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Hot Take: You really don’t need that oversized pickup truck

Let us preface our inaugural Hot Take by exclaiming we love pickup trucks! The commanding driving position and rugged finger-tingle driving a big truck make owning one a no-brainer, not to mention the obvious advantages in off-road shenanigans or IKEA hauls. Whether you need one or not, trucks are cool. Say it. Trucks. Are. Cool. There’s a reason almost everyone in the great Red-White-And-Blue owns one. We built our world around them. But, and it’s a fair “but,” there needs to be some sort of change on the horizon.

Pickup trucks aren’t going anywhere, and attempting to demonize them is counterintuitive. However, the dramatic increase in pedestrian fatalities warrants a conversation about these oversized pickups. The environmental impact and worsening traffic congestion necessitate it. The problems are real and need practical solutions. There is also a larger conversation around transport infrastructure and personal responsibility.

2024 Ford Lightning Platinum Black American flag/lightning bolt tailgate badge
Image source: Gabe Carey (Acceleramota)

The Chicken Tax

Well, wait. Why is this even an issue? Don’t we have small trucks? Or at least we used to, right? So where did the small truck go? Look decades into the past to the age of Vietnam on national news and Ken Miles tearing up circuits behind the wheel of a Ford.

It’s 1960, and European Farmers have a problem. U.S. farmers have mastered the art of breeding chickens and are now exporting their surplus to Europe. European countries need to protect their farmers. So, West Germany and France implemented tariffs, preventing American chicken from being priced lower than their chicken. 

Subaru BRAT
Image: Wikimedia Commons, Jacob Frey

Negotiations between the two parties failed, and in 1964, U.S. President at the time, Lyndon Johnson, placed a 25% “Chicken Tax” tariff on certain imported goods in response to European tariffs on American poultry, including foreign pickup trucks. This tax does three things:

  • Gives American truck companies a pseudo-monopoly on the pickup truck market.
  • Priced small Japanese trucks out of the market.
  • Classifies American pickup trucks as “light trucks,” exempting them from safety standards

This essentially killed any market for import trucks save for the minuscule, not-so-truckish trucks, like the Subaru BRAT, meant to dodge the tax by being classified as “passenger vehicles” instead of light trucks.

Americans killed the small pickup truck.

Car manufacturers live and die by consumer demand. In 2018, Ford announced it would stop production of all its cars except the Mustang in favor of better-selling SUVs and pickup trucks.

It isn’t an “American problem,” either. The Chinese auto market is in a similar phase to the American market in the 1980s. Most vehicles sold in China are Long-Wheelbase luxury vehicles or SUVs. The modern Chinese car buyer craves to be seen as successful. The modern American seeks utility, ruggedness, and, most importantly, road presence, which a small pickup truck can rarely, if ever, provide.

The Pedestrian Safety Crisis

That brings us to the next point. The Chicken tax meant that American car manufacturers were free to make whatever trucks they desired, and with it came a rise in pedestrian fatalities.

From 2009 to 2019, fatalities increased by 50%. If you find that number alarming, congratulations. You’re not a psychopath. Still, there was a further 18% rise in pedestrian fatalities from 2019 to 2023. Mind you, vehicle miles traveled (VMT) decreased by around 430.2 billion miles in 2020. 

The rise in pickup truck sales is a contributing factor to the increase in pandemic pedestrian fatalities. It is not the sole cause. The NHTSA found that many drivers who remained on the roads during the pandemic drove riskier than normal. 

Crash compatibility

In 2003, Senator John McCain called a hearing to discuss SUV and pickup truck safety. Vehicle safety advocates, Joan Claybrook and Dr. Jeffery Runge, found that if a car collided head-on with a pickup truck, the car occupants were over six times more likely to die. Side impact fatalities are even deadlier at 26 times more.

Even with those facts, another item in this hearing would be the focus: rollovers. In 2011, new legislation would mean manufacturers would need to fit all new pickup trucks with electronic stability control (ESC). This would be to prevent rollovers caused by the higher center of gravity. No new crash compatibility regulations would be implemented.

