The $100,000 electric truck market is here

DETROIT – Tesla, General Motors, Rivian Automotive and Ford Motor have created a new market in the U.S. automotive industry of pricey, powerful and precarious electric pickup trucks that sell for $100,000 or more.

Just five years ago, the idea of a customer paying six figures for a pickup truck — historically a work vehicle meant for hauling and towing — was cause for national headlines. But it has quickly become normal, as automakers attempt to increase profits on traditional trucks and simply make a profit on electric ones.

“Customers are willing to spend, so automakers are going to give it to them,” said Stephanie Brinley, principal automotive analyst at S&P Global Mobility. “In general, pickup trucks getting more equipment, better features and better materials really just reflects general consumer attitude of wanting more.”

But unlike $100,000 traditional pickup trucks with internal combustion engines that offer superior capabilities compared with their lower-priced counterparts, electric trucks have higher price tags in part because of their technologies, including the costly batteries needed to power the vehicles.

“If you think about who’s actually buying these new EVs, it’s definitely, for the [automakers], a different demographic,” said Stephanie Valdez Streaty, Cox Automotive director of industry insights. “These are very expensive, very niche vehicles.”

There are currently a handful of electric trucks for purchase in the U.S. market: the Tesla Cybertruck, Ford F-150 Lightning, Rivian R1T and General Motors’ GMC Hummer EV, GMC Sierra Denali and Chevrolet Silverado. The GMC Hummer and Rivian also have SUV versions, which feature similar functions as their pickup counterparts but in different forms.

All those vehicle can get close to or easily top $100,000, including Tesla’s “Cyberbeast” model for about $120,000 and a limited-edition GMC Hummer for more than $150,000. Kelley Blue Book reports both vehicles transacted for over $100,000 last month — and the Tesla Cybertruck became the best-selling vehicle in the U.S. priced at six figures or more.

That compares to the average price paid for a traditional full-size pickup of $65,713, including average discount incentives of 7%, according to Kelley Blue Book.

Overall, this electric “truck” market, including the SUVs, accounted for nearly 58,000 vehicles sold during the first half of this year, according to estimates from Motor Intelligence. That’s less than 1% of the roughly 7.9 million light-duty new vehicles sold during that time in the U.S., but a 35% quarterly increase from the first to the second quarter, according to the data.

The market is expected to keep growing, but for now I’ve driven each of those $100,000 vehicles for varying amounts of time. They all drive and handle well, but in varying ways. Here are some thoughts on each:

The Tesla Cybertruck is in a league of its own when it comes to pretty much everything — design, function, polarization and features.

Driving the vehicle, whether it’s on- or off-road, is an experience. GM has called it the world’s first “supertruck.” It is fast, large and the least efficient consumer EV on sale today, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The SUV version is smaller and more manageable to drive than the pickup truck version.

Both Hummer variants carry the weight of GM’s rapid development of vehicles. They’re heavy — estimated at nearly 9,200 pounds for the pickup — compared with every other consumer vehicle on today’s market, including their all-electric truck counterparts.

While the Hummer EVs can achieve 0-60 miles per hour in 3.5 seconds or less and are extremely capable with their performance parts, the weight of the vehicles can easily be felt when driving them.

GM’s designers did a nice job of modernizing the Hummer’s exterior design for the new EVs, including the ability to remove roof panels. But the interior can feel, much like the vehicles themselves, very bulky.

• Pros: Design, capability, durability, four-wheel steer, hands-free Super Cruise advanced driver-assistance system
• Cons: Design, efficiency, bulky interior, range

GM’s newest all-electric pickup trucks are the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra Debali, both offering high-end models that cost nearly $100,000.

The second generation of the vehicles, which were released earlier this year, improved on the ride and quality of the trucks. The R1S driving experience was noticeably smoother than the first generation of the vehicles.

The F-150 Lightning, which can top $90,000, remains a solid vehicle but for buyers seeking to spend around $100,000 or more, the competition is far more intense than it was when the truck launched in 2022.