Tesla, Ford, other autos struggling to build, price EV trucks

In 2022, three out of the top five best-selling vehicles in the United States were trucks. With the White House’s efforts to electrify the nation’s automotive fleet well underway, automakers are looking to capitalize on the transition while catering to the wants of American consumers. But many have struggled with manufacturing and selling electric vehicle (EV) trucks.

Rivian, once hailed as the “Tesla of trucks,” is currently grappling with substantial financial losses. Despite commanding an average selling price of around $80,000 for its EV trucks, Rivian has suffered losses of about $33,000 for each unit sold, according to The Wall Street Journal. Building EV trucks has proven to be a costly endeavor, and Rivian’s CEO, RJ Scaringe, has reportedly directed his engineers to cut $40,000 in costs from every vehicle made through an examination of both parts and production expenses.

“We accepted that we’d have a lot of issues in the vehicle to start with,” said Scaringe, who added that he believes Rivian’s ability to redesign major aspects of its vehicles so soon after launching will ultimately be a competitive advantage.

Larger automakers like Ford and Tesla have also encountered their share of obstacles in the electric truck arena. The price of Ford’s F-150 Lightning, an EV pickup, has fluctuated in recent months. Ford temporarily paused production and sales to address defective batteries that posed a fire risk then subsequently raised the vehicle’s price by nearly $20,000 after resolving these issues. The company cited factors such as material cost increases and supply chain constraints for the price hike. Following numerous cancellations by prospective customers, Ford later reversed course, slashing prices by almost $10,000 during the summer.

“Shortly after launching the F-150 Lightning, rapidly rising material costs, supply constraints and other factors drove up the cost of the EV truck for Ford and our customers,” Marin Gjaja, Chief Customer Officer of Ford Model E, said in a statement. “We’ve continued to work in the background to improve accessibility and affordability to help to lower prices for our customers and shorten the wait times for their new F-150 Lightning.”

Meanwhile, Tesla’s long-awaited Cybertruck has faced ongoing delays. Elon Musk, Tesla’s CEO, initially aimed to introduce the first customer trucks at an event in late September. That target has come and gone, without any official word on future launch plans. Despite these delays, Tesla has been distributing Cybertruck launch apparel to its employees, hinting at a potential launch in the near future.

“When we are ready to [launch the Cybertruck], we will,” Musk said. “While I think it is our best product ever, it is an extremely difficult product to build. We are in uncharted territory, because it is not like anything else.”

The Cybertruck, initially expected to roll off the assembly line in 2021, has garnered significant interest, with approximately two million people placing a $100 deposit to reserve their purchase when the vehicle becomes available. Though similar to Ford’s pricing adjustments, the cost of the Cybertruck has already seen increases from its original sticker price, with Musk acknowledging the impact of inflation and other issues.

“It will be hard to make the Cybertruck affordable,” Musk admitted while discussing the vehicle. “There’s no way to have anticipated quite the inflation that we’ve seen and various issues.”

Consumer interest in electric trucks from manufacturers like Tesla, Ford, and others remains evident, with the market for these products expected to hit $11.08 billion by 2032. The ultimate success of these vehicles in the market hinges on whether the price points align with both consumer expectations and automaker profitability.