Nobody wants to be in a car accident. Still, around 40,000 Americans will lose their lives this next year in this way. To reduce this number, manufacturers have to meet certain safety standards. It sounds obvious, right? Safety features absent from pickup trucks include:

  • Crumple zones
  • Pedestrian collision protection
  • Frame force dissipation

Now, I’m no physics professor, but the idea behind crash protection is to prevent damage to vehicle occupants. Forgoing these features increases the risk of serious injury or death… Not that we need more of that nowadays.

“The purpose of crumple zones is to minimize bounce by dissipating kinetic energy to thermal energy and to reduce collision force by extending the distance over which that dissipation work is done,” says Lawrence Davis, Associate Professor of Science at Umpqua Community College, in his book, Body Physics 2.0. “Rigid frames bounce more than crumple zones, which further increases the force on occupants.”

As much as pickup trucks are a bane to pedestrian safety, they are also anti-people in a way. If you’re more likely to die as a driver or passenger of a pickup, an occupant of another vehicle, or as a pedestrian, then the truck exists to protect itself.

Poor Visibility and Maneuverability

Ford F-150 Lightning XLT Towing
Image: Ford

Nobody enjoys mowing down their kids in the driveway on the way to work. Turns out, that might be what you get with your Ford Maverick. Pickup trucks have much poorer visibility than cars. At this point, you’re riding a small tank around. A modern pickup truck is bigger than a WW2 British Sherman tank. 

It is possible you don’t have kids and like driving a tank through downtown New York. We’re not judging! But one thing we know you don’t like is lawsuits. Technologies like Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB) will help prevent a parking lot accident, but they will not prevent collisions at medium-to-high speeds. In fact, if you read the fine print in the advertising for AEB or any ADAS feature, you’ll find this:

“Driver assistants are not a substitute for driver focus.”

This is one of the first things you learn when taking the written driver’s test: defensive driving. You’re supposed to drive to foresee, avoid potential obstacles, and always be aware of your environment. Again, pickup trucks go against a fundamental principle of driving. You should not be on the road if you can’t perceive your environment or make it difficult for others to judge theirs.

Pickup trucks’ correlation to climate concerns

The consensus is that we must tackle climate change with consumer and corporate changes. Driving a 4,000-pound truck takes a toll on your wallet and the environment.

Where you would get 53 mpg in a Toyota Corolla Hybrid, you get 43 mpg in a Ford Maverick Hybrid. The utility of a truck bed makes it worth sacrificing ten mpg and the better deal. However, the Ford Maverick lacks one climate-saving feature: resource efficiency.

Ford Maverick
Image: Ford

In a perfect world, they make your truck, you drive it around, and then, when it is no longer useful, its components are recycled. A circular economy. For a hybrid vehicle, energy comes from electricity and petrol. You need to use some of the fuel to get to your destination. If you’re hitting 43 mpg to carry only yourself, that’s an inefficient use of resources.

America alone uses 369 million gallons per day. 166 million pickup trucks are registered, and the average commuting distance is 41 miles. Assuming the perfect conditions (every pickup on the road every day hitting the Maverick’s golden 43 mpg), pickup trucks would make up around 45% of that fuel usage. Increasing access to public transport by even 5% would make a significant dent in fossil fuel use and carbon emissions.

Pickup trucks are not the enemy

I know you expected a grand waffling about how great public transport is, and after all the effort to point out every flaw in pickup trucks. But nope. Once more, we iterate that trucks are cool and trucks are useful. They’re just flawed. And that’s not necessarily all to blame on the products alone.

Pickup trucks are symptoms of a larger problem. 

Most people don’t buy products solely on efficiency or merit. Personal preference and marketing play a huge role. “Big truck strong.” It’s simple. Currently, there is no active deterrent to purchasing or manufacturing pickup trucks. Road infrastructure is car-centric. Pickup trucks are exempt from safety standards, which saves manufacturing costs.

Our country is built for cars and not people.

