7 ms·

That's what I was most excited about, and agree it is a game changer. Hopefully we can get small e-pickups at some point - I have a 2004 Toyota Tacoma that I lo

That's what I was most excited about, and agree it is a game changer. Hopefully we can get small e-pickups at some point - I have a 2004 Toyota Tacoma that I love, and it would be amazing with a frunk, but you can't really get small pickups that size anymore.

driverdan 5y ago
And the 2004 is large compared to earlier small pickups. Vehicles keep getting unnecessarily larger.
- scruple 5y ago
  I drove a 1997 Ford Ranger XLT Supercab for about 12 years. I recently came across a 2021 Ford Ranger while I was running some errands and have not been able to get it out of my head. It looked like it's practically twice the size of the 97 model. It's a full 12" longer, 8" wider, 6" taller... But the bed length has remained the same or gotten shorter. I don't pay any attention to this stuff but it is strange to me, I don't understand why mid-size and light-duty trucks are / feel so gargantuan today.
soperj 5y ago
My dream car is an electric 1955 ford f100.
- gok 5y ago
  Well... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Ranger_EV https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Ranger_EV
  - soperj 5y ago
    Those are ugly as sin though.
- gilbetron 5y ago
  My "when I'm rich" car is actually an old truck like that rejiggered to be an EV.
btbuildem 5y ago
Yeah like the original Subaru Baja, or even better, the iconic El-Camino.
throwaway0a5e 5y ago
>you can't really get small pickups that size anymore Write your representative and tell them to thank the EPA and NHTSA for doing their jobs. The death of the small pickup is squarely the fault of the confluence of fuel economy and crash safety regulations.
- nexuist 5y ago
  I'm not following - how would a smaller (and presumably lighter weight) truck have worse fuel economy than the giants we see today?
  - throwaway0a5e 5y ago
    Fuel economy regulations are based on vehicle footprint and weight. Small trucks are small and (were, still would be if we still had them) fairly heavy for their size making them bad for compliance. A small vehicle is also going to have harder lines (less physical space for clean curves) so will have worse aerodynamics.
    - jacurtis 5y ago
      That is interesting. I wonder if that is why Ford got rid of their small pickup (The Ford Ranger) for several years from 2012 until 2020. It did come back last year, probably after meeting new regulation requirements.
      - throwaway0a5e 5y ago
        That's exactly it. IIRC they even said so at the time. They were already producing the "new ranger" elsewhere at the time so they could have just imported it but looking at the MSRP difference between it and a based f150 vs the size of the market they decided it wasn't worth it.
    - PeterisP 5y ago
      On the other hand, all these arguments completely go away for electric cars, so there would be space for smaller e-trucks.
JeremyNT 5y ago
> I have a 2004 Toyota Tacoma that I love, and it would be amazing with a frunk, but you can't really get small pickups that size anymore You're not kidding! I was in the market for a small pickup and checked out the Tacoma and Frontier, which I previously understood to be "small" trucks. They're massive these days, just like the F-150! I guess it's perceived that there's no market for that size any more. A small electric pickup would be a super handy thing to have around, potentially appealing to urbanites too since they can toss their groceries in the frunk. There's really no reason the frunk needs to be so big on the F-150 Lightning - that part of the design is really a head scratcher.
- giarc 5y ago
  The new Ford Ranger is a smaller size, but it's perhaps the worst looking truck available. I'm not sure what Ford was thinking there.
  - annoyingnoob 5y ago
    Still much bigger than the Rangers of years past.
    - sswezey 5y ago
      Indeed. I think the defining feature of a small pickup is the ability of an averaged height person to be able to reach over the sides and grab something from the bed of the truck. All of the current trucks on the market you can barely even see in to the bed. It makes it super hard to load the bed without actually being in it. Trucks today have become so much more vanity symbols than anything else.
      - twiddling 5y ago
        This. I had an old VW pickup which was a charm to use for my small business. Could also park it in tight spots too.
  - birdman3131 5y ago
bckygldstn 5y ago
The 2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz [1] looks like it'll be much smaller than the current crop of trucks (though still larger than the compact trucks of 20 years ago). [1] https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a36125131/2022-hyundai-santa-cruz-pickup-revealed/ https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a36125131/2022-hyundai-san...
gpsx 5y ago
Ford is supposedly coming out with a smaller pickup, the Ford Maverick, that I think is similar in size to the old Ranger.
- rootsudo 5y ago
  but will be a horrible unibody truck
VWWHFSfQ 5y ago
The first thing that we need to change about the perception of these vehicles is we have to stop calling them e-pickups. Because e usually means economy. And economy means cheap and flimsy and no legroom. People who are buying Ford pickups don't want cheap and flimsy and no legroom. Just call it a pickup.
- brianwawok 5y ago
  E means electric
importantbrian 5y ago
This is one of my biggest complaints about trucks these days. I have a newer Tacoma and it is the same size as my dad's 2008 Tundra.

