News
Can electric trucks breakthrough gas and diesel pickup loyalty?
Electric trucks haven’t yet made their way to the market, but plenty of them are announced. The big question is: Will EV trucks ever see the success that sedans and crossovers have? Can they be more popular than the gas and diesel trucks that are widely utilized across the world?
Pickup trucks are popular outside of the United States. In Canada, China, and even Australia, pickups are used by everyone from construction use to daily drivers. Their versatility as a luxury vehicle or a way to move large objects from one location to another makes them one of the more feasible types of vehicles available to consumers. For years, trucks have been listed as powerful, sturdy, and capable machines that have loyal consumer bases because of their adequacy for a wide range of activities.
But with the ongoing transition away from gas powertrains and toward electrification, trucks are simply next on the list to receive battery-powered operation. With several manufacturers releasing designs, pricing, and other variables for electric trucks, the question remains of whether or not the EV truck segment as a whole will be able to make a dent in the popularity of petrol-powered trucks in the future.
There seem to be several boundaries that EV trucks need to cross into to gain the trust and secure a sale to a driver who is interested in a truck but has their mind set on gas or diesel powertrains. I believe that one is going to be proving effectiveness in “work” settings like towing, off-roading, and hauling. The other is breaking through the brand loyalty that many truck buyers have with a certain manufacturer. Interestingly, it is tough to determine which will be harder for an EV truck maker to break, but it will likely be switching an owner away from their usual manufacturer.
Truck owners seem to hold a loyalty to their favorite manufacturer that is unmatched by owners of other segments. All too often, especially in my neck of the woods, I see and hear truck owners talking about why their manufacturer is the best, why others cannot seem to compare, and why they’ll never buy another brand of truck. Sometimes, you’ll even see the infamous bumper sticker of a kid peeing on a rival truck maker’s logo.
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But breaking a consumer away from a brand that they have put many years, and many dollars, into owning a certain vehicle is arguably one of the most difficult parts of selling cars. Past the production issues, which have plagued many car companies, Tesla included, for years, growing a brand is difficult. To have a consumer willingly switch brands is a tough task, and it usually relies on that company providing a massive shortcoming to that consumer in particular.
For example, bad customer service, poor quality, or even a political stance can cause a consumer to switch sides and consider other options. But these things are rare occurrences, so to really convince someone to try a different brand without any negative experiences really requires a product that makes someone go, “Wow, I need that.”
Credit: @KimPaquette | Twitter
Electric trucks certainly have the pizzazz and the appeal to make this happen. I would argue that the Cybertruck is probably the truck that will most likely drive more people to switch from gas or diesel-powered machines to electric ones. Simply because the design is so unique, many people may just be looking for something new that looks “tough” and “durable.” The Cybertruck certainly fits that bill.
However, the Rivian R1T has it’s own advantages too. Because of the fact that it has more of a “traditional” truck look, which is exactly what Tesla and Elon Musk were looking to avoid, it may be more fitting for many recurring truck buyers. It has the durability; it has the look, it has the options. It also is around the same price as many other trucks on the market, so the “too expensive” argument goes out of the window for those that still use it.
The next real test is proving durability and effectiveness. We have seen the Cybertruck pull the F-150 in a tug of war, but people still may be looking to see the vehicle perform normal everyday work. Same with the R1T.
The typical truck buyer is likely hauling things as small as 2x4s or as large as a boat. Before religious pickup buyers truly accept EV trucks, the manufacturers will have to prove that their products are capable of hauling normal, everyday things and large and difficult items. Performance and overall use capabilities will be proven before any truck buyers consider an electric option.
Please e-mail or tweet your thoughts about this subject. I am certainly interested in hearing what you all have to say about trucks and how EV makers can start making a dent in gas-powered pickup sales once deliveries begin. I think it will take more than a new, fresh, and fun way to drive a car to swing consumers to the “other side,” unlike it was with the sedan segment. Sedans are sedans, and they’re all pretty similar. I don’t believe there is as much brand loyalty on that side of things, but I could be wrong.
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News
Tesla ends Full Self-Driving purchase option in the U.S.
In January, Musk announced that Tesla would remove the ability to purchase the suite outright for $8,000. This would give the vehicle Full Self-Driving for its entire lifespan, but Tesla intended to move away from it, for several reasons, one being that a tranche in the CEO’s pay package requires 10 million active subscriptions of FSD.
Tesla has officially ended the option to purchase the Full Self-Driving suite outright, a move that was announced for the United States market in January by CEO Elon Musk.
The driver assistance suite is now exclusively available in the U.S. as a subscription, which is currently priced at $99 per month.
Tesla moved away from the outright purchase option in an effort to move more people to the subscription program, but there are concerns over its current price and the potential for it to rise.
In January, Musk announced that Tesla would remove the ability to purchase the suite outright for $8,000. This would give the vehicle Full Self-Driving for its entire lifespan, but Tesla intended to move away from it, for several reasons, one being that a tranche in the CEO’s pay package requires 10 million active subscriptions of FSD.