Now that we’ve established the problem, how can we find its solution? Is it even worth building a people-centric country? 

Reduction in pedestrian fatalities

This is the most obvious one. Low-density roads can become walking areas and green zones. Reducing the number of lanes in medium-density areas can make way for cycle lanes, trees, and larger sidewalks. Most pedestrian fatalities are disabled, older people, children, or otherwise impaired folks. Allow for zones where larger vehicles, like pickup trucks, are not allowed.

Quality of life improvements

Of course, there will be a natural reduction in carbon emissions with fewer vehicles on the road. The real kicker will be a major noise, air pollution, and smog reduction. Californian cities rank among the highest for poor air quality, exacerbating health issues like asthma. Taking the eight to ten-lane highways away and reducing road traffic will improve the quality of life for millions of Americans (and also open the roadways for the casual enthusiast’s Sunday cruise).

Lead fuels were once thought to be irreplaceable. Robust legislation in the 1970s meant that by the 1990s, leaded fuel was gone. People-centric American cities could be a reality.

People-centric pickup trucks

Yes, it is possible, and it starts by further bolstering the mid-size pickup. Check out these pickups that aren’t sold in the U.S.:

  • Nissan NP200
  • Chevrolet Ute
  • Toyota Hilux
  • Isuzu D-Max
  • Mitsubishi Triton
  • Mazda BT-50
  • Volkswagen Amarok

Bringing these vehicles to the U.S. is not a pipe dream either. In 2019, Ford brought back the Ranger pickup, which was pulled from the U.S. market in 2011. The Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon have entered new generations too, and don’t forget the Honda Ridgeline! All were positively received for bringing car-like dynamics and comfort to the world of utility vehicles. We’re not hurting for Hiluxes either, as the ye ol’ Toyota Tacoma never left us. Although these vehicles are still large compared to cars, they offer much better visibility and efficiency.

Pickup trucks and E-Fuels

The European Union will ban the production of new gasoline vehicles in 2035, but there is space in this legislation for synthetic fuels. Synthetic fuels or E-fuels are made from carbon captured in the atmosphere and are produced with renewable energy. In fact, Porsche aims to become a leading producer of these carbon-neutral e-fuels, having begun development and implementing them in their race cars.

We love trucks and don’t want the gasoline engine to die. Hearing a big pickup go brrrr or a Porsche 911 RSR whizz by gives you a feeling that electric vehicles just don’t, as much as we admire the technology. There’s a charm to these big, burly bricks that E-fuels will allow us to keep the way the gods intended. 

The enjoyment of driving is people-centric.

Work trucks for the working folk

Chevrolet Silverado EV work site
Image: Chevrolet

Of course, we must insert that we don’t necessarily wish to abolish all trucks from roadways. After all, there is a glaringly obvious demographic for half-tons and heavy-duty leviathans. What, you thought a Maverick Hybrid would yank that stump from the ground or move that RV toy hauler across the Mojave? Sheesh, we’re not that sadistic.

A Hot Take like this must also be followed up with the statement that it’s perfectly fine for fleets and tradesmen to have their goliaths. They literally cannot work without them. It’s simply a matter of not having excess vehicle wasting space on our roads when your usual haul is a hundred pounds of mulch, or your work site is the sixth-floor office.

The electric pickup truck will not save the pickup truck

Bird's eye view of a 2025 Fisker Alaska electric pickup truck
Image: Fisker

Unfortunately, another scenario is very plausible. Synthetic fuels fail, and all gasoline vehicles are banned in a panic. You are forced to buy an electric pickup truck because corporate lobbying meant that people-centric infrastructure never came to fruition.

The truth is we are at a crossroads. If we choose the path of a pickup-truck-centric world, we may experience a dystopian reality not imaginable today. If we choose a people-centric world, we may avert this crisis and be able to enjoy our world for centuries to come.

A huge thank you to Myles Russell (@FreckleEars) for the great conversation and the truck visibility graphic. And to Derek Bradley (@Dellboy) for international info on taxes and pickup trucks and for being an amazing source of ideas.

