Another day, another electric pick-up truck.
This one is called the Fisker Alaska – for now – and is the brainchild of Tesla's cross-town Californian- rival, Fisker Automotive.
Showing off the rear end design and fitted with chunky off-road tyres, it was teased on Twitter by Henrik Fisker, founder and CEO of the company, before being hastily deleted.
Henrik Fisker, a former Aston Martin designer, then removed the Tweet for reasons unknown. One theory is that he jumped the gun and the 'Alaska' name, which is alarmingly close to the Renault Alaskan name that adorns the rump of that brand's reclothed Nissan Navara pick-up.
Whatever the reason for the about-face, it’s clear that Fisker is feeling pressure to remind the world it has an electric ute in the works.
The ute will almost certainly be based on the same platform architecture underpinning the Fisker Ocean SUV, due in 2022, which has an 80kWh lithium-ion that provides the vehicle with a 480km (300 mile) range.
The Fisker Ocean is tipped to come to Australia in due course and, by extension, the Alaska ute would be in the same boat. Details, price and timing are not yet known, but expect more details to flow as Fisker's rivals continue to pump out more product.
The Fisker Alaska will be a crucial model for the brand as the EV ute market becomes a hotly-contested battleground this decade.
With a number of high-profile EV utes coming as soon as 2021, such as the Tesla Cybertruck and Rivian R1T, and more EV utes from China and Korea on their way – from Great Wall and SsangYong – the electric pick-up space will be crucial to car-makers wanting to expand their EV influence.
The Ford F-150 and Chevrolet Silverardo will go electric soon and the Nikola Badger EV ute revealed this week is claiming a 1000km range with its dual-fuel setup (hydrogen tank and lithium-ion battery), setting new benchmark.
Perhaps the biggest shift for Australian buyers will be when models like the Toyota HiLux offer a hybrid petrol-electric option, which Toyota says will occur no later than 2025.