Pickup Truck Buying Guide: How Much Truck Do You Need?

Key Points:

• The popularity of pickup trucks has created a huge variety for sale.
• The most important question to answer when shopping for a pickup is: How much truck do you actually need?
• Our guide recommends trucks by class, details truck-specific terms and helps guide you in managing costs.

Pickup trucks are the most popular new vehicles on sale today. But the popularity of pickups has created a huge variety of trucks for sale, from small front-wheel-drive hybrids to hulking six-wheeled monsters able to practically tow your house off its foundation. How do you choose the best one for your life?

Related: Find a Pickup Truck for Sale Near You

This buyer’s guide is meant to help you figure out a few things, all stemming from the not-so-simple question: How much pickup truck do you actually need? Maybe you need a pickup truck because you have something you need to tow, like a boat or a camper. Maybe you live somewhere without paved roads and need a solid off-roader to get you to and from home via a field and two-track forest path. Or maybe you’re starting from square one and have a bunch of questions about what payload and tongue weight mean, or the difference between half-ton and one-ton pickups.

Using our in-depth truck knowledge that comes from owning, driving and reviewing a variety of pickup trucks, we’ve put together this comprehensive guide to help you find the best pickup for you, including our Editorial experts’ Top Picks. Check out the cheat sheet below, but read each section for more information on how to buy the best truck for your needs.

Step 1: Determine Your Needs

• Identify your primary use. Consider why you need a pickup truck. Do you need to tow a boat or camper, navigate unpaved roads or simply have a versatile vehicle for everyday tasks?
• Understand truck types. Familiarize yourself with the four main categories: compact, mid-size, full-size light-duty, and full-size heavy-duty. Each has different capabilities in terms of towing, hauling, and off-road performance.
• Assess towing requirements (if applicable):
  • Know what you’re towing: Calculate the gross trailer weight (trailer plus all its contents) and tongue weight (10%-15% of the loaded trailer weight).
  • Consider passenger and cargo weight: Account for the weight of all passengers and any additional cargo you’ll carry in the truck.
  • Understand key towing terms: Learn about maximum trailer towing capacity, maximum tongue weight, gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) and gross combined weight rating (GCWR).
• Evaluate drivetrain needs. Understand the differences between two-wheel drive (2WD), all-wheel drive (AWD) and four-wheel drive (4WD) systems, and when each is appropriate to use. Most people don’t need dedicated off-road 4WD systems unless they plan on serious rock climbing.
• Consider powertrain options. Explore gasoline, diesel, gas-electric hybrid, and fully-electric options, weighing their pros and cons regarding power, efficiency, cost, and towing range.

Step 2: Research and Equip Your Truck

• Match the truck to your needs. Once you know your requirements, research specific models and trims that align with your towing, hauling, and off-road needs.
• Check manufacturer ratings. Find the maximum tow rating, maximum tongue weight, GVWR, and GCWR for the specific truck you’re considering. Some manufacturers provide these on a sticker in the door jamb.
• Equip for towing (if applicable):
  • Trailer tow packages: Look for optional trailer tow packages that include equipment like integrated trailer brake controllers, robust suspensions and specialized software modes.
  • Towing technology: Consider advanced towing aids like electronic trailer assist systems (e.g., Ford’s Pro Trailer Hitch Assist and Pro Trailer Backup Assist) and camera systems that provide unobstructed views.
  • Safety equipment: Prioritize safety features such as towing mirrors and, for heavy trailers, a weight-distributing hitch with sway bars.

Step 3: Manage Costs

• Prepare for sticker shock. Be aware that pickup truck prices can be high.
• Look for deals. Seek out incentives, cash rebates or attractive financing, especially at the end of a model year or for soon-to-be-discontinued vehicles.
• Limit options. Be selective with optional features. Higher trim levels often add luxury items that increase cost and can even reduce payload capacity. Focus on capability over luxury if that’s your priority.
• Choose shorter loan terms. Opt for the shortest loan term you can afford (ideally no more than 60 months) to minimize interest cost and avoid being “underwater” on your loan. Explore financing options from automakers, banks, credit unions, and online lenders.

