Electric pickup trucks are gaining in popularity, and car manufacturers are taking notice. There are a slew of electric pickups coming out this year and into 2022. Yet one of the barriers to buying an electric truck remains the same; the cost. Will electric pickup trucks get cheaper?

Will electric trucks get cheaper? 

Electric pickup trucks are new and popular, but they’re also expensive. According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance, battery costs account for half the price of an electric truck. As the cost of electric truck batteries goes down, the price of electric trucks will go down, too. In fact, costs have already started to go down. The cost of lithium batteries is down 90% from what it cost ten years ago. 

According to Clean Technica, the fact that car manufacturers are dedicating entire platforms to electric vehicles will also help to drive down costs. In fact, they project that electric vehicles will be cheaper than fuel-powered ones within the next six years. 

There are incentives to buy an electric pickup 

One of the marketing tactics used by electric vehicle manufacturers is to tout the incentives car shoppers receive from buying an electric truck. Tesla even advertises the prices on their website as what someone would pay after the tax credit. 

There is currently a rebate of $7500 for any electric vehicle purchased after 2010. The amount a person gets is dependent upon the capacity of their battery, making it more attractive to purchase an electric truck with greater battery capacity. 

There’s also the savings of not having to pay for gas. On top of that, electric vehicles including pickup trucks have lower maintenance costs. Yet how much do these incentives and lower fuel costs offset the upfront costs of buying an electric pickup truck?

Electric trucks can have high upfront costs 

Even though you may save money in the long run, the immediate cost of an electric truck may be a barrier to purchasing one. The Rivian electric pickup will cost about $68,145 for the base trim. The first GMC Hummer EV pickup will cost $112,595. Although there will be cheaper models down the road, that will be the only one available in the beginning.  You’d have to buy a whole lot of fuel to even out that upfront price. 

However, there are more affordable electric pickup trucks. For example, the 2022 Ford Lightning starts at $39,994. that’s quite reasonable, even for an internal combustion engine, or ICE truck. The anticipated Tesla Cybertruck will cost you a minimum of $39,990, though there will be options to upgrade your truck.

If you love pickup trucks but also want to be environmentally possible, you do have options that are affordable. You could buy one of the cheaper models now, like the 2022 Ford Lightning. Or, you could wait a little bit for prices to come down. The other advantage to waiting is that battery range should increase as time goes on. No matter what you do, electric pickup trucks are here to stay, and the options for them will only get better.