GM is already plotting a robust electric truck lineup with the GMC Hummer EV SUT and upcoming Chevy Silverado EV and GMC Sierra EV models. But a new report says GM may have another truck coming — one that many of us can afford.
Automotive News saw a GM design study for a compact electric pickup. The vehicle in the design study is reportedly "futuristic and sporty," with two doors, a low roofline, and a small 4-4.5-foot truck bed. It would be smaller than the current compact trucks on the market. And GM would focus on making it cheap, with a price tag under $30,000.
A design study is a long way from building a production vehicle. It's a way for GM to gauge what buyers want, how to make that and whether to move forward with the project. So any small, cheap electric GM pickup truck that emerges — either on an existing EV platform or a modified combustion truck one — likely would be a few years away at the earliest.
A small, cheap electric GM pickup should be a no-brainer success. Electric trucks have proven incredibly popular; Ford F-150 Lightning demand exceeded expectations, and Rivian has a considerable backlog of orders to work through. The closest equivalent to the cheap GM electric truck on the market is the Ford Maverick. And Ford sells out of them within days every time it opens the order books.
The question would be what the compact pickup market will look like if this GM electric truck does materialize. Thus far, we've only had the Maverick and the Hyundai Santa Cruz. But Ram and Toyota may both be plotting compact pickup entrants. It's unclear whether there will be a rival electric truck among them, though Ford has filed for both Maverick Lightning and Maverick Thunder trademarks in various locales.
