Ford steps up to the EV pickup range with the F-150 Lightning
Set to enter the USA market next year in 2022, Ford has just announced their new EV bakkie, the F-150 Lightning. It’s a very quick pickup with a lot of electric style and tech, but it won’t be the most impressive when compared to the performance of its biggest competition. Tesla and Rivian. But without looking at those two, the Lightning is a very impressive looking Ford EV.
“We’re not here to make an electric truck for the few – Ford is committed to building one that solves real problems for real people.” – Kumar Galhotra, Ford president, Americas and International Markets Group, Ford Motor Company.
No trends will be set, but the Ford F-150 Lightning still looks great.
While it won’t be setting any trends, the Ford F-150 Lightning has a bold EV look. It gets this from the single LED strip that runs around the headlights and over the front trunk, or frunk. This light strip is mimicked by the taillights that do have a break in the middle but still function as one long bar.
We mentioned the frunk just now and it’s actually a surprisingly big feature. With all EVs, there is no massive engine taking up loads of room, so they often come with a trunk in the front. Ford went the extra mile, a bit like Hyundai, and gave the F-150 Lightning a power source that connects in the frunk. There are eleven outlets and the Intelligent Backup System. The latter can store up to 9.6 kW of energy which, according to Ford, can power a home for three days.
Massive infotainment screen? check!
The Lightning’s cabin is not much different to a Raptor in terms of style. But when compared to something like the Rivian R1T, it doesn’t screen EV but its looks stand up for itself. Although we imagine there may be a huge difference in terms of features.
What the Ford F-150 Lightning offers is the SYNC4A infotainment system attached to a massive 15.5-inch portrait touchscreen. There are also plenty of assistance systems like the Ford BlueCruise that offers level 2 hands-free driver assistance system. It can be enabled on plenty of pre-qualified divided freeways in the US and Canada.
One of Fords fastest bakkies and it’s all electric.
Powering the F-150 Lightning is a dual electric motor setup that gives this Ford all-wheel drive. There is a standard battery pack that with 370 km of range can give the Lightning 318 kW and 1050 Nm. Buyers can also opt for the extended battery pack that will give 420 kW and 1050 Nm and 483 km of range.
With the bigger battery, this model will reach from zero to 100 km/h in around 4.5 seconds. Not as quick as its main competition, but only by 1.5 seconds. The standard battery pack can be charged from 15% to 100% in about 10 hours at home while the larger battery (that gets a bigger charger too) can do it in 8 hours. However, from a 50 kW DC fast charger, you can get to 80% from 15% in a mere 41 minutes.
If this were to become a workhorse or you would want to move a lot of heavy things, this bakkie can tow over 4500 kg with a payload of just over 900 kg. You would be able to know almost exactly how much you are putting on since this EV comes with an onboard scale that uses the vehicle’s sensors to estimate how heavy the current load is.
Source: Ford