Skip to Contents:

• Cars.com Top Pickup Truck Picks
• How Much Pickup Do You Need?
• Pickup Basics
• Pickup Truck Terminology
• Buying a Pickup for Towing: What You Need to Know
• Pickup Prices and How to Save a Few Bucks
• Electric and Mid-Size Trucks Are in the Spotlight

Cars.com Top Pickup Truck Picks

We’ve driven every pickup truck on the market. We’ve towed with them, we’ve gone off-road with them, and we’ve taken them to the grocery store, soccer practice, college move-in, date nights and camping weekends. For some, we’ve pitted them against each other in comparison tests; for others, it’s excursions into the wilderness to see how they perform or cross-country jaunts dragging a camping trailer. After all of our testing and evaluation, here are our Top Picks for Pickup Trucks for 2026:

• Top Pick: Budget-Friendly — 2026 Ford Maverick
• Top Pick: Towing, Light-Duty — 2025 Ford F-150
• Top Pick: Towing, Heavy-Duty — 2026 Ford Super Duty
• Top Pick: Luxury — 2026 Ram 1500 Tungsten
• Top Pick: Off-Road, Mid-Size — 2025 Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 Bison
• Top Pick: Off-Road, Full-Size — 2026 Ram 1500 RHO
• Top Pick: EV — 2026 Chevrolet Silverado EV

How Much Pickup Do You Need?

Pickup Truck Sizes

Key takeaways:

• There are four generally accepted categories of pickup trucks: compacts, mid-size, full-size light duty and full-size heavy duty.
• Compact trucks are cheapest, but they’re limited in what they can do. Mid-size pickups can do more, but full-size trucks are the most popular.
• Light-duty pickups perform a variety of roles for work, play and commuting, but heavy-duty pickups are more focused on work duty like towing and hauling.

Compact Pickups:

• Ford Maverick
• Hyundai Santa Cruz

Trucks like the Ford Maverick and Hyundai Santa Cruz are based on compact crossovers.The Maverick shares many parts you can’t see with the Ford Escape and Bronco Sport SUVs, for example, while the Santa Cruz is largely a Hyundai Tucson SUV with a pickup bed instead of a covered cargo area. These are FWD vehicles with optional AWD that typically have very limited bed and interior space, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t extremely useful. The Maverick can tow up to 4,000 pounds, and you can put up to 1,500 pounds in the bed, which is nothing to sneeze at, while the Santa Cruz can tow up to 5,000 pounds.

This category is also the cheapest entry point for new-pickup ownership, with prices starting in the $28,000 range; if budgets are tight, a compact pickup might not be a bad idea. But given their diminutive size, their utility is still limited, which is why you might want something a little bigger and more robust for your pickup needs.

Mid-Size Pickups:

• Chevrolet Colorado
• Ford Ranger
• GMC Canyon
• Honda Ridgeline
• Jeep Gladiator
• Nissan Frontier
• Toyota Tacoma

Mid-size pickup trucks are typically built more like their big-brother full-size counterparts: separate cabs on a ladder-style chassis. They can tow more than the compacts, (up to 7,700 pounds), carry more in their larger beds and are a lot more capable off-road. Most mid-sizers are rear-wheel drive with optional four- or all-wheel drive, and they’re powered either by four-cylinder or six-cylinder gasoline engines. There are no fully electric trucks in this category (yet), but hybrid technology arrived with the redesigned 2024 Toyota Tacoma.

Mid-size trucks’ big benefit over larger full-size pickups is the ability to park just about anywhere. For that same reason, they’re arguably even better off-road machines than the larger full-size pickups — you can get mid-size trucks with incredible off-road capability that have a narrower and shorter footprint for sneaking into tighter spaces on the trails.

The one outlier in the mid-size category is the Honda Ridgeline because it’s built like the compact pickups (it’s based on an AWD crossover chassis) and is generally less “trucky” than its mid-size competitors. But if you’re looking for more space, power and utility, you’ll probably have to size up one more level.

Full-Size Pickups, Light Duty:

• Chevrolet Silverado 1500
• Ford F-150
• GMC Sierra 1500
• GMC Hummer EV Pickup
• Nissan Titan
• Ram 1500
• Rivian R1T
• Toyota Tundra

Full-size pickups are the perpetual bestsellers in the U.S., but they’re also the most complicated category, and you might not fully understand what all the differences are. What is a light-duty versus heavy-duty truck? What are the differences between 1500, 2500 and 3500, or 150, 250, 350 and so on?

