The electrification of transport is accelerating, but industry observers agree that it won’t be a truly mass-market trend until there’s an electric version of America’s favorite vehicle: the pickup truck.

Now Ford has hinted at plans to launch an all-electric version of the F-Series pickup truck, which has been called the most successful consumer product in history.

Last year, Ford announced plans to bring 16 EVs to market by 2022, and also spoke of introducing a hybrid version of the F-150 pickup truck by 2020. Since then, Rivian’s demonstration of a compelling e-pickup, along with Elon Musk’s statements of impatience to start building a Tesla pickup, seem to have upped the ante.

“We are going to be electrifying the F-Series with battery-electric and hybrid and we are doing the same for [the Transit commercial van],” Ford CEO Jim Hackett said at a recent auto industry conference. “We launched a PHEV version of Transit, and that will be on a journey of electrifying Transit globally.”

Hackett didn’t mention a timeline or any other details for the pickup.

“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,” said John McElroy, the host of Autoline This Week. “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, the F-Series. Ford has got to react to competitive threats.”

Source: Electrek, Detroit Free Press