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2025 Fisker Alaska from the front
FeaturesNews

The 2025 Fisker Alaska will be built in the U.S. – here’s everything we know

The U.S. electric pickup truck market is the latest automotive gold rush, and Fisker – whose Ocean SUV has only reached 22 customers so far – wants in. But even with a sharp focus on sustainability (similar to the Polestar 4), practical power, and the world’s biggest cupholder, the Fisker Alaska EV pickup has its work cut out for it.

Seriously, the competition is fierce. The 2024 Chevy Silverado EV is around the corner and the Ford F-150 Lightning and Rivian R1T are just waiting for another unworthy rival to overshadow. Then again, judging by its exterior styling in the high-quality renderings Fisker provided to Acceleramota, the Fisker Alaska wants to be more Huracan Sterrato than Silverado.

Don’t be fooled by its exotic appearance, though. The Fisker Alaska is being manufactured from the in the U.S. of A. There’s still a chance to beat Tesla to the punch. After all, the Fisker Alaska has reached the same number of customers as the long-delayed Cybertruck.

What’s even better than all that though? Everything about it was built in the U.S. of A. The Fisker Alaska will be built right in the country of its namesake. Fisker is also committed to producing this one at scale, so you won’t have to wait three years to buy it, allegedly.

2025 Fisker Alaska price and specs

Pricing for the 2025 Fisker Alaska starts at $45,400 before tax incentives. The real kicker here is that you get large pickup storage in a mid-size truck.

  • Price: $45,400
  • Battery capacity: 75 kWh and 113 kWh
  • Electric range: 230 to 340 miles
  • 0-60 speed: 3.9–7.2 seconds (depending on trim)
  • HP: horsepower and other performance metrics TBA

2025 Fisker Alaska interior and tech

The Fisker Alaska appears to be full of character, inside and out. Suede inserts with noir leather give it hunting-trip-with-dad vibes. A big cowboy hat holder on the roof in the rear is stunning and brave, and the flat rear glass not only improves rear visibility, but it also helps the cabin feel roomier. This cozy lounge feel carries over to the front with wood inserts, a giant center screen, and soft-touch surfaces.

The longest bed in its class

Bird's eye rendering of the 2025 Fisker Alaska
Image credit: Fisker

What would you do with a 9.2-foot truck bed? That’s what you’ll get when the powered liftgate is down on the 2025 Fisker Alaska. The rear wall and window come down in what Fisker calls the “Houdini door,” allowing the whole rear cabin space to be used for larger items. If you’re a camper, this means more sleeping space, and for surfers, a lot more room for your buds and boards.

The world’s biggest cupholder

2025 Fisker Alaska interior
Image credit: Fisker

Americans like BIG things. BIG Gulps, BIG trucks, and even BIGGER hospital bills. So a massive cup holder is a no-brainer. The largest Mcdonald’s cup is 32 ounces. Venturing even further into soft drink heaven, the Team Gulp from 7-Eleven is 128 oz. Henrik Fisker drank from what looked to be a 128-ounce water bottle. That said, this mega cupholder can be removed if you want to use smaller cups, like a chud.

Practical storage

Fisker looks to be taking a page out of the Rivian handbook when it comes to cargo space. The Alaska has cockpit storage for work gloves, a large center armrest for flashlights and pens, and a passenger tray with a tablet holder. If the mega cupholder is any indication, plenty of optional accessories and Fisker-themed doo-dads will be sold alongside the Alaska.

2025 Fisker Alaska range and charging

2025 Fisker Alaska from the front
Image credit: Fisker

Data on the charging capabilities of the Fisker Alaska has yet to be announced. For some reference, you can look at our EV explainer to get an idea of what you can realistically expect based on present standards.

Fisker is currently partnering with CATL to supply its Ocean SUV batteries. We expect similar usage of the NMC cells for the lower spec Alaska and the LiFePO4 cells for the top trim. CATL are world-leaders in EV battery tech and works with most of the top EV makers.

