Ford, GMC, and Chevy announce fully-electric pickup trucks arriving soon

Chevrolet offers a wide variety of propulsion in its Silverado pickup truck, everything from a turbocharged 4-cylinder, a diesel, to conventional V8s.

But soon, the biggest change ever in how a Chevy truck gets along will be coming.

Chevrolet is quiet on details at this point, but they did release a teaser video recently showing four-wheel steering, an optional feature of the upcoming truck.

Sibling brand GMC will have a battery-powered model much sooner, with the name Hummer returning on a fully-electric pickup by the end of the year.

And many people know that Ford leads the full-size pickup truck sales race, and they don't want to lose this emerging electric truck contest. Next year, the F-150 Lightning arrives, with a promised battery range of 230 to 300 miles.

Those are brand names you know, but here's one you might not know, with an electric truck about to hit the streets. The R1T is from an American startup called Rivian.

How viable is their technology? Ford Motor Company has invested heavily in it, to use in platforms for future electric Ford and Lincoln vehicles. The R1T carries a base price of $67,500 before tax incentives.

Whenever the stats of trucks are discussed, you hear a lot about torque, as that's what helps them carry big loads and tow trailers. The optional 6.2 liter V8 in the 2021 Chevy Silverado, for example, produces 460 pound-feet of torque. And that's a lot.

But that's nothing compared to what these electric pickups are promising. How about big, big torque and even big towing capacity. Ford has released some specs, and they're claiming the Lightning will produce 775 lb-ft of torque, and be able to tow up to 10,000 lbs.

Rivian says its electric R1T pickup can tow up to 11,000 lbs.

Critics have said that long-distance travel, especially when towing, will make truck EVs impractical, though the network of roadside charging stations is growing. Most all of these trucks can have their batteries filled to about 80% capacity in less than an hour, at DC quick charge stations popping up near major highways.

But most pickups actually stay local. Municipalities, contractors, and other small business owners can use electric power during the day, then recharge overnight when the vehicles would be sitting anyway.

Nobody's predicting that the conventional pickup will be going away anytime soon. But with the automotive world on a path toward electrification, electric pickup trucks could someday be a common sight on the roads.