Well the short answer before we even make you read this post is YES! F-150 Lightning is no gimmick, it's real, it's practical and it comes from a generation of trucks that have a cult status in North America. The F-150 brand is no ordinary automobile brand. For Americans the car is an emotion. 9 out of 10 people in America have a desire to own a Ford truck. With a design that impresses a wide range of customers, the F series was and has been an instant success for the company.
Ford has revealed it’s all new electric pickup truck, the mighty American butch F-150 Electric. This is the all-electric version of the popular Ford F-150 pickup truck. Ford has priced this truck very aggressively. So as a result, competitors be cautious!
The base model with 230 miles of range starts at a mouth-watering $39,974, while the long range version, which can go about 300 miles, will be priced in the mid $50,000. That makes the F-150 a mighty competition to the more luxury targeted offering from the Rivian; Rivian R1T, the flashy hunk the GMC Hummer EV and the Chevy Silverado Electric. Well as the price of a vehicle isn’t everything, when it comes to electric vehicles, it is still a big barrier for many skeptical buyers. The F-150’s price will go up with added features and range, but what the company revealed in an interview that they are ready to convince a wide range of potential customers to consider this electric offering from them when they go out to buy a F-150.
Those willing to own one will find the truck loaded with a host of utility features exclusive to this specific electric version as well as the a lot of utility features trickle down from the existing gas powered trucks and the hybrid version of the same. It has a few unique tricks up its sleeve that will lure and flock more customers towards it. It comes draped in such an exterior shell where it will have the resemblance of its gas powered counterparts but at the same time the road presence and stance it will offer will be massive, thanks to its very cleverly designed front end grille and the light bar that runs all the way from one side to the other side looks gorgeous.
The F-150 comes with two battery versions. The company claims the standard battery version will have a range of 230 miles, while the extended battery version will run up to 300 miles in a single full charge.
Customers should be good to go with either of the versions for most daily driving scenarios, though many people will be interested in using the truck to do the usual truck things like towing, hauling and off-roading as well. So in order to put the customer’s minds worry free, the trucks software can provide real time battery and range readings to the customers. The software would not only be limited to show these basic readings and info but it will also provide the info on how much payload the truck is carrying or towing.
All versions of the electric F-150s will have dual electric motors, one in the front and one in the rear. Which means every customer gets an all-wheel drive truck. The extended battery version will leave you breathless with the 420Kw of total power that it makes. To put into perspective it will produce a mind blowing 563 prancing horses and a nerve wracking 775 lb-ft. of torque (1050 Nm). That kind of power is enough to make the quickest F-150 ever built. It can sprint 0 to 62 m/h in less than 4 seconds. The standard version however will have 318Kw (426 horses) with the same amount of torque, which again is no slouch.
The truck has fast charging solutions as options with a 150W DC fast charger being the quickest. With one connected to the extended battery version, it can take on about 54 miles of charge in 10 minutes and can go from 15 percent to 80 percent in 41 minutes. The standard battery version will take longer though, in 10 minutes time it can charge 41 miles worth of power using the 150W fast charging solution.
Surely the truck can take power as well as give it back in extreme situations. All the standard spec trucks can put out 2.4Kw of power, while the more expensive ones can go up to 9.6Kw of power. Enough power to run a small house or a mobile business for few days.
Speaking of the trunk, well actually it’s a ‘frunk’ as there is no need for an internal combustion engine, under the hood you get a 400 liter storage space and carry weight up to 400 pounds.
Well, being an EV the truck comes fitted with a massive 15.5 inch infotainment touch screen display. It operates in a two pane layout, the first half will house navigation and media controls and the bottom half will house climate and other controls. There is also support for Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. All the above mentioned bells and whistles comes with higher spec truck, however the lower spec trucks will still sport a 12 inch capacitive touchscreen display with support of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. All the versions of the truck will still receive over-the-air software updates and will have on board LTE capabilities too.
So to sum it up the Ford F-150 Lightning is a very compelling product from the company, which no ever expected would be so affordable to the masses. Looks like Ford has nailed it once again and is pretty much on track to take over the legacy of F series in a new avatar.
Image Credit: Ford Motors