Some Albertans are making the jump to electric trucks, but they're still far from being a big hit
Helen Pike | CBC News | Posted: January 3, 2025 8:57 PM | Last Updated: January 6
In 2023, more than 400 electric trucks were registered in Alberta
Albertans love their trucks. The roads are littered with them.
You'll see Calgary police cruising around in black and white Ford F150s. They even come in stretch-limo form — for those days you're moving a couch in the morning, and looking to roll up to a function in style in the evening.
Even politicians borrow the symbolism for their campaigns, like when former premier Jason Kenney ran for leadership of Alberta's then-new United Conservative Party.
But does that symbolism translate no matter what's powering the thing?
There's a new kind of truck on the car lot.
It's just as bold and big, but you won't hear the engines rev and roar by. That's because these trucks are battery-powered versions of the pickups Albertans know and love.
"A lot of your readers will have driven past many of these vehicles and not even realized it," said Andrew Bell, director of the Electric Vehicle Association of Alberta.
In 2023, more than 400 battery electric (BEV) pickup trucks were registered in Alberta, according to Statistics Canada. The year before there were 75, so they aren't exactly flying off the shelves, but Albertans are starting to buy them.
When it comes to hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) pickup trucks, there are more of those on the road. The hybrid version mostly uses gas, but gets an electric boost from a rechargable battery pack inside — there are 3,391 registered in the province.
A slightly different technology, the plug-in electric hybrid vehicle (PHEV), is charged just like a fully electric vehicle, and only uses its combustion engine once the battery is drained. Those aren't as common in North America. In Alberta there are 5,319 of these vehicles registered across all categories — and zero pickup trucks — because they are just beginning to hit the market.
To put that in context, there were 2.98 million gasoline-powered vehicles registered in Alberta in 2023, including 716,079 pickup trucks.
Richard Wilton is an electric truck owner. He recently purchased a Rivian, which is branded as an electric adventure vehicle — a big draw for Wilton who had been driving a V8 Pathfinder to haul his camping trailer while he commuted in a Nissan Leaf day-to-day around Calgary.
On paper, the Rivian looked like it would be able to do it all: go the distance, tow and keep up with Wilton's lifestyle. But in practice, its first trip didn't exactly go off without a hitch.
"Our first towing experience with this in the spring was — it did not go well," Wilton said. "We faced some really tough prairie winds and cold temperatures, and we actually had some tough times in Saskatchewan and Alberta meeting the charging needs."
The second trip, into British Columbia, went way better, he said. With that success story under his belt, he's standing behind his purchase, saying that he thinks his electric truck stacks up well against the average combustion pickup.
Wilton doesn't think of himself as a typical truck guy. Although he is happy with his vehicle purchase, will other Albertan pickup truck owners feel the same about an electric alternative?
It's something an industry watcher flagged: the average truck-driving Albertan may not jibe with a few things when it comes to considering an electric pickup.
This province is already lagging behind when it comes to adopting electric vehicles (EV).
"Alberta holds fourth place in EV adoption in Canada; having said that, a distant fourth place," Bell said.
Electric trucks make up a tiny share of the more than 14,000 electric vehicles currently registered in the province.
Lawrence Romanosky is the founder of specialty and classic vehicle company Romanosky Automotive and Soleil Energy and Mobility. The company aims to promote sustainable mobility through the use of renewable energy and electric vehicles.
Romanosky, who worked in Calgary's luxury retail car market, also publishes a weekly automotive blog.
He says the EV industry is "highly politicized."
"I don't know too many people who are into their trucks who are also into electric vehicles. It's almost a completely different demographic."
Then, there's the matter of infrastructure in Alberta, or lack thereof. For every three hours of highway driving, Romanosky said, electric trucks would need to replace about 100 kilowatt hours of electricity — which he estimates is about a 30-minute charge. But he adds highway charging infrastructure isn't always dependable.
Add a trailer, or travelling in the cold to the mix, and that charging stop can add a bunch of time to road trips. He also points out those charges are more expensive than what an EV user would pay to juice up at home.
Instead, he sees electric trucks as a contractor's tool.
"They can charge at the shop or at home overnight and then they can use their truck to go to job sites," Romanosky said. "And the key thing here is that the truck can then be a mobile power source."
Bell said he hears that's often the case. Contractors are using electric trucks in their fleet and saving on fuel costs — to the tune of thousands of dollars every month.
"We've profiled companies who are in the renewable solar sector. We've profiled companies that are in the appliance maintenance sector, you know, but the messaging is consistent," Bell said. "They really like how it affects their bottom line, making their companies more efficient."
A better sell for Albertans writ-large, Romanosky said, would be a hybrid plug-in truck that would offer the stability and stamina of fuel, with the perks of an electric vehicle. But those aren't widely available for sale in the North American market, yet.