Modern full-size pickups can be broken down into two types: light duty and heavy duty. The old terminology that defined these trucks called them half-ton, three-quarter-ton and one-ton pickups, which described the truck’s payload rating: 1,000 pounds for a half ton, 1,500 pounds for a three-quarter ton and 2,000 pounds for a one ton. These days, however, even basic half-ton trucks have payloads well in excess of 1,000 pounds, and even the compact Maverick has the payload rating of an old three-quarter-ton truck.

Light-duty full-size trucks have grown to enormous proportions, and these days are used as family vehicles and commuters as well as for actual work purposes. But this is the most diverse category: You can get a single-cab, RWD work truck with a huge bed and basic engine or option it up to a loaded, leather-lined, crew-cab luxury rig with an enormous engine and price tag to match. Towing capacity maxes out at more than 13,000 pounds for certain models; several flavors of off-road and 4WD capability are available; and there are also hybrid and full-electric models.

Full-Size Pickups, Heavy Duty:

• Chevrolet Silverado 2500/3500
• Ford Super Duty F-250/350/450
• GMC Sierra 2500/3500
• Ram 2500/3500

What’s the big difference between light-duty and heavy-duty pickups? Heavy-duty trucks can tow more, carry more and are physically larger than light-duty trucks, but most importantly they are specifically built to do these more arduous tasks with much beefier components.

Stronger frames, unique suspensions, heavy-duty shock absorbers, bulkier axles with optional dual rear wheels, heavy-duty brakes, more robust transmissions and high-output diesel engines allow something like the Ford Super Duty to have a 40,000-pound tow rating when properly equipped. These are the trucks you buy when you know you have to tow something big and very heavy and want to do it with a maximum safety margin.

Their disadvantages are numerous, however, they’re incredibly thirsty, impossible to park in most urban and even suburban areas, and are usually extremely expensive. Heavy-duty trucks are specialty items designed for a purpose and less for casual use.

Pickup Truck Basics

Key Takeaways:

• Pickup truck powertrains can vary in which wheels are powered, and there are real differences between two-wheel drive, four-wheel drive and all-wheel drive.
• How and when 4WD systems should be used varies by truck and environment, but it’s important to know when to employ them.
• Pickups come with a variety of power sources, including turbocharged four-cylinder gas engines, hybrid systems, torquey diesels and even fully battery-electric systems.

2WD Vs. AWD Vs. 4WD

Two-wheel drive, 4WD and AWD describe three different drivetrains, but automakers’ branded names for these drivetrains can confuse shoppers and obscure what their trucks often include. Most pickup trucks come in a 2WD base configuration, meaning only one set of wheels gets power — which is usually the rear wheels unless you’re talking about a compact pickup, in which case the front wheels are powered.

AWD systems provide the ability to send power to all four wheels at any time, with sophisticated electronics and special components to let you simply leave it in AWD mode and let the vehicle decide when to mix power between the front and rear wheels, or even selectively one wheel side to side. You can use AWD on- or off-road. Sometimes AWD is standard and not selectable; other times, you can switch between 2WD and AWD as you like (2WD can sometimes be more fuel-efficient).

4WD, or 4×4, refers to a part-time system that, when selected, connects the front and rear wheels mechanically. It’s meant only for off-road situations or slippery on-road conditions, as it doesn’t allow for varying speeds between the front and back wheels. Given that a car’s wheels turn at different speeds when you turn a corner, this means that a 4×4 system needs some slippage in order to not bind up, and it’s why all vehicles equipped with a 4×4 system warn you not to use it on dry pavement lest you risk breaking something. In some off-road vehicles, there’s also a 4-High and 4-Low switch, which allows you to put the vehicle in a special 4WD Low mode for challenging off-road situations only. Unless you’re specifically looking for an off-road vehicle and plan to do a lot of rock climbing in the hills, most people don’t need such off-road 4WD systems.

Sometimes it’s also a challenge to know what kind of system your vehicle has because an automaker might label it something else. The best way to figure out what your truck has is to check the owner’s manual for any warnings about driving on-road in 4WD mode. If it says not to, or only under very slippery conditions, the vehicle has 4WD, not AWD, and should be used appropriately.

