Happy Nice Mall

Country music essential. V-8 power. Hulking demeanor. Apple pie may be the only slice of Americana the pickup truck isn’t checking out. The three most popular vehicles historically sold on Home of the Brave have been the Ford F-150, Chevrolet Silverado and Ram 1500, respectively. Need to lift a house from its foundation? Give me that recovery belt and turn on Blake Shelton.

Over the past 40 years, the volume of trucks has increased as this tripartite management has taken hold in the market. Today’s midsize models, such as the Colorado, Tacoma and Ranger, are similar in size to the F-Series of the 1970s. The days of single taxis are largely over as buyers overwhelmingly demand crew cabs to transport the clan.

But something interesting happens in a category where brute strength is the most important selling point. Manufacturers looking to expand sales are offering smaller trucks, adding special features and exciting new models. Your dog may love the result.

Reducing the mass may be wiser than hiding a truck from a vengeful ex. The latest census shows that Americans continue to migrate to cities where large truck drivers are faced with all-white moments like busy city streets and claustrophobic parking structures (hmmm, is my truck under 6’7″? Am I feeling lucky?).

The little big news is Ford’s 2022 Maverick. Built on the same crossover architecture as the Bronco Sport and Escape, the Maverick sits below the Ranger. Long before Ford acknowledged the existence of the Maverick, spy photos made it clear that the company had a new compact truck in development. But the official opening is jaw-dropping, as have the undamped tailgates — the base models, which start around $21,450 when they arrive this fall, are powered by a four-cylinder hybrid powertrain. Let’s see how Brad Paisley adds his permanent magnet electric traction motor and lithium-ion battery pack to his lyrics.

Front-wheel drive Maverick hybrid (all-wheel drive, 2 liter optional turbocharged four-cylinder engine powertrain) is expected to deliver 40 miles per gallon in city driving on 33 highways. Perfect for people who buy functionality instead of testosterone. According to Ford spokesman Mike Levine, the company already has “100,000 reservations in major coastal cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston and Orlando.”

The Maverick may be Ford’s most compact truck, but at 200 inches long, it still beats the three-row Explorer SUV by an inch. But seven inches narrower, parking in Macy’s garage should be a cinch.

Ford was playing to its strengths when it famously announced it would be removing sedans from its lineup. “We know trucks,” said Jim Baumbick, Ford’s vice president of product planning. “We’ve seen consumers try to hack their sedans to transport bark and building materials, and that’s not cool. Maverick will have commercial appeal, but we targeted individuals. With a four-and-a-half-foot bed, it easily carries bikes and gear, but has the interior room of a Fusion sedan.

Hyundai’s 2022 Santa Cruz gets a four-foot open bed, but Trevor Lai, the company’s senior product planning manager, insists it’s not competing in the pickup segment. “We focused extensively on Santa Cruz and these people came up with the name ‘sports adventure vehicle’. For city dwellers who have limited parking options but want to transport big things, bikes and surfboards.” Focus groups aside, people on the street call it a pickup.

The Santa Cruz is compared to Honda’s unibody Ridgeline and the not-so-critic Subaru Baja pickup truck. Based on an elongated Tucson SUV architecture, the Santa Cruz’s design is swept and sleek compared to the odd Baja and traditionally styled Maverick. Hyundai has an in-bed luggage compartment that doubles as a tailgate party cooler much like the Ridgeline, but the Santa Cruz is 14 inches shorter (and four inches below the Maverick). With straps and a few six-inch boards, owners can haul sheets of 4×8 plywood and drywall. The 2.5-liter turbocharged all-wheel drive model pulls up to 5,000 pounds (all other powertrains stand at 3,500 pounds).

Pro tip: The Santa Cruz is most convenient, equipped with a lockable, self-retracting hard tonneau cover that is factory-fitted to all but the base model. The EPA classifies it as an SUV, but owners with a hatch will quickly find that its operating dynamics are more like a sedan with a tailgate that goes out of the way to transport Ikea furniture that doesn’t fit in an Elantra (or SUV). in this respect). The sky is the limit here.

Conventional pickups are getting more attention from automakers. Left to rot by many manufacturers after the turn of the century, the midsize segment is a whole new rodeo, with Ford and General Motors bringing models back.

Trucks that focus on off-road capabilities like the Ranger Tremor and Colorado ZR-2 appeal to the Jeep Wrangler crowd. Or like-minded buyers jeep gladiator, the brand’s first pick-up since 1986. After 16 years of pushing the fossilized version, Nissan finally has a new and much more refined Frontier. Honda changed the Ridgeline’s design direction from commuter hauler to square-jawed masculine and ditched its “soft passenger” reputation (something it didn’t quite deserve, by the way).

Even the full-size market is poised for change. Converting the F-150’s steel body panels to aluminum in 2015 seemed like a bold move for Ford. Now, the most popular vehicle in the country since Dolly Parton starred in “9 to 5” is getting an all-electric powertrain. F-150 Lightning It is expected to have 563 horsepower with a range of about 300 miles and a towing capacity of up to 10,000 pounds.

“Electrification isn’t just about the environment, it can make the truck better, more useful and practical,” said Mr. Baumbick. For its purpose, it has a larger flex area than some SUV cargo holds, replacing the emissions-breathing gas engine.

GMC is resurrecting the Hummer in an all-electric version. Expected to ship by the end of 2021, the pickup (if you’ve booked) should accelerate from standstill to 60 miles per hour in three seconds, in a very quiet “hold my beer” moment. Also “crab walk” Sideways in awkward parking situations. The Hummer’s architecture will support General Motors’ sister brands’ all-electric pickups with an estimated range of 400 miles.

America’s pickup obsession also rushes newcomers.

Rivian, a start-up plans to begin deliveries of the innovative RT1 receiver this fall. One of the high-end options is the sliding camp kitchen, complete with a stove and special cooking set. Can she make apple pie on the stove?

Rivian’s four-engine FT1 will be serious drag racing competition for the Hummer EV, and is expected to travel more than 300 miles on a charge, and more than 400 with the $400 Max Pack. Prices start at an estimated $67,500. Add five grand for the cheat kitchen.

Need something bulletproof? Tesla insists on trapezoid cyber truck coming, but pushed to next year. Bollinger’s With an electric range of 200 miles, the rugged-looking B2 looks like the best project to come out of a sheet metal fabrication shop. Canoo’s EV With its sci-fi form factor, it has an origami bed with sides that fold to become a bench and an extendable back end that holds all the load of drywall.

And country songwriters might rethink the lines about V-8s, because they’re no longer a sure bet going forward. GM offers a turbocharged 2.7-liter four-cylinder engine in the Silverado. Ford is pushing turbocharged V-6s and more recently hybrid powertrains. Electrification can be a huge advantage for owners. Ford made headlines last winter when Texas dealerships loaned hybrid F-150s with integrated PowerBoost generators to those experiencing power outages in their homes. The most capable units can provide 7.2 kilowatts of juice. That’s enough to get the necessary current into a house, keep his wife from going, the dog dying, and Carrie Underwood playing on the sound system.