If ford built an electric version of the 2005-2010 Ranger I would buy it today. It's not even a new idea, they made electric Rangers around 2000 but they had lead acid batteries so the range was only 150km.
I want a PRACTICAL pickup, not a god damned $61K, 5 seat, electric minivan with 4 foot trunk.
Totally, you can fit a hell of a lot more sheet material into a cargo van than a modern pickup. Even minivans with fold down seats have more cargo space than a Ram with 4x5.5 box.
I learned this years ago. Many minivans are capable of towing 3500 pounds and can hold 4'x8' sheets of plywood flat on the floor. The bonus is that I can also carry 6 passengers with me if I need, which you can't do with a pickup. At least not legally, anyways.
For most cargo vans there is a wall that separates the cargo from the cab. In some places this is a legal requirement to help prevent injury from loose cargo during an accident. Even without a partition I don't see how sharing the cab with cargo is less useful, maybe more dangerous but not less useful.
Fuel economy used to be much worse for trucks vs vans but with modern vehicles they even out more and many smaller vans have a better fuel economy than a light pick up truck.