Americans just can’t quit their giant, gas-burning trucks

American drivers are still in love with big, gas-burning trucks and SUVs, and automakers are as eager ever to build them – even as US electric vehicle sales continue to climb.

American drivers are still in love with big, gas-burning trucks and SUVs, and automakers are as eager ever to build them – even as US electric vehicle sales continue to climb. Although traditional automakers have pledged to invest tens of billions of dollars to transition to EVs in the coming decade, they’re making a renewed bet on those large gasoline-powered vehicles that they expected to move away from. The surprising change is in part because consumer demand for EVs has not lived up to expectations, and it is partly because the demand for large gasoline powered trucks and SUVs is keeping prices, and profits, in that part of the market very strong. A prime example of traditional automakers’ changing views of electric vehicles can be found in the Ford assembly plant in Oakville, Ontario, just outside of Toronto. Last year, when Ford was negotiating with the Unifor, the union that represents Canadian auto workers, the company promised it would build a new three-row EV at its plant in Oakville, Ontario, starting as soon as 2025. But in April, it hit the brakes on those plans and put the roll-out of the EV model on hold until at least 2027. “The additional time will allow for the consumer market for three-row EVs to further develop and enable Ford to take advantage of emerging battery technology,” Ford said in a statement at that time. When – and if – it does move ahead with the new three-row EV, it might look to build it at a US or Canadian plant, or it might look to a lower cost factory in Mexico. Last month, Ford announced plans for a different vehicle to be built at the Oakville plant in its place: Super Duty trucks, a larger version of Ford’s F-series trucks that remain Ford’s best selling vehicles. Ford said it will build 100,000 of the Super Duty trucks a year in Oakville starting in 2026, even while maintaining production of the trucks at its plants in Kentucky and Ohio.