The race to bring the first electric pickup truck to market is heating up, and now you can even place your bets on who will win the race. The Rivian R1T and Tesla Cybertruck are leading the odds while Nikola Badger is dead last.
Pickup trucks are the most important segment in the automotive industry in the US.
Electrifying the segment will have a very important impact on emissions in the US’ transportation sectors.
Battery technology and cost have improved enough with the electrification of smaller segments that it is now enabling electric pickup trucks.
There are now several major electric pickup truck programs in the work, and they are all rushing to be amongst the first to hit the market around the same time during the second half of next year.
Now MyBookie, a sportsbook website that also sometimes opens betting books on current events, is taking bets on which electric pickup program will deliver to customers first.
They have released the odds today and Rivian is the front-runner with +150 odds:
Tesla comes in second with the Cybertruck having +200 odds, which means that if you bet on the electric pickup and it comes to market first, you double your money.
They also gave odds to Lordstown’s Endurance, the Ford F150 Electric, the GMC Hummer EV, and the Bollinger B2.
Nikola’s Badger pickup truck was even thrown in there with +1,000 odds, which means that if somehow they bring it to market first, it pays 10 times what you bet.
If you want to place your bet, you can go to MyBookie, open an account, go to “Special Wagers” and then “Current Events.” Use code ‘ELECTREK’ for a 100% Sign-up Bonus up to $1000.
They are taking bets on the electric pickup race until October 11.
Electrek’s Take
I reached out to MyBookie because they were the first to come up with a bet on the proposed Tesla Cybertruck and Ford F150 tug-of-war rematch that unfortunately never happened.
Electric pickup truck programs are starting to look like a race, and they will certainly be a winner for that one. I was wondering if they would take gave odds for it and take bets.
To my surprise, they did, and Raphael Esparza, head oddsmaker at Mybookie, came up with some pretty good odds.
I agree that Rivian should be the front runner, though there are some risks here.
Rivian was first supposed to deliver the R1T late last year, and it has now been delayed to June 2021.
The company has never delivered a vehicle before, and it could suffer more delays. However, it had a focus on manufacturing early on, and it has put a lot of thought into the delayed timeline.
Tesla has more credibility as a company considering it has already brought five different electric vehicle programs to market.
However, it aims for the first Cybertruck deliveries in “late 2021” — after Cybertruck.
Now, some are betting (figuratively — though now maybe literally) that it might happen sooner since Tesla is planning to complete the first phase of Gigafactory Texas, where they plan to make Cybertruck, in May 2021.
My biggest concern is that Cybertruck’s exoskeleton design requires a completely different way to manufacture trucks, and that might be hard to get right.
It might also take more time for Tesla to pass regulations with the radical design of the pickup.
Lordstown is also an interesting case because it has the most aggressive timeline, but it needs to update the whole factory that it purchased for GM.
Furthermore, the company is trying to bring to market a pickup truck with for in-wheel hub motors — something that has never been done before.
I would expect more delays from the company.
Either way, it’s going to be an exciting race.
Of course, if you plan on betting money, please do it responsibly, and don’t bet any money you are not willing to lose.
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Author: Fred Lambert
Source: Electrek