The Fisker Alaska will be manufactured in the U.S.

Details are scarce, but Fisker says it will manufacture U.S. models of the Alaska domestically in its home country. Magna Steyr will partner with Fisker to produce Euro-spec models. The Alaska is being produced alongside the Pear, its other electric SUV, at its refurbished Lordstown, Ohio plant.

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F-150 Lightning in the dirt
Features

Ford F-150 Lightning: an electric truck that still looks like a truck

The Ford F-150 Lightning, known colloquially as the Ford Lightning, takes a traditional approach to electrification in that it’s not trying to be an interstellar spaceship on wheels. This truck looks and performs like a truck. I’ll be damned. The F-150 Lightning offers strong towing and payload numbers, a spacious and upscale interior, and a long electric range.

Though it has been on sale for a couple of model years, Ford still struggles to keep pace with demand, and the wait for a new truck extends to a year for some configurations. Still, if you do find a Lightning for sale, the pickup offers actual truck capability without the need for gas, and that’s a compelling proposition for many buyers. 

Ford Lightning price and specs

Ford has raised prices on the Lightning a few times since its inception, moving it from the sub-$40,000 starting price to almost $60,000 at the bottom end.

2023 Ford F-150 Lightning Pro

  • Price: $59,974
  • Range: 240 miles (standard), 320 miles (extended)
  • Horsepower: 462 hp (standard), 580 hp (extended)
  • Torque: 775 lb-ft
  • Curb weight: 6,015 lbs (standard), 6,361 lbs (extended)
  • 0-60 time: 4.1 seconds (standard), 3.8s (extended)

2023 Ford F-150 Lightning XLT

  • Price: $63,474
  • Range: 240 miles (standard), 320 miles (extended)
  • Horsepower: 462 hp (standard), 580 hp (extended)
  • Torque: 775 lb-ft
  • Curb weight: 6,015 lbs (standard), 6,361 lbs (extended)
  • 0-60 time: 4.1 seconds (standard), 3.8s (extended)

2023 Ford F-150 Lightning Lariat

  • Price: $75,974
  • Range: 240 miles (standard), 320 miles (extended)
  • Horsepower: 462 hp (standard), 580 hp (extended)
  • Torque: 775 lb-ft
  • Curb weight: 6,015 lbs (standard), 6,361 lbs (extended)
  • 0-60 time: 4.1 seconds (standard), 3.8s (extended)

2023 Ford F-150 Lightning Platinum

  • Price: $98,074
  • Range: 320 miles
  • Horsepower: 580 hp
  • Torque: 775 lb-ft
  • Curb weight: 6,893 lbs
  • 0-60 time: 4 seconds
Image credit: Ford

Ford options most Lightning trims with either a standard- or the pricier extended-range battery. Not only does the extended-range battery give you an extra 80 miles of juice, but it also adds nearly 120 horses, bringing the Lightning’s official 0-60 time from 4.1 seconds to under 4.

Naturally, the Platinum comes standard with the extended-range battery. The tradeoff is more than 800 lbs of added weight. And sure, that can add a fraction of a second to your 0-60 time, but who’s complaining about a 4-second pickup truck? Remember the Ram SRT-10? That thing had a Viper engine and just barely managed under 5. Besides, trucks are all about how much you can haul before you stall, which the Ford Lightning has in spades. With 775 lb-ft of torque gracing the lineup, it’s rated for a towing capacity up to 10,000 pounds – although, if we’re being real, you probably shouldn’t go over 2,000.

Buyers can add towing packages, upgraded wheels, power side steps, and a myriad of interior upgrades. That said, the F-150 Lightning is expensive and has only gotten pricier as time has gone on. Part of that is due to inflation, but it’s the opposite of the actions Ford took with its other mass-market EV, the Mustang Mach-E.

