Smaller EV Pickups Appear to Be Coming Soon to the US

• “Legacy” automakers are planning a plethora of small and midsize battery-electric pickup trucks through the end of the decade, according to a couple of well-placed sources.
  

• Chevrolet and GMC are said to be working on a Ford Maverick-size EV pickup while a new generation of the Maverick compact pickup is scheduled for early 2027, possibly as a ‘28 model.

• The next-generation Santa Cruz compact pickup is expected to move to the IMA EV platform in model-year 2027 or ‘28. (Current Santa Cruz pictured above.)
  

Back in the summer of 2022, we pointed out that upstart Rivian may have found the sweet spot for EV pickup trucks with its midsize R1T.

Tesla’s Cybertruck, still promised for the end of this year with production to ramp up in 2024, will be trim enough to fit in a 20-foot garage, but with four doors and a six-foot-plus bed, according to CEO Elon Musk.

Rivian and Tesla are not alone. After introducing the Ford F-150 Lightning, GMC Hummer, and coming Chevrolet Silverado EV and GMC Sierra EV, “legacy” automakers are planning a plethora of small and midsize battery-electric pickup trucks through the end of the decade, according to a couple of well-placed sources.

Here is what we know, so far:

General Motors

Chevrolet and GMC are said to be working on a Ford Maverick-size EV pickup with a summer 2028 on-sale date as 2029 models, on something called the “AEV platform,” whatever that means.

The underlying platform will be the Ultium EV architecture of course, and the compact pickups are likely to be unibody instead of body-on-frame. Separate sources do not agree on this future EV.

If the compact EV Chevy and GMC come to pass, it seems there could be room for a compact GMC Hummer EV, considering that the old, ICE-powered Hummer lineup of the ‘00s added a short-lived H3 model.

The Chevy Colorado/GMC Canyon EVs, widely reported last year, are planned for the 2027 model year.