Although Tesla moved back the deadline in other countries, it has now taken effect in the U.S. on Sunday morning. Tesla updated its website to reflect this:
🚨 Tesla has officially moved the outright purchase option for FSD on its website pic.twitter.com/RZt1oIevB3
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) February 15, 2026
There are still some concerns regarding its price, as $99 per month is not where many consumers are hoping to see the subscription price stay.
Musk has said that as capabilities improve, the price will go up, but it seems unlikely that 10 million drivers will want to pay an extra $100 every month for the capability, even if it is extremely useful.
Instead, many owners and fans of the company are calling for Tesla to offer a different type of pricing platform. This includes a tiered-system that would let owners pick and choose the features they would want for varying prices, or even a daily, weekly, monthly, and annual pricing option, which would incentivize longer-term purchasing.
Although Musk and other Tesla are aware of FSD’s capabilities and state is is worth much more than its current price, there could be some merit in the idea of offering a price for Supervised FSD and another price for Unsupervised FSD when it becomes available.
Elon Musk
Musk bankers looking to trim xAI debt after SpaceX merger: report
xAI has built up $18 billion in debt over the past few years, with some of this being attributed to the purchase of social media platform Twitter (now X) and the creation of the AI development company. A new financing deal would help trim some of the financial burden that is currently present ahead of the plan to take SpaceX public sometime this year.
Elon Musk’s bankers are looking to trim the debt that xAI has taken on over the past few years, following the company’s merger with SpaceX, a new report from Bloomberg says.
xAI has built up $18 billion in debt over the past few years, with some of this being attributed to the purchase of social media platform Twitter (now X) and the creation of the AI development company. Bankers are trying to create some kind of financing plan that would trim “some of the heavy interest costs” that come with the debt.
The financing deal would help trim some of the financial burden that is currently present ahead of the plan to take SpaceX public sometime this year. Musk has essentially confirmed that SpaceX would be heading toward an IPO last month.
The report indicates that Morgan Stanley is expected to take the leading role in any financing plan, citing people familiar with the matter. Morgan Stanley, along with Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, and JPMorgan Chase & Co., are all expected to be in the lineup of banks leading SpaceX’s potential IPO.
Since Musk acquired X, he has also had what Bloomberg says is a “mixed track record with debt markets.” Since purchasing X a few years ago with a $12.5 billion financing package, X pays “tens of millions in interest payments every month.”
That debt is held by Bank of America, Barclays, Mitsubishi, UFJ Financial, BNP Paribas SA, Mizuho, and Société Générale SA.
X merged with xAI last March, which brought the valuation to $45 billion, including the debt.
SpaceX announced the merger with xAI earlier this month, a major move in Musk’s plan to alleviate Earth of necessary data centers and replace them with orbital options that will be lower cost:
“In the long term, space-based AI is obviously the only way to scale. To harness even a millionth of our Sun’s energy would require over a million times more energy than our civilization currently uses! The only logical solution, therefore, is to transport these resource-intensive efforts to a location with vast power and space. I mean, space is called “space” for a reason.”
The merger has many advantages, but one of the most crucial is that it positions the now-merged companies to fund broader goals, fueled by revenue from the Starlink expansion, potential IPO, and AI-driven applications that could accelerate the development of lunar bases.
News
Tesla pushes Full Self-Driving outright purchasing option back in one market
Tesla announced last month that it would eliminate the ability to purchase the Full Self-Driving software outright, instead opting for a subscription-only program, which will require users to pay monthly.
Tesla has pushed the opportunity to purchase the Full Self-Driving suite outright in one market: Australia.
The date remains February 14 in North America, but Tesla has pushed the date back to March 31, 2026, in Australia.
NEWS: Tesla is ending the option to buy FSD as a one-time outright purchase in Australia on March 31, 2026.
It still ends on Feb 14th in North America. https://t.co/qZBOztExVT pic.twitter.com/wmKRZPTf3r
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) February 13, 2026
Tesla announced last month that it would eliminate the ability to purchase the Full Self-Driving software outright, instead opting for a subscription-only program, which will require users to pay monthly.
If you have already purchased the suite outright, you will not be required to subscribe once again, but once the outright purchase option is gone, drivers will be required to pay the monthly fee.
The reason for the adjustment is likely due to the short period of time the Full Self-Driving suite has been available in the country. In North America, it has been available for years.
Tesla hits major milestone with Full Self-Driving subscriptions
However, Tesla just launched it just last year in Australia.
Full Self-Driving is currently available in seven countries: the United States, Canada, China, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, and South Korea.
The company has worked extensively for the past few years to launch the suite in Europe. It has not made it quite yet, but Tesla hopes to get it launched by the end of this year.
In North America, Tesla is only giving customers one more day to buy the suite outright before they will be committed to the subscription-based option for good.
The price is expected to go up as the capabilities improve, but there are no indications as to when Tesla will be doing that, nor what type of offering it plans to roll out for owners.
Tesla ends Full Self-Driving purchase option in the U.S.
Musk bankers looking to trim xAI debt after SpaceX merger: report