Gas Vs. Diesel Vs. Hybrid Vs. Electric

Modern pickups have a wider variety of powertrains than ever before, with gasoline, diesel, gas-electric hybrid and fully electric trucks now on sale.

The vast majority of compact, mid-size and full-size pickups are powered by gasoline engines, ranging from basic four-cylinders up to big, honkin’ V-8 engines. Turbocharging has come into vogue over the last decade, both in four- and six-cylinder engines, with Ford selling the vast majority of its full-size F-150s in twin-turbo V-6 guise and Ram replacing the Hemi V-8 in the 1500 pickup with a twin-turbo straight-six engine. Gas engines are great for familiarity’s sake — the fuel is everywhere, it’s comparably cheap, and gas engines make plenty of power and torque for most people’s needs.

But for some buyers who do a lot of towing or want improved efficiency, diesel engines are an interesting alternative. Only GM offers full-size light-duty pickups with diesel engines; full-size heavy-duty pickups are where diesel engines are most popular, with GM, Ford and Ram all offering them (sometimes more than one) due to their ability to make massive torque and take on the most difficult towing challenges. Diesel advantages include low-end torque that makes towing a breeze, longer-term durability due to heavy-duty construction and, in some cases, superior fuel economy. On the downside, they’re always more expensive than gas engines when ticking off the options sheet; the fuel itself is more expensive per gallon than regular gasoline and not as commonly available; and they require an additional fuel additive called diesel exhaust fluid that must be added periodically to help with the emissions systems. Regarding which is best for you, be sure to read our article on how to choose between a gas and diesel pickup truck.

And like it or not, electrification is creeping into the pickup truck segments. Gas-electric hybrid powertrains are available on the Ford Maverick and F-150 as well as the Toyota Tacoma and Tundra, while a mild-hybrid system is standard on the Ram 1500’s base V-6 and recently resurrected Hemi V-8 engines.

Fully electric pickup trucks are now a reality, too, with the Chevrolet Silverado EV, GMC Sierra EV and Tesla Cybertruck joining the Ford F-150 Lightning, GMC Hummer EV Pickup and Rivian R1T as of the 2025 model year. These trucks are significantly more expensive than their traditionally fueled counterparts and tend to have limited capability in terms of towing range and payload capacity, but they provide extraordinary abilities in terms of off-road prowess, torque for towing and smooth, near-silent operation. Some also offer an interesting benefit of being able to provide external power for unusual circumstances, such as the F-150 Lightning’s ability to power an average residential home for several days in case of a power outage.

The pickup truck segment is probably the most diverse one in the auto industry, and given the wide variety of types, equipment, powertrain options and price points, there’s assuredly one for every need and duty. All it takes is matching up your needs to the available options.

Truck Terms You Need to Know

Key Takeaways:

• The list of terms specific to pickup trucks is long and can often be confusing, but our glossary can help define some important words and phrases.
• Below, we explain terminology commonly associated with pickups to help you be better informed when researching and buying a pickup truck.

Pickup Truck Buying Guide Glossary

Buying a Pickup for Towing: What You Need to Know

Key Takeaways:

• Being familiar with what you’re towing (what kind of trailer, what it weighs, how it works) is the first step in figuring out what kind of vehicle to tow it with.
• Some pickups are better at towing than others, and finding the right combination of equipment, powertrain and technology can make the task safer and easier.
• Don’t skimp on the safety equipment when selecting a tow vehicle; towing safely is more important than towing easily.

Towing a trailer for the first time can be a harrowing experience. For those just starting to tow, be sure to read our complete and detailed instructional process at our Towing 101 article that goes into more depth on the subject. But for the purposes of this buying guide, we’ll cover what you need to know when looking to purchase a truck for towing.

Know What You’re Towing

Things you need to know before purchasing a pickup for towing are the weight of the trailer and anything it will be carrying. For instance, a camper trailer may weigh 5,500 pounds, but you also need to consider anything it has onboard, including water, waste, food, clothing, outdoor gear, gas, batteries and anything else you plan to put in it; this is known as the gross trailer weight number.

Another important thing to calculate is tongue weight, or the amount of downward force a loaded trailer (with everything aboard) exerts on a tow vehicle’s trailer hitch. Typically, this is about 10%-15% of the trailer’s fully loaded weight (the truck’s owner’s manual will have the specifics), and it’s an important number to know when purchasing a truck because the maximum tongue weight is a determining factor in what the truck can safely tow. Take the time to actually measure these things, as it will help you in the long run.

