The choices Ford, Rivian, and GM have taken in their trucks is interesting.
The F150 Lightning is a draintrain swapped F150. It appears to largely sit inside the existing F150 architecture with a full frame and separate cab and bed. Where the engine was, there is an electric motor, a rear subframe was added with IRS and another motor, and it's battery in-between. This limits Ford to how radically they can shift their electric counterpart but allows them speed in getting the vehicle to market.
Rivian and GM are using bespoke monocoque platforms (or, in GM's case, a platform different from the gas truck but shared with other GM EVs).
GM's most interesting feature is the mid-gate, which was seen in the Avalanche and Escalade EXT. It's curious that Rivian didn't do something similar because it is an incredibly useful configuration. Instead, they have a cargo-cubby that spans the width of the truck, just ahead of the rear wheel. This prevents the implementation of a mid-gate configuration and, as far as I can tell from photos, actually shortens the usable bed. Strange.
I think there's a good reason though: The Rivian looks like a regular pickup and the GM doesn't. It all comes down to the "sail panels" at the rear of the cab on the GM. For comparison, from the 1st to 2nd generation of the Ridgeline, Honda changed design from one with Avalanche-like sail-panels to a more tradition pickup look without them. Being a unit-body, the sharp corner between the cab and bed is a very weak point. Essentially, the body and chassis wants fold in half at that point. That's what the sail-panels do: Triangulate the area and offer strength. Honda got around it with a bunch of engineering in what they call the "C-panel Critical Unibody Joint", described here: https://jalopnik.com/mid-size-trucks-dont-need-frames-1785674405
The Rivian, with it's traditional cab and bed profile, needs massive strength at the cab-to-bed c-pillar joint and surrounding structure, just like the Ridgeline. This prevents the addition of a mid-gate, which is basically a gaping hole in said structure, because of a loss in strength and rigidity. GM, using the triangulated sail-panel, doesn't have the same constraints and can open up the area to allow the cab and bed to share a common space.
The inclusion of the mid-gate on the GM completely changes the design of the vehicle too. There is very little front overhang on the Silverado EV. The front wheels and the entire cab has been pushed forward and all the extra space has been given to the bed, which is half a foot longer than the F150 Lightning and a foot and a half longer than the Rivian. The extra wheelbase isn't an issue because of 4-wheel steering. Pushing the cab so far forward makes for a strange profile mainly because traditional truck architectures can't replicate it. It's an unfamiliar aesthetic for a truck.
When automakers talk about EVs having fewer constraints when it comes to design, this is what it looks like. It's unfamiliar and that makes it a little jarring but expect more changes like this as automaker move more and more to bespoke electrical platforms instead of partially reused ICE platforms.
The F150 Lightning is a draintrain swapped F150. It appears to largely sit inside the existing F150 architecture with a full frame and separate cab and bed. Where the engine was, there is an electric motor, a rear subframe was added with IRS and another motor, and it's battery in-between. This limits Ford to how radically they can shift their electric counterpart but allows them speed in getting the vehicle to market.
Rivian and GM are using bespoke monocoque platforms (or, in GM's case, a platform different from the gas truck but shared with other GM EVs).
GM's most interesting feature is the mid-gate, which was seen in the Avalanche and Escalade EXT. It's curious that Rivian didn't do something similar because it is an incredibly useful configuration. Instead, they have a cargo-cubby that spans the width of the truck, just ahead of the rear wheel. This prevents the implementation of a mid-gate configuration and, as far as I can tell from photos, actually shortens the usable bed. Strange.
I think there's a good reason though: The Rivian looks like a regular pickup and the GM doesn't. It all comes down to the "sail panels" at the rear of the cab on the GM. For comparison, from the 1st to 2nd generation of the Ridgeline, Honda changed design from one with Avalanche-like sail-panels to a more tradition pickup look without them. Being a unit-body, the sharp corner between the cab and bed is a very weak point. Essentially, the body and chassis wants fold in half at that point. That's what the sail-panels do: Triangulate the area and offer strength. Honda got around it with a bunch of engineering in what they call the "C-panel Critical Unibody Joint", described here: https://jalopnik.com/mid-size-trucks-dont-need-frames-1785674405
The Rivian, with it's traditional cab and bed profile, needs massive strength at the cab-to-bed c-pillar joint and surrounding structure, just like the Ridgeline. This prevents the addition of a mid-gate, which is basically a gaping hole in said structure, because of a loss in strength and rigidity. GM, using the triangulated sail-panel, doesn't have the same constraints and can open up the area to allow the cab and bed to share a common space.
The inclusion of the mid-gate on the GM completely changes the design of the vehicle too. There is very little front overhang on the Silverado EV. The front wheels and the entire cab has been pushed forward and all the extra space has been given to the bed, which is half a foot longer than the F150 Lightning and a foot and a half longer than the Rivian. The extra wheelbase isn't an issue because of 4-wheel steering. Pushing the cab so far forward makes for a strange profile mainly because traditional truck architectures can't replicate it. It's an unfamiliar aesthetic for a truck.
When automakers talk about EVs having fewer constraints when it comes to design, this is what it looks like. It's unfamiliar and that makes it a little jarring but expect more changes like this as automaker move more and more to bespoke electrical platforms instead of partially reused ICE platforms.
