The first Boeing 737 jet rolled off the assembly line 58 years ago, on April 9, 1967. That is a long life cycle, given it has still not reached the “decline” phase in Figure 2.5 in your text. But the life cycle certainly looks a lot shorter for electric pickup trucks.
Ford is planning to scrap the electric version of its F-150 pickup, according to The Wall Street Journal (Nov. 7, 2025) which would make the money-losing truck America’s first major EV casualty. “The demand is just not there” for the F-150 Lightning and other electric trucks, said one dealer. Stellantis earlier this year called off plans to make an electric version of its Ram pickup. GM plans to discontinue some electric trucks and sales of Tesla’s Cybertruck tanked this year. The trucks seemed a good bet amid booming EV demand and clean-air mandates that required automakers to sell fewer gas-guzzlers.
The Lightning fell far short of expectations as American truck buyers skipped the electric version of the top-selling truck. Overall EV sales are plummeting in the absence of government subsidies. Ford dealers sold 66,000 gas-powered F-Series pickups, and just 1,500 Lightnings, the fewest of any model. (Ford has racked up $13 billion in EV losses since 2023).
When Ford launched the Lightning 5 years ago it promised a pickup as fast as a sports car and as affordable as a conventional truck. It would drive hundreds of miles on a single charge, and carry enough voltage to power a home for days. “It’s like a smartphone that can tow 10,000 pounds,” said the CEO at the launch.
But truck buyers worried the pickups would run out of juice in the middle of a job or a long haul as their range is dramatically reduced when towing big loads or operating in cold weather.
GM has also lost billions on electric trucks after rolling out a string of them, including an electric version of the popular Chevrolet Silverado. GM has three electric pickups, and it sold about 1,800 of them last month.
Ford built up the capacity to make as many as 150,000 Lightnings a year. But the EVs cost billions to develop and manufacture, and are only profitable if they sell in large enough volumes, which they did not.
Classroom discussion questions:
- Where do you think all EVs are on the life cycle curve?
- Why did so many auto manufacturers misread the demand for electric pickups?
Consistent with the discussion in the chapter, this is a lesson about how difficult new product development can be. In actual testing, the Ford EV pick-up was found, under a full load, to go about as far as a conventual Ford 150 would go on 2 gallons of gas. Not a winning endorsement.