Electric pickup trucks are an excellent idea, on par with midget giraffes and toothless tigers. They are perfect for people who don’t need trucks, so doubtless they’ll be popular on 280 between San Francisco and San Jose, and in other urban areas where posing matters more than performing.

For people who actually need to use their pickup trucks, however, the electric truck idea is hilariously useless. As you mention in your article, David, towing anything reduces the range dramatically. So, if you want to tow your boat to the end of the driveway, get an electric truck. If you want to tow it further, stick to a diesel or petrol truck. What if it’s raining, dark, cold, and nasty? Well, oops… there goes your commute to work. Hope you enjoy looking at your nice shiny Tesla truck while you wait for AAA to come and tow you to a charging station. Oh, and if you’re working on a construction site and need a power take-off? Oh dear, oh dear. And don’t even think about putting a winch on it — Tesla makes sure you can’t, for obvious reasons.

So, in summary: Tesla truck great for people who don’t need trucks, useless for people who do. Ford and GM should stop fretting and focus on reality rather than booster-propagated hype.