Survey says Ford F-150 Lightning the top electric truck

What’s the most popular electric truck? According to Autolist.com, a company that helps drivers buy and sell vehicles, it’s the F-150 Lightning. This is the second year in a row Ford’s battery-powered pickup topped the organization’s annual EV Truck Survey.

There aren’t that many all-electric pickups available today, but even when future offerings are factored in, some 24% of respondents picked the Lightning as their No. 1 electric truck. This battery-powered F-150 is preferred by a broad range of drivers, from current truck owners to EV enthusiasts. In fact, most age groups picked this Ford as their top electric truck. To get these results, from October to November, Autolist.com surveyed nearly 1,200 current vehicle shippers to gauge their interest in various electric pickups. Approximately 60% of respondents currently own a truck or have owned one in the past.

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The F-150 Lightning leads the field. Photo credit: Autolist.com

With 20% of the votes, the second-place finisher was the Tacoma EV. No, this rig does not exist and hasn’t even been announced, but it’s speculated Toyota will introduce a battery-powered model when the next-generation Tacoma is introduced. Next came the yet-unreleased Tesla Cybertruck (will it ever launch?), then the Chevy Silverado EV, Ram 1500 Revolution, GMC Hummer EV Pickup, GMC Sierra EV and finally the swanky Rivian R1T.

Truck owners widely preferred the Lightning over other electric pickups, with 26% of respondents picking it as their top choice. Then came the hypothetical Toyota Tacoma EV and Chevy Silverado EV.

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For non-truck owners, the Tacoma EV was No. 1, garnering 22% of the vote. Among this group, the Lightning and Cybertruck rounded out the top three selections, with the Ford and Tesla each being selected by 21% of participants. Curiously, non-pickup owners were nearly twice as likely to select the Cybertruck as their top choice, which seems to indicate this upcoming Tesla model has broad market appeal and, according to Autolist.com, “… wouldn’t cannibalize sales of more traditional trucks, EV or not.”

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Among non-truck owners, a hypothetical Toyota Tacoma EV beat the Lightning. Photo credit: Autolist.com

Among users that plan on buying a truck in the next five years, Autolist.com also asked if they would choose an all-electric model. Around 33% of people that have already owned a pickup said yes, while 42% of folks that have never owned a truck said yes.

As for motorists that currently own or have owned an electric vehicle, Ford’s Lightning was the top choice followed by the Cybertruck and Tacoma EV. Among respondents that have never owned an EV, the battery-powered F-150 was also tops, with the Tacoma EV coming in second place and the Cybertruck in third.

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Given its brand recognition and the popularity of combustion-powered models, it’s surprising the Silverado EV didn’t perform better in this survey. The nonexistent Tacoma EV and woefully late Cybertruck both consistently outperformed this upcoming Chevy.

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The Tesla Cybertruck proved far more popular with EV owners than with non owners. Photo credit: Autolist.com

“We were expecting that Chevy’s considerable experience with the Bolt and the Volt models would translate into excitement by EV owners for the Silverado,” said Corey Lydstone, president and CEO of Autolist.com in a release shared by the company. “But in fact, it had the opposite effect. It was again Ford’s Lightning that attracted their attention the most often.”

It should be no surprise the F-150 Lightning performed so well in this survey. The truck is exceptionally good – like, really, really good – and hundreds of thousands of them have been reserved by eager customers.

By Craig Cole

Craig brings 15 years of automotive journalism experience to the EV Pulse team. A lifelong resident of Michigan, he’s as happy with a wrench or welding gun in hand as he is in front of the camera or behind a keyboard. When not hosting videos or cranking out features and reviews, he’s probably out in the garage working on one of his project cars. To date, he’s fully restored a 1936 Ford V8 sedan and is currently resurrecting another flathead-powered relic, a ’51 Ford Crestliner. Craig is a proud member of the Automotive Press Association (APA) and the Midwest Automotive Media Association (MAMA).