Next, calculate the weight of things that will be in your tow vehicle. How many passengers will you be taking along, and how much do they weigh? Will they also have gear or luggage? What kind of cargo will you add to the truck? All of this is critically important to know how much weight you’ll be carting along, which will determine what you should buy.

What Truck Matches Your Needs?

All pickups have a maximum tow rating provided by the manufacturer, but it varies model to model and even trim to trim. There are four numbers you’re looking for with regard to a towing truck: the max trailer towing capacity, maximum tongue weight, gross vehicle weight rating and gross combined weight rating.

See the above glossary for what each of these terms mean, but more importantly, how do you find these numbers? For some brands, you’ll have to pore through spec sheets online or ask sales reps at dealers. But some brands, like Chevrolet and GMC, have calculated what the ratings are for the specific pickup you’re looking at and put them on a sticker on the door jamb — no ambiguity, no wondering if you have it right with your trim level and model because all of the options specific to that truck are considered in the number on the door jamb.

Beyond the numbers, however, you should also ask yourself about your towing habits. How do you intend to use the truck? Will you be towing every day for work? Weekends for leisure? Twice a year when you put the boat in the water and take it out again at the end of the season? The idea here is to not spend more money than you have to. Buying a crazy expensive, maximum towing rig that can tow well in excess of what you’ll typically do is just throwing money away. Being realistic about how you’ll use the truck and what you really need can help keep your costs down.

How Should You Equip Your Truck?

There’s a ton of equipment you can buy for your truck to help with towing, either as part of the truck’s options or from various aftermarket companies. Items you’ll likely want from the options sheet include trailer tow packages, which can bring a bunch of equipment ranging from integrated trailer brake controllers to special software modes, more robust suspensions, transmission or oil coolers, and different final drive axle gears more suited to towing. It’s smart to research the available equipment packages to see what they bring.

Automakers are also now including extraordinary technology in their trucks that makes towing increasingly easy, especially in full-size trucks. Both Ram and Ford offer an electronic trailer assist system that, after specific setup procedures, allows you to back up a truck-and-trailer combination using just a knob on the dashboard and the pedals, eliminating the need to remember how to turn the steering wheel to angle the trailer. Ford has gone even further with this technology in its updated Maverick compact pickup and F-150 light-duty and Super Duty heavy-duty trucks with a system that will automatically back your truck up to the trailer hitch hands-free. Ford’s bed scales, a system that uses sensors to estimate the load in the bed or the tongue weight on the hitch ball, are also very useful. GM full-size trucks, meanwhile, offer a system that, when you add in some accessory cameras, will make the trailer behind the truck disappear on camera, allowing you a fully unobstructed view of what’s behind you on the touchscreen display as if the trailer wasn’t even there.

What all of these systems have in common is that they all cost money, but we’d say they’re worth it if you plan on doing any towing. They make it a lot easier for newbies to tow, and they take a lot of the stress out of towing for old hands.

Don’t Skimp on Safety

If you’re on a budget and trying to decide between the fancy new tech and basic features you think you can live without, think again. Towing safely is more important than towing easily, and before you plunk down cash on the fancy cameras and software, make sure you have the basics covered. Items like towing mirrors, which extend the side-view mirrors and help immensely in seeing down the sides and to the rear of the trailer, are invaluable. For big, heavy trailers, a weight-distributing hitch with sway bars will make towing both safer and easier by helping to level the tow vehicle, distributing the weight of the trailer over the vehicle’s whole suspension, and by controlling any side-to-side trailer movements. It costs more than a standard hitch, but again, it can significantly improve safety and stability, meaning it should be a priority purchase.

Pickup Prices and How to Save a Few Bucks

Key Takeaways:

• Prices for pickups have soared in recent decades due to customers willing to pay high prices, surging demand for trucks, and the increased size and material cost of the trucks themselves.
• Three tips for paying less for a new pickup: Look for deals, go easy on the options sheet, and avoid long-term loans.

When it comes to buying your preferred pickup, there’s really just one big piece of advice: Be prepared for sticker shock. The average Cars.com listing price for a new pickup was nearly $57,000 in February 2025. How did pickups get so expensive? And what can you do to make sure you’re not overpaying?

