended range electric vehicles, affordable EVs and entirely new opportunities like energy storage," Ford president Andrew Frick told reporters. Though the solution is beyond parody - an EV with a gas generator on the side sort of defeats the whole purpose of the thing - Frick's point is fair enough."

Ford ended production of the all-electric F-150 Lightning and will introduce an extended-range electric version that includes a gasoline generator capable of adding about 700 miles of battery charge. The company will report $19.5 billion in expenses to update vehicle and battery factories. Plans for the all-electric T3 truck and a next-generation commercial van were scrapped. Ford states the shift reallocates capital toward higher-return areas including hybrids, extended-range electric vehicles, affordable EVs, and energy storage. Promised entry pricing near $40,000 rarely reached retail buyers and was largely aimed at fleet purchasers, creating profitability challenges for large EV investments.

Read at Futurism