DETROIT – Tesla, Normal Motors, Rivian Automotive and Ford Motor have created a brand new market within the U.S. automotive business of expensive, highly effective and precarious electrical pickup vehicles that promote for $100,000 or extra.

Simply 5 years in the past, the thought of a buyer paying six figures for a pickup truck — traditionally a piece car meant for hauling and towing — was trigger for nationwide headlines. Nevertheless it has rapidly change into regular, as automakers try to extend income on conventional vehicles and easily make a revenue on electrical ones.

“Clients are keen to spend, so automakers are going to offer it to them,” mentioned Stephanie Brinley, principal automotive analyst at S&P World Mobility. “On the whole, pickup vehicles getting extra gear, higher options and higher supplies actually simply displays common client perspective of wanting extra.”

However not like $100,000 conventional pickup vehicles with inner combustion engines that provide superior capabilities in contrast with their lower-priced counterparts, electrical vehicles have increased value tags partially due to their applied sciences, together with the pricey batteries wanted to energy the automobiles.

“If you concentrate on who’s truly shopping for these new EVs, it is undoubtedly, for the [automakers], a distinct demographic,” mentioned Stephanie Valdez Streaty, Cox Automotive director of business insights. “These are very costly, very area of interest automobiles.”

There are presently a handful of electrical vehicles for buy within the U.S. market: the Tesla Cybertruck, Ford F-150 Lightning, Rivian R1T and Normal Motors’ GMC Hummer EV, GMC Sierra Denali and Chevrolet Silverado. The GMC Hummer and Rivian even have SUV variations, which function comparable features as their pickup counterparts however in several varieties.

All these car can get near or simply high $100,000, together with Tesla’s “Cyberbeast” mannequin for about $120,000 and a limited-edition GMC Hummer for greater than $150,000. Kelley Blue Guide reviews each automobiles transacted for over $100,000 final month — and the Tesla Cybertruck turned the best-selling car within the U.S. priced at six figures or extra.

That compares to the common value paid for a conventional full-size pickup of $65,713, together with common low cost incentives of seven%, in accordance with Kelley Blue Guide.

Total, this electrical “truck” market, together with the SUVs, accounted for practically 58,000 automobiles offered throughout the first half of this yr, in accordance with estimates from Motor Intelligence. That is lower than 1% of the roughly 7.9 million light-duty new automobiles offered throughout that point within the U.S., however a 35% quarterly improve from the primary to the second quarter, in accordance with the information.

The market is anticipated to continue to grow, however for now I’ve pushed every of these $100,000 automobiles for various quantities of time. All of them drive and deal with effectively, however in various methods. Listed here are some ideas on every:

The Tesla Cybertruck is in a league of its personal in the case of just about every thing — design, perform, polarization and options.

It’s much more “cyber” than “truck.” It certainly has some truck capabilities, corresponding to a pickup mattress and different utilitarian options, however it isn’t a truck in any conventional sense of the phrase.

The Cybertruck options tight steering, together with a yoke and “steer-by-wire” system; a stiff chassis much like a sports activities automotive; and, whereas arbitrary, a design that’s much more kind than perform, which is traditionally one of many high causes to buy a pickup truck.

The Cybertruck, like its GM opponents, additionally options “four-wheel steer” through which all of the car’s wheels help in its turning. In contrast with a conventional car the place two wheels flip the car, it makes bigger automobiles a lot simpler to maneuver.

What the Tesla Cybertruck lacks in conventional “truck-ness,” it makes up for in know-how, in addition to the human-machine interface, or HMI, of the car with the motive force.

The car is arguably an experiment for the corporate in some ways relating to its applied sciences.

• Execs: Design, know-how, software program, weight (lowest in section), four-wheel steer
• Cons: Design, mattress entry, inside area and high quality

The GMC Hummer EV — the primary electrical truck to hit the market — is essentially the most corresponding to the Cybertuck by way of efficiency, value and total gaudiness.

Driving the car, whether or not it is on- or off-road, is an expertise. GM has referred to as it the world’s first “supertruck.” It’s quick, massive and the least environment friendly client EV on sale immediately, in accordance with the U.S. Environmental Safety Company. The SUV model is smaller and extra manageable to drive than the pickup truck model.

