The Ford F-150 Lightning charges electrical devices or other e-cars.image: ford
Ford's F-150 has been the best-selling car in the USA for almost 50 years. Now comes the electric F-150 Lightning. With the e-pickup, electric cars are arriving in the social and geographic center of America.
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When the F-150 Lightning is launched this summer at prices just under $40,000, Ford wants to use it to push the mobility revolution in the USA forward. And although the pick-up is a deeply American car, they are already pinning their hopes on the patented platform truck in Europe. Because it is available for the first time with an electric drive.
An electric car for America
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Ford F-150 Lightning: The electric car for America
The Lightning is not the first electric pick-up. But unlike the Rivian R1T, the Ford is available in six-digit numbers. And two and a half years after the presentation, the Tesla Cybertruck has not even got beyond the status of a study. In addition, the heavyweight from Detroit is not only targeting urban customers, but also wants to persuade farmers and tradespeople to switch.
Therefore, the F-150 does not get a trendy design, but keeps its typical look and the decidedly conventional ambience. The only exceptions are the LED arches at the front and rear and the black shield instead of the flashing chrome radiator grille. And inside, it's the large touchscreen in front of the center console that makes the difference. The mixture of many displays and switches, the huge armchairs and the generous shelves as well as the rustic interior with many handles – all this is the same as always.
Pulls like a workhorse
And above all, the F-150 wants to convince with well-known qualities. Because even with e-drive it is a real "workhorse", as Ford himself once called his model. Ultimately, the prototypes were tortured millions of miles to survive in the desert, the mountains, and the prairies.
In addition, the Americans have designed the construction so stable that the Lightning tows just as much as a normal pick-up. And it doesn't matter whether it's on or off the road. This also makes it interesting for companies on this side of the Atlantic. You won't find an E-model with a payload of more than one ton and a trailer load of around five tons.
The electric drive can not only keep up with the combustion engines, it even gives the Lightning some advantages. For the first time in a pick-up, there is now, for the first time, a boot protected from wind and weather where the engines are usually installed.
The F-150 is also a personal backup generator
And because the battery not only delivers its power to the motors, but can also feed it back into the grid, the giant electric vehicle is also suitable as a mobile power plant. The sockets on the construction site, in the pasture or when camping provide electricity, and in an emergency you can survive a power failure at home.
A normal US household can make ends meet for three days with the 98 kWh of the small battery, and longer with the 130 kWh of the XXL model, they calculate in Detroit. For some, the argument could almost pull better than the range of up to 515 kilometers.
Fast start
Like most electric cars, the F-150 gets going much faster. Whether with 332 kW/452 hp or 426 kW/580 hp – there is always all-wheel drive and, above all, 1050 Newton meters of torque, which hit the driver during kickdown like the lightning bolt that gave the Lightning its name. Because without any warning and without the powerful sound of an eight-cylinder, the colossus sprints off like a top athlete. From a standing start in 4.5 seconds at best to 100 km/h – there is hardly anything left to feel from the almost three tons of curb weight.
The Lightning is only at a disadvantage when it comes to top speed: more than 170 km/h are not possible. But you can't drive that fast anywhere in the USA anyway.
Is the F-150 Lightning coming to Europe?
However, the Lightning may not remain an American phenomenon. Because Ford in Europe wants to convert its fleet of passenger cars to electric drives by 2030 and commercial vehicles by 2035, interest in the large pick-up is also growing at the headquarters in Cologne. Because a vehicle that is as image-enhancing as it is powerful, like the Lightning, would fit in well with the concept.
According to Ford, the long-term prospects for this in the USA are not bad at all. But first the Americans have to get the rush in their own country under control. And that will take a little time with 200,000 pre-orders.
Conclusion: Electric train number
Not only is it just as good as the best-selling car in the USA, it is even significantly better in many disciplines. The Lightning could bring the E-Wende to one of the largest car markets in the world. This makes the F-150 not only the most important car for Ford since the invention of the Model T, but maybe even for the entire horsepower industry. And on top of that, the electric motor may finally get him a ticket for export after more than 75 years.
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