Ford has confirmed plans to build a fully electric F-Series pickup in a bid to protect the truck against competitors like Tesla and Rivian. It was only a matter of time before this announcement was made, so it's not all that surprising, but it has come a little earlier than expected. With electrification being the only option in the future, even the best of the best will have to succumb to the pressure and finally give in.

The Crown Jewel Cannot Be Left Vulnerable

Jim Farley, Ford president of global markets, broke the news at a presentation in Detroit, “We’re going to be electrifying the F-Series — battery electric and hybrid.” Farley admitted that this move is to future-proof the F-Series that is earning the Blue Oval billions of dollars in revenue every year. Rivian has a solid EV truck on the way, and so does Atlis. Given the fact that everyone is literally starting from point zero in the rEVolution, Ford is at the risk of losing its golden hen to these new automakers.

What They Had To Say

John McElroy, an industry observer, said, “Tesla is talking about coming out with an electric pickup. And look what Tesla has done in the luxury segment. They’ve clobbered just about everybody. You can’t pooh-pooh that people won't be interested in an electric pickup. Rivian Automotive is coming out with an all-electric pickup. These are the crown jewels for Ford Motor Co., the F-Series. Ford has got to react to competitive threats.”

Farley also added, “Ninety-percent of our capital now is allocated toward trucks and utilities. We have the F-Series, the world and America’s best-selling truck. More than a million units were sold last year. F-Series' core strength at the end of the day is: There’s a truck for every customer, and we know those customers really, really well. From the F-150 all the way to the F-750. They all matter to us.” He further continued, “The best is going to get even better. We’re going to be launching a new Super Duty later this year and showing it to everyone in a few weeks.”

Our Take

Whom are we kidding here? Ford is the reigning, defending, undisputed king of the truck market. To put things into perspective, if Ford singled out the F-Series into an independent standalone brand, it would be a Fortune 40 company with more than $70 billion in annual revenue. That’s how much profit the F-Series earns for the Blue Oval. And, when a fierce competitor like this one says it needs to buckle up and change with the changing trends, you know how serious this is.

For decades now the Ford F-Series did not get threatened by any truck, rather any vehicle, that could take it down. However, with the arrival of new EVs, the Blue Oval realized it needs to start using alternatives to combustion engines to continue sitting on the throne. Although Ford announced that the F-Series will be taking the hybrid as well as fully electric route moving forward, the hybrid will only be used as a bridging gap, and we don’t expect it to last long. The company’s ultimate goal will be to fully-electrify the F-Series as its main rivals in the electric segment are Rivian and Atlis; both of which have fully-electric trucks. Other than this, Ford has not released any other details yet, but we can expect regular announcements like this until the truck is launched in the electric form. What are your thoughts on this? Let us know in the comments section below.

Further Reading

Read our full review on the 2018 Ford F-150.

Read our full speculative review on the 2020 Tesla Pickup.

Read our full review on the 2020 Rivian R1T Pickup.