BOISE, Idaho — For most of the past decade, the electric pickup has been a luxury good dressed in work clothes. Prices routinely topped $70,000, and the trucks that wore them were sized and styled for buyers who rarely hauled anything heavier than a mountain bike. The Halvorsen Ridgeline EV, which starts at $41,900 before any incentives, is an attempt to change that math.
After a week and roughly 620 miles with a mid-trim test truck on highways, gravel ranch roads and a crowded hardware-store parking lot, the verdict is simple: the Ridgeline EV is not the most capable electric pickup on sale, but it is the first one that feels designed for people who would otherwise buy a basic gas truck and keep it for 12 years.
Smaller battery, honest numbers
Halvorsen Motors, the Michigan-based manufacturer best known for its fleet vans, kept the cost down by fitting a modest 92-kilowatt-hour battery pack and a single rear motor on the base model. The company rates it at 245 miles of range. In mixed driving at temperatures in the low 60s, our truck averaged about 2.6 miles per kilowatt-hour, which would put real-world range at roughly 235 miles, close enough to the sticker that few owners will feel misled.
Towing is where the compromises show. The single-motor truck is rated for 6,500 pounds, well short of the 10,000-pound figures that larger rivals advertise. Hooked to a 4,800-pound utility trailer loaded with landscaping stone, the Ridgeline EV pulled confidently, but projected range dropped by nearly half, a reminder that electric towing remains a short-haul proposition.
- Base price: $41,900; dual-motor version $48,400
- Rated range: 245 miles (single motor), 230 miles (dual motor)
- Towing: 6,500 pounds (single), 7,800 pounds (dual)
- Bed: 5.5 feet, with a lockable 7-cubic-foot front trunk
- Peak charging: 150 kilowatts, 10 to 80 percent in about 38 minutes
A cabin built for work, not for show
Inside, the Ridgeline EV skips the oversized screens that have become an industry habit. There is a 10-inch center display, but climate, volume and drive modes all have physical knobs that can be used while wearing gloves. The rubberized floor can be hosed out, and the rear bench flips up to reveal a flat load floor that easily held two folded sawhorses and a toolbox.
The truck’s best trick is a pair of 120-volt outlets in the bed and one in the cab that together can supply up to 3.6 kilowatts. On a job site, that is enough to run a miter saw and a work light without a generator. Halvorsen says owners can also use the battery to power a home refrigerator and a few circuits during an outage with an optional transfer kit.
We kept asking what a plumber or a farmhand actually needs every day. It turned out to be range you can trust and a price you can finance, not a zero-to-60 time.
Dana Kessler, chief engineer, Halvorsen Motors
Ride quality is firm but not punishing, and the low-mounted battery gives the truck a planted feel on curvy two-lane roads that tall gas pickups rarely match. Wind noise is noticeable above 70 mph, and the base cloth seats felt thin after three hours behind the wheel.
Some analysts question whether the price will hold. Priya Natarajan, an auto industry analyst with Crestline Research, noted that battery costs have fallen sharply this year but could rise again if raw-material prices rebound. “The sticker is aggressive,” she said. “The question is whether Halvorsen can make money at that number once the launch excitement fades.”
Dealers in the Mountain West report early orders running ahead of expectations, with fleet buyers such as utility contractors and municipal parks departments accounting for about a third of reservations.
The Ridgeline EV will not satisfy buyers who tow a heavy camper across several states. For everyone else, particularly households with a garage outlet and a commute under 80 miles, it makes a persuasive case that the electric pickup no longer has to be a status symbol. It can simply be a truck.