Each Hummer variants carry the load of GM’s fast improvement of automobiles. They’re heavy — estimated at practically 9,200 kilos for the pickup — in contrast with each different client car on immediately’s market, together with their all-electric truck counterparts.

Whereas the Hummer EVs can obtain 0-60 miles per hour in 3.5 seconds or much less and are extraordinarily succesful with their efficiency components, the load of the automobiles can simply be felt when driving them.

GM’s designers did a pleasant job of modernizing the Hummer’s exterior design for the brand new EVs, together with the power to take away roof panels. However the inside can really feel, very like the automobiles themselves, very cumbersome.

• Execs: Design, functionality, sturdiness, four-wheel steer, hands-free Tremendous Cruise superior driver-assistance system
• Cons: Design, effectivity, cumbersome inside, vary

GM’s latest all-electric pickup vehicles are the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra Debali, each providing high-end fashions that value practically $100,000.

Whereas the GM design group did an distinctive job of separating the seems of the automobiles to enchantment to their respective manufacturers, the components and functionalities of the automobiles are largely the identical.

Each automobiles have an EPA-rated vary of 440 miles and provide as much as 754 horsepower and 785 pound-feet of torque. Vital for a lot of truck clients, in addition they tow as much as 10,000 kilos and might cost for 100 miles in roughly 10 minutes with a DC Quick Charger (so long as you could find a suitable charger).

The Sierra is extra refined and opulent than its Chevrolet counterpart: It has open pore wooden, bigger whole screens, GMC’s “crab mode” with four-wheel steering — shared with the Hummer — and different options.

A singular standout function of the Silverado and Sierra EVs in contrast with others is the aptitude of a “midgate,” through which the again seats of the car fold down and the again glass can come out to create an almost 11-foot-long truck mattress and segment-leading cargo space.

Each the Silverado and Sierra EVs drive effectively and really feel like a “truck” but additionally stay far heavier than their non-GM opponents.

• Execs: Functionality, charging pace, vary, Tremendous Cruise, midgate, four-wheel steer
• Cons: Effectivity, inside (primarily Silverado), weight

Rivian’s flagship R1T pickup and R1S SUV stay standouts within the electrical truck section in the case of outside journey and life-style automobiles — emulating the likes of Jeep.

The second technology of the automobiles, which had been launched earlier this yr, improved on the journey and high quality of the vehicles. The R1S driving expertise was noticeably smoother than the primary technology of the automobiles.

Whereas the outside designs of the automobiles had been largely unchanged for the second technology, Rivian says they ship 10 occasions extra computing energy than earlier than. The corporate additionally has modified greater than half the {hardware} parts.

The place the R1T and R1S really stand out are their inside designs. They’re minimalistic, very like Tesla merchandise, however nonetheless have sufficient different controls to appease mainstream, conventional patrons. The performance and HMI are also spectacular.

• Execs: Design, software program, inside
• Cons: Charging pace functionality, no four-wheel steer, superior driver-assistance system

The F-150 Lightning is essentially the most approachable all-electric truck available on the market. That features its beginning value of about $63,000, driving dynamics and performance. It largely operates like a conventional F-150 — however it’s electrical. That is as a result of it shares many components with its inner combustion engine siblings.

When the F-150 Lightning hit the market, it was the primary “mainstream” electrical truck. It adopted the Hummer “supertruck” and Rivian R1T, however it was the primary true take a look at of such an all-electric car for conventional truck homeowners.

At launch, the car was a standout, however the competitors has largely caught as much as it or exceeded it in the case of vary, driving dynamics and total efficiency, particularly when evaluating it to the $100,000 vehicles above.

The F-150 Lightning, which may high $90,000, stays a stable car however for patrons in search of to spend round $100,000 or extra, the competitors is way extra intense than it was when the truck launched in 2022.

• Execs: Reliability, sturdiness, massive entrance trunk (frunk), BlueCruise hands-free driver-assistance system, pricing
• Cons: Vary, quick charging pace, commoditized design