Three-Row Pickup Trucks Are Going to Be a Thing (2024)

I should have seen the three-row pickup truck coming. The signs have been there. A modern crew-cab Ram pickup truck already offers more rear-seat legroom than a Mercedes S-Class. Single-cab trucks are an endangered species. Now, as Ram showed off during its Ram Revolution BEV concept reveal, the time of the three-row pickup truck may be upon us.

The concept includes a third-row jump seat, made possible by the space savings that come with an all-electric powertrain. The concept is just that—this Ram doesn't look close to production form—but it is a signal of where Ram wants to take things. While some features like the all-digital mirrors may not see production, however, we have plenty of reason to take the third-row concept seriously. First, because it's something that can clearly fit in a reasonable-looking crew-cab truck. And second, because the first rule of making trucks is that everything must get bigger all the time.

It was only 20 years ago that the crew-cab half-ton essentially didn't exist. Single-cabs were the norm, with extended-cab trucks available if you needed a couple of jump seats for short journeys. No one considered the truck to be a family hauler, or at least not in the traditional way.

If you wanted your truck to haul your family, you put them in the bed. That's still standard practice on dirt roads and the rest of rural America. It's a much cheaper and more versatile solution than the average three-row SUV. What's changed is that laws restricting or barring passengers from truck beds have gotten more common, as the practice is extremely dangerous. Bench seats are disappearing, seat belts are getting buckled. At the same time, more Americans have started using their trucks as everyday transportation. If you ever pick up friends from the airport or drive your kid to school, the single-cab isn't much help. So the crew cab has become the default choice, outcompeting single and even extended cabs in many cases.

Three-row SUVs also enjoy record sales. I can't tell you how many requests I've received for advice on the best three-row option for a family with one child. Recently, a friend said he wanted something as big as a Telluride to fit his family, which currently consisted of him, his wife, and a dog. Not even one in the oven and he was already planning for kid number three. American car-buyers solve for their worst-case scenario, not their everyday usage, so more capability almost always wins out. The American family is smaller than ever, and driving a larger-than-ever vehicle.

Three-row pickup trucks are the natural next step. A seven-seat four-wheel-drive vehicle with a five-foot bed and a 13,000-lb towing capacity solves every problem the average American is likely to encounter, and dozens of problems they will never encounter. What to do with 19 cupholders, for instance.

Work crews and large families could actually benefit from this new segment. If companies are willing to play with pickup design, push the cab forward, and get creative with layouts, it could provide the same broad-band utility that the crew cab pickup currently does for working families. But as we transition to a cleaner, electric market, it'd be wise to be naturally wary of excess. We have to think about whether new designs solve salient problems. Take a close look the fleet of modern half-ton crew-cab pickups. Do you really think the problem is that they aren't big enough?