It Costs That Much Because You’ll Pay That Much

At the basic level, it comes down to supply and demand. Over the years, pickups have gone from being implements with few frills and comfort features that were used for work purposes only to being family vehicles, luxury rides and incredibly capable off-road vehicles. The level of technology has also exploded, as have powertrain choices, horsepower and capability. They’re also physically much, much larger vehicles than in the past, which has been driven by customer demand for beefier styling, crash safety requirements and enhanced capability. They have more content, more capability and simply more mass than before, making them more expensive to build.

They’re also more popular than ever before, and customers are willing to pay increasingly insane prices to acquire them. Longer-term loans of 72 and 84 months are also helping to keep monthly payments low, and automakers have not been shy about piling incentives onto the hood in slower sales years, entering into price wars to keep volume up.

So, they’re expensive because they have more content and equipment than ever before, people are willing to pay more for them than ever before, and automakers are happy to charge higher prices if people are willing to pay them. What can you do to try and minimize your cost?

3 Tips for Cheaper Trucks

Look for Deals

One truism about the truck market is that there’s always somebody offering up incentives, either in the form of cash rebates or attractive financing. Given that supply was dramatically curtailed during the COVID-19 pandemic, incentives haven’t been as common in recent years, but they have crept back into the fold. The best time to find incentives is at the end of a model year when dealers are trying to clear older models off their lots as new model-year vehicles are starting to arrive.

Limit the Options Sheet Selections

It’s easy to start ticking off options on a pickup truck option sheet because the variety of technology and equipment packages are plentiful. But adding in all those nice-to-have features makes the bottom line start rolling up like a slot machine display, and soon you’re into big bucks.

But with some careful consideration, you can minimize your outlay. One good area to explore is trim level selection. Full-size trucks in particular often have more than half a dozen different trim levels, which could allow you to specify a lower-grade variant that skips some of the blingy trimmings while still letting you select the equipment you want if your goal is capability over luxury. To really take advantage of this, however, you first have to identify what you plan on doing with your truck. Selecting options for activities that you might someday do, such as max towing or overland off-roading, means you’re paying for features you might never use.

Another reason to select a lower trim level over a fancier and more expensive top trim is that higher trims often have lower payload ratings than trucks at the lower end of the trim level spectrum. The truck itself doesn’t always get more capable as it gets more expensive, it usually just gets more loaded with stuff like driver-assist features, 360-degree camera systems, heated and ventilated seats, fancy entertainment systems or a hybrid powertrain, all of which adds weight that takes away from its payload capacity. For example, a loaded Ram 1500 Tungsten has a payload capacity of 1,170 pounds, but an entry-level Ram 1500 Tradesman can have a payload capacity of up to 2,360 pounds.

The lesson here: The more expensive trims replace work capacity with luxury goods, so sticking with lesser trims can sometimes get you a more capable truck for less money.

Be Careful About Long Loans

As prices of trucks have climbed, financing has kept pace to try and minimize the perceived impact on buyers’ wallets by offering increasingly long-term loans. It’s possible to find financing for up to 84 months (that’s a seven-year loan!) or more, but anything longer than 60 months is considered a risky proposition from a financial health standpoint. Longer loans can make for lower monthly payments, but they end up being more expensive in the long run due to the extra cost of the financing itself. And there’s the real risk that the resale value of your vehicle will drop over that long stretch to the point that it’s worth less than what you still owe on the loan. This is called “being underwater” on a car loan, and it can create problems if you want a new vehicle or something happens to your truck, like it’s totaled in an accident. It can lead to rolling the residual cost of an existing loan into a new vehicle loan, which can spiral from there into greater and greater debt.

Our advice here is to pick the shortest loan you can afford, and thankfully, automakers do like to offer up some incentives on shorter-term loans as well, often as end-of-model-year promotional moves. Again, it pays to research which automakers are offering such deals and to also examine other financing options like banks, credit unions and reputable online lenders.

Electric and Mid-Size Trucks Are in the Spotlight

Key takeaways:

• Electrification used to be the path everyone expected the market to go, but several automakers have delayed or canceled their pickup electrification programs.
• New low-cost electric pickups are being pursued by Ford and a startup called Slate; Ford aims to rethink how EVs are made, while Slate plans on offering super bare-bones offerings with customization options.
• The mid-size truck class has been entirely updated in just a few years.