The F-150 Lightning currently competes against the Rivian R1T seemingly for the titles of Most Expensive and Hardest to Find. In the near future, the Ram 1500 Revolution, Chevrolet 1500 EV, and GMC Sierra EV will land, giving the Lightning a whole host of electric rivals. The Ram is more traditionally styled like the Ford, but the two GM EVs are futuristic in appearance. Pricing for all is expected to be close to the Ford’s MSRP, so we’re in for an expensive electric future in which we’ve subbed burning gas for burning cash.

Ford F-150 Lightning interior and tech

Just like its gas-powered brethren, Ford offers several upgrades and customization options for the F-150 Lightning. While the top Platinum trim brings all the goodies, including leather upholstery and a panoramic sunroof, lower trims can be outfitted with much of the high-end kit through packages and standalone options.

As with most modern vehicles, but especially the electric ones, the 2023 Ford F-150 Lightning follows the polarizing trend that is replacing physical HVAC controls with an oversized tablet. The 15.5-inch touchscreen display in the F-150 Lightning’s center console runs the automaker’s own Sync 4A software for all your truck specific needs. Thankfully, for everything else, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto (not to be confused with Android Automotive) still remain.

Unlike GM, whose electric Silverado and Hummer trucks have taken to Android Automotive, Ford is sticking to the proprietary stuff, for better or worse. On one hand, because Sync 4A is built by Ford for Ford drivers, its interface is tailor-made to fit the F-150 Lightning. In the main control panel, for instance, the first selection you’ll see highlighted is the onboard scales feature – as long as you have the tow technology package. This lets you check the weight of your payload to make sure you didn’t overdo it on the supplies for your latest home improvement project.

Like the onboard scales utility, some of the more exciting tech is exclusive to certain packages or options. The 360-degree exterior zone lighting, ambient interior lighting, leather seats, and moonroof are all add-ons, as are the upgraded B&O speakers. Even the trailer brake controller is locked to the tow technology package. But no matter how it’s configured, the Ford Lightning comes standard with a host of different drive modes, tons of hidden storage as well as a frunk, built-in navigation, and a stow-away shifter that converts your center console into an in-car workstation.

Ford electrified trucks: F-150 Lightning vs F-150 PowerBoost hybrid

Image credit: Ford

The Ford F-150 Lightning offers similar configurations and options to the standard F-150, including the PowerBoost hybrid truck. They both provide in-bed generators and traditional truck capabilities, but the similarities do not extend to their powertrains. The hybrid powertrain delivers 430 horsepower and 570 pound-feet of torque, giving it stout towing and hauling capabilities – but it still uses gas. 

The Lightning offers up to 320 miles of range on a charge and can use DC fast charging to charge from 15 to 80 percent in around 40 minutes for the extended-range battery. The challenge with an electric truck is that doing any “truck stuff” reduces the range. Towing and hauling put more strain on the electric drivetrain and can zap range. Additionally, cold weather can drain the batteries faster, as using the heat and other accessories takes more power. 

Pricing is another significant difference between the two trucks. The Lightning easily crests the $100,000 mark in its top configuration with options, while adding the hybrid powertrain to the standard F-150 drives the price upward by about $3,300. Of course, the hybrid requires gas purchases, and despite its improved fuel economy, it can be more expensive to operate. Charging costs money, but it can be cheaper than refueling. Some configurations of the Lightning are eligible for federal tax credits of up to $7,500, but some are too expensive to quality. 

Ford Motor Company news

Ford is deep into its electrification strategy and has made progress on its Blue Oval City EV and battery production facility in Tennessee. In addition to the F-150 Lightning, the automaker sells the Mustang Mach-E and E-Transit EVs in the United States. Ford has partnered with Volkswagen and others to produce and sell unique EVs in other countries, but there’s no indication that those models will make it to North America.

Ford has struggled with quality in recent years and has faced multiple recalls from all corners of its vehicle catalog. Consumers tend to rate EVs poorly for quality and satisfaction, so it’s not just a Ford problem, but the company has spent a ton of time and money fixing quality issues that could have been resolved on the factory floor. CEO Jim Farley has acknowledged the problem and promised a plan to fix the quality issues, but Ford has work to do.

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