I wouldn't say they sold a lot of them. There used to be a lot of offerings of them. As a fellow "sport truck" guy, I get it. We're already driving the things that are about as close to "sport trucks" as we can get currently. I'm pretty certain it's all ROI based calculations on what sells the most units, and how many units they can spread development time across. The market for sport trucks is likely smaller than the market for fast wagons. Enthusiasts, and journalists love them, but the buying public largely doesn't. The only real case for a sport truck in the current market is, well, marketing. Generate some buzz around the product line in general with special editions and that sort of thing, however the development costs are high for something that is actually better than just a drop and trim packages. Hell GM is struggling to compete in the "stadium truck" market against the raptor and trx currently, a sport truck is just another distraction into the market that doesn't' have the buzz these others do.........Don't get me wrong, I would love one as well, but I think we're stuck with a "build it" instead of being able to buy it.
On the lightning front.......well......It's what I would expect from a 1/2 step into the market. They didn't fully commit with a new platform, but still wanted to capture some of that first mover advantage in a hot market. It shows. The design cues look rushed, and you can see the limitations in things like the grill and badging. The absurd rear suspension (Have you seen the rear control arms? They're as big as a person), and the quickly adapted rear drive unit show how rushed the whole project was. I think there was some low hanging fruit there that they did well with, like the best front trunk (I refuse to use frunk as a word, btw) on the market, as well as fitting into a form factor that is highly recognizable and already has some street cred. Rivian has the polarizing front fascia, and headlights. The Hummer is absurdly large and lacks practicality. Silverado, Denali, and RAM are still not to market, but show some promise. Overall, I would like to see Ford do some of the things you talked about, and honestly I agree with the PHEV route for a pickup. Ford already has the Powerboost driveline, just find some packaging space for a larger battery in there and give it some acceptable EV only range (50mi is plenty IMO) and I think they'll find some more people converting. People that owned the original Chevy Volt LOVE them as they spend a lot of time without using the gas engine on their daily commute. It's a great idea for those of us that want a fullsize pickup and actually use it for something other than a commuter.
In terms of full up EV truck landscape. I'm likely to get a refund on me Silverado deposit. I've held back on a Rivian deposit. As the EA chargers are loading up, they're starting to show some cracks in their armor. Beyond that we're seeing some growing pains from Rivian in terms of service, and maintainability. I suspect the big 3 won't have those issues, but they might; at least they have a dealer network already stood up and running to handle it if they do. I'm really on the struggle bus with spending that much money on a vehicle for no real added capability, and arguably more headache. If I'm going to put additional effort into something I don't want it to be route planning and keeping the kids entertained while driving. I think if we weren't towing, sure the charges aren't long and the stops are worth it. Towing's not there yet, and I've made 2-3 trips a year where I simply couldn't have done it with an EV. The latest SilverAYdo retrieval is a prime example. A shade over 600 miles towing a trailer in a single day. Started at dusk and finished after dark. Even if using an EV was possible (There was charging available on an alternate route), it would have added a few hours to my day that was already exceptionally long.
Lots of rants, and a big wall of text there....TL;DR -> Sport truck market is tiny, and we're unlikely to see them again anytime soon. Lightning is a 1/2 step and it shows. I'm disenthused with EV trucks at the moment, and am likely out of that market where I was once all in.
