Electricity is killing the scene now. Everywhere you look, there are stories of people wanting the newest, hottest electric pickup truck and never being able to get it. Ford Lightning, Rivian R1T, and GMC Hummer EV are all here. She is very popular. People are buying these models faster than automakers can spit them out. Why do people want electric trucks so badly? Here are three ways electric trucks are better than traditional trucks with internal combustion engines (ICE).
instant torque
Torque is one of the most important factors for pickup trucking. Whether you’re graded, haulin’, muddin’, or anything else you can end with -in’, torque is key. Torque is one of the few advantages that electric motors inherently have over their ICE counterparts.
He explains that when you look at the torque curve of electric vehicles versus the curve of ICE trucks, they really don’t compare. Electric vehicles produce torque at zero rpm. Ice trucks can’t do that. While pickups benefit from this instantaneous torque, it will become exponentially useful once pickups get access to the same lower-quality beef.
For example, the 6.7-liter 2019 Ram Heavy Duty will produce maximum torque of 1,000 lb-ft at 1,800 rpm. This is exceptionally strong for a traditional pickup truck, which is why people love this truck for hauling heavy loads. However, the Rivian R1T produces 908 lb-ft of torque right away. There’s no turbo, no rpm, just mash the pedal and get the power.
Low center of gravity
We don’t think much about pickup weight distribution in this sense. Sure, when you’re towing, you might be thinking where the weight is, but the center of gravity might be out of your mind when shopping between an F-150 and a Ram 1500. Still, that’s crucial to the car’s feel and handling.
Quickly lowering the pickup’s center of gravity transforms these slumping land yachts into surprisingly agile canyon sculptors. Instead of a gigantic V8, weighing nearly 1,000,000 tons in the front and virtually zero weight in the rear, you know, you store all the weight in the middle, underneath the rest of the truck. There’s a reason many supercars also mount their engines this way.
Lowering the center of gravity not only makes it more pleasant to drive around corners, but also makes it safer and more practical for everyday driving.
Off road cutting
Off-road driving in electric trucks is a rather delicate matter. On the other hand, electric pickups are objectively better at taking on tough trails where power or grip might be an issue. The Rivian R1T, for example, has four motors, one for each wheel. This allows each motor to power one wheel, ensuring that each wheel gets the right amount of power needed to maintain the most stability. This is like an E difference, but an order of magnitude more accurate. This has incredible off-road implications because grip suddenly becomes easier to maintain. If you have a grip, you can conquer most off-road situations.
However, electric trucks do have a major weakness in off-roading; ranges. If you’re going on a long sweltering day on the trails in your car, you can always bring more fuel. Off-road driving in an electric car seriously limits the distance you can go in the wilderness. This brings with it some pressure on ICE trucks.
Should you buy an electric pickup truck?
Electric pickup trucks have many benefits and deliver performance that ICE trucks can’t. However, electric vehicles still come with their own limitations and drawbacks. The technology is still new, and as such, it still needs some maturation and infrastructure growth to make it reach its full potential.
