Electricity can spark things up! And it sounds really apt for the auto industry given the current scenario where a lot of manufacturers are reviving their old vehicles in an electric avatar. Following the trend, Ford has also decided to bring its Lightning nameplate back to life.
Ford will reveal its first all-electric pick-up truck, the F-150 Lightning on May 19, 2021, which the brand claims will be its smartest and most innovative truck yet. The reveal event is scheduled at Ford World Headquarters in Dearborn and will be live-streamed via multiple platforms including the automaker’s Facebook page and YouTube channel at 9:30 PM EDT (1:30 AM UTC).
Ford made a lot of heads turn when it first introduced the Mustang in an electric avatar, the Mach E. And now the American automaker is about to do the same by launching an electric version of its best selling pickup that too with a legendary nameplate. The popularity of the F-Series trucks can be imagined by the fact that Ford sold 787,422 of them last year. Talking about the Lightning badging, it too carries a weight to itself. The name was first seen in 1993 on the SVT F-150 Lightning street truck, the brand’s ninth-generation truck.
Ford also released a teaser video along with the reveal information which gives us a little sneak peek of the upcoming electric pick-up. In the video clip the EV seems to have similar headlamp units to the standard F-150, but with an LED bar connected at the top. We expect most of the design to remain similar to the standard F-150, with minor expected changes here and there, like a closed-off front grille and other similar design adjustments to help with the aerodynamics.
Going with the Blue Oval’s claims of the smartest and most innovative truck yet, we can expect the F-150 Lightning to be packed with a ton load of features of all sorts. Jim Farley, President and CEO of Ford also went ahead and claimed, “The F-150 Lightning can power your home during an outage; it’s even quicker than the original F-150 Lightning performance truck.”
Needless to say, be ready for some big boy performance on the power front as well. Ford has been very tight-lipped about the power figures but to make such bold claims it must be having a dual-motor setup with an expected all-wheel-drive (AWD) capability. The driving range of the electric pickup could be at least that of Mustang Mach-E’s claimed figure of around 483 km (305 miles).
“Every so often, a new vehicle comes along that disrupts the status quo and changes the game … Model T, Mustang, Prius, Model 3. Now comes the F-150 Lightning. America’s favorite vehicle for nearly half a century is going digital and fully electric. The truck of the future will be built with quality and a commitment to sustainability by Ford-UAW workers at the cathedral of American manufacturing and our most advanced plant,” the Ford CEO further informed.
Production of the F-150 Lightning will begin next spring at Ford’s all-new Rouge Electric Vehicle Center. On launch, it will go against other upcoming electric pickups such as the GMC Hummer EV Pickup, electric Chevy Silverado, and Tesla Cybertruck.
