The Rivian R1T is often cited as the first electric truck sold to mainstream consumers, but Ford in fact got there first—but not with the F-150 Lightning pickup. The 1998 Ford Ranger EV was part of a late-20th-century wave of electric vehicles, which included the Toyota RAV4 EV, Honda EV Plus, Nissan Altra, and perhaps most famously the GM EV1.
The Ranger EV was powered by a 23-kWh lead-acid battery that fed a 90-hp, 140-lb-ft AC induction motor geared to the rear axle. Top speed was 75 mph, and MotorTrend timed the Ranger EV to 60 in 16.4 seconds. The truck’s driving range with the lead-acid tech was about 50 miles on a warm day, dropping to 35 in freezing weather; Ford later added a 65-mile nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) battery.
“Forget any worry about holding up traffic,” wrote MotorTrend Detroit editor Jack Keebler, who lived with the Ranger EV for two weeks and reported on it in our May 1998 print issue. “In fact, with so few noise cues, I kept an eye on the speedo or risked a ticket. (Acceleration is) quite respectable until about 55, where the Ranger EV runs out of steam. With its 700-pound payload, this is a work vehicle, not simply an amusing science experiment.”
Aside from its unique DeDion rear axle, the truck was largely a stock Ranger. Most of the electric gear lived under the hood, though the motor controller’s location aft of the rear axle meant the optional spare tire lived in the bed. Price for the ’98 model was $32,795 (about $62,500 in 2024 dollars), but the battery had to be replaced every 25,000 miles at a cost of $5,000 ($9,500).
But wait … the Ranger EV was in fact preceded by crosstown rival Chevrolet, which offered its own electric pickup. The 1997 Chevrolet S-10 EV used the front-drive AC-induction powertrain from the EV1 derated from 137 to 114 hp. Its 16.2-kWh lead-acid battery provided a range of just 33 miles, while the optional 29-kWh NiMH battery more than doubled that to 72.
Chevrolet offered the S-10 EV for only two model years, building just shy of 500, but Ford sold the Ranger EV for half a decade, and it’s estimated to have built between 1,500 and 2,000. Most examples were leased, but both Ford and Chevrolet also sold their electric pickups to customers, and several survive in operating condition.