driverdan 5y ago

And the 2004 is large compared to earlier small pickups. Vehicles keep getting unnecessarily larger.

scruple 5y ago
I drove a 1997 Ford Ranger XLT Supercab for about 12 years. I recently came across a 2021 Ford Ranger while I was running some errands and have not been able to get it out of my head. It looked like it's practically twice the size of the 97 model. It's a full 12" longer, 8" wider, 6" taller... But the bed length has remained the same or gotten shorter. I don't pay any attention to this stuff but it is strange to me, I don't understand why mid-size and light-duty trucks are / feel so gargantuan today.

soperj 5y ago

My dream car is an electric 1955 ford f100.

gok 5y ago
Well... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Ranger_EV https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Ranger_EV
- soperj 5y ago
  Those are ugly as sin though.
gilbetron 5y ago
My "when I'm rich" car is actually an old truck like that rejiggered to be an EV.

btbuildem 5y ago

Yeah like the original Subaru Baja, or even better, the iconic El-Camino.

throwaway0a5e 5y ago

>you can't really get small pickups that size anymore Write your representative and tell them to thank the EPA and NHTSA for doing their jobs. The death of the small pickup is squarely the fault of the confluence of fuel economy and crash safety regulations.

nexuist 5y ago
I'm not following - how would a smaller (and presumably lighter weight) truck have worse fuel economy than the giants we see today?
- throwaway0a5e 5y ago
  Fuel economy regulations are based on vehicle footprint and weight. Small trucks are small and (were, still would be if we still had them) fairly heavy for their size making them bad for compliance. A small vehicle is also going to have harder lines (less physical space for clean curves) so will have worse aerodynamics.
  - jacurtis 5y ago
    That is interesting. I wonder if that is why Ford got rid of their small pickup (The Ford Ranger) for several years from 2012 until 2020. It did come back last year, probably after meeting new regulation requirements.
    - throwaway0a5e 5y ago
      That's exactly it. IIRC they even said so at the time. They were already producing the "new ranger" elsewhere at the time so they could have just imported it but looking at the MSRP difference between it and a based f150 vs the size of the market they decided it wasn't worth it.
  - PeterisP 5y ago
    On the other hand, all these arguments completely go away for electric cars, so there would be space for smaller e-trucks.

JeremyNT 5y ago

> I have a 2004 Toyota Tacoma that I love, and it would be amazing with a frunk, but you can't really get small pickups that size anymore You're not kidding! I was in the market for a small pickup and checked out the Tacoma and Frontier, which I previously understood to be "small" trucks. They're massive these days, just like the F-150! I guess it's perceived that there's no market for that size any more. A small electric pickup would be a super handy thing to have around, potentially appealing to urbanites too since they can toss their groceries in the frunk. There's really no reason the frunk needs to be so big on the F-150 Lightning - that part of the design is really a head scratcher.

giarc 5y ago
The new Ford Ranger is a smaller size, but it's perhaps the worst looking truck available. I'm not sure what Ford was thinking there.
- annoyingnoob 5y ago
  Still much bigger than the Rangers of years past.
  - sswezey 5y ago
    Indeed. I think the defining feature of a small pickup is the ability of an averaged height person to be able to reach over the sides and grab something from the bed of the truck. All of the current trucks on the market you can barely even see in to the bed. It makes it super hard to load the bed without actually being in it. Trucks today have become so much more vanity symbols than anything else.
    - twiddling 5y ago
      This. I had an old VW pickup which was a charm to use for my small business. Could also park it in tight spots too.
- birdman3131 5y ago

bckygldstn 5y ago

The 2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz [1] looks like it'll be much smaller than the current crop of trucks (though still larger than the compact trucks of 20 years ago). [1] https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a36125131/2022-hyundai-santa-cruz-pickup-revealed/ https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a36125131/2022-hyundai-san...

gpsx 5y ago

Ford is supposedly coming out with a smaller pickup, the Ford Maverick, that I think is similar in size to the old Ranger.

rootsudo 5y ago
but will be a horrible unibody truck

VWWHFSfQ 5y ago

The first thing that we need to change about the perception of these vehicles is we have to stop calling them e-pickups. Because e usually means economy. And economy means cheap and flimsy and no legroom. People who are buying Ford pickups don't want cheap and flimsy and no legroom. Just call it a pickup.

brianwawok 5y ago
E means electric

importantbrian 5y ago

This is one of my biggest complaints about trucks these days. I have a newer Tacoma and it is the same size as my dad's 2008 Tundra.