Electric Truck Pros and Cons

Pros:

• Wonderfully silent
• Comfortable to drive
• Immensely powerful, making them able to tow heavy loads with ease
• Some offer an interesting benefit of being able to provide external power for unusual circumstances (e.g., the F-150 Lightning’s ability to power an average residential home for several days in case of a power outage).

Cons:

• Range can drop considerably when towing, making it challenging to tow anything farther than across town.
• Towing cross-country with an electric pickup would be exceedingly difficult, especially when considering using public charging stations with a trailer attached.
• Larger batteries for greater range present problems such as increased weight, cost and longer charge times.
• Significantly more expensive than their gasoline counterparts
• Tend to have limited capability in terms of towing range and payload capacity

Electric pickups are still very much a niche product, with very specific pros and cons. On the plus side, they’re wonderfully silent, comfortable to drive and immensely powerful, making them able to tow seriously heavy loads with ease. The problem is that their range can drop considerably when you’re towing, making it challenging to tow anything farther than across town; towing cross-country with an electric pickup would be exceedingly difficult — especially when you consider using public charging stations with a trailer attached. At this point,  (Ram may be the first with a potential solution to address concerns around electric-truck towing with its upcoming Ramcharger, an electric pickup with a range-extending onboard gas generator.) However, Jeep has reportedly canceled a planned plug-in hybrid version of its Gladiator mid-size pickup.

Larger batteries for greater range present other problems, such as increased weight, cost and longer charge times. A Silverado EV, for example, can go hundreds of miles before needing to be recharged, but it weighs more than a heavy-duty Silverado 3500 dually.

We already have a few battery-electric trucks on the market, including the Chevrolet Silverado EV, GMC Sierra EV, Ford F-150 Lightning, GMC Hummer EV Pickup, Rivian R1T and Tesla Cybertruck. But future product plans are shifting thanks to the changes in American government regulations and incentives, plus consumer reluctance to adopt fully electric pickups. Ram has dropped the development of its electric REV model and is instead focusing on bringing the plug-in hybrid Ramcharger to market instead, itself likely to be called the Ram REV. Ford has delayed the introduction of its next-generation Lightning by over a year, instead putting increased efforts into development of a revolutionary new low-cost battery-electric model that will be considerably smaller and cheaper than the Lightning. And a newcomer to the market has arrived: a startup called Slate, financially backed by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, which plans on selling an American-built, low-cost battery-electric pickup in the next couple of years that will keep its price down by being absolutely bare-bones in its equipment and performance, allowing for customization to add various components and even change the body style.

These performance challenges aren’t dissuading automakers from running full tilt into fully electric pickups — but lackluster sales, changing consumer sentiment, the disappearance of federal tax incentives and an increasingly unhelpful regulatory environment are. One area where you’re not likely to see any electrified powertrains anytime soon is in the heavy-duty pickup segment; the power and towing capability owners demand from these trucks make a battery-electric powertrain a poor fit — at least for now.

Mid-Size Trucks Are Getting Some Action

Mid-size trucks continue to get attention. GM revamped the Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon for the 2023 model year; Toyota redid the Tacoma for 2024; Ford updated the Ranger for 2024; and Jeep refreshed the Gladiator for 2024. Nissan has also mildly updated the Frontier for 2025.

As trucks keep getting bigger and more expensive, the entry-level segments have largely been ignored — at least until the debut of the Ford Maverick for the 2022 model year. A smash success for Ford, the affordable compact-crossover-based pickup took the market by storm and won major awards for its cheap and cheerful style, astonishingly affordable price, efficient hybrid powertrain and rugged utility. The Maverick got its first significant update for the 2025 model year, which returned the hybrid powertrain to standard-equipment status, added a new performance-oriented street truck variant (the Lobo) and broke the off-road Tremor Package out into its own trim level. Ford still has the class to itself (Hyundai insists the Santa Cruz is not a pickup, instead calling it a “sport adventure vehicle”), but we wouldn’t expect that to last long given how popular the Maverick has been with buyers. Stellantis (parent automaker of Jeep and Ram) is rumored to be working on a model to slot in below the Ram 1500, and we wouldn’t be surprised to see a crossover-based pickup from GM, Kia or Volkswagen soon.

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