Ford’s electric F-150 pickup truck

[kach22i]

I heard a little about this on NPR early this morning.

May 18, 2021
This is Ford’s electric F-150 pickup truck
https://www.theverge.com/2021/5/18/22442415/ford-f150-lightning-electric-pickup-truck-first-images

Ford has revealed the all-electric F-150 pickup truck one day ahead of schedule. The truck, dubbed F-150 Lightning, was on display Tuesday at Ford’s Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Michigan during a speech from President Biden.

Images from the event show that the F-150 Lightning largely looks like its gas and hybrid counterparts, though the truck has a more modern grille, with an unbroken light bar that stretches from headlight to headlight. And even from a distance, it seems that the F-150 Lightning will have a large portrait touchscreen similar to the one in the Mustang Mach-E.

Ford launching electric F-150 truck in ‘huge’ shift for low-emission vehicles
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/may/19/ford-f-150-electric-pickup-truck-low-emission-vehicles

The new F-150 Lightning is seen as being so important to the electrification of the US car pool that the president visited Ford in Detroit this week to promote his plans to overhaul the nation’s infrastructure and promote electric vehicles.

“The future of the auto industry is electric. There’s no turning back,” Biden said. “The question is whether we will lead or we will fall behind in the race to the future.”

Biden later test-drove the F-150 Lightning, which will be the most powerful version of the vehicle in the current lineup with a travel range of at least 300 miles. “This sucker’s quick,” he said.

Some of the competition covered in the article below.

May 19, 2021
From Ford F-150 Lightning to Tesla Cybertruck, here's every electric truck coming
https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/ford-f150-lightning-tesla-cybertruck-electric-pickup-truck/

Patent applications may give us a couple other clues. Last December, we did see a patent image surface for a "frunk." The F-150 Lightning may sport a trick compartment system that would swing open with access through the grille. In October, another application detailed a possible range-extending engine the size of a toolbox to help the electric truck eliminate range anxiety.

[jyl]

A range extender would be interesting.

[GH85Carrera]

I guess for the many people that drive around in a pickup and use it as a car with a really big trunk it will be fine. I see lots of people commuting in pickups for whatever reason, mostly the imitation pickups like the Honda. There is nothing wrong with that. Heck my beloved El Camino is just an imitation pickup that rides like a car. It does have a real frame unlike the Honda however.

The F150 has been the worlds best selling vehicle year after year.

[kach22i]

Originally Posted by jyl

A range extender would be interesting.

Oct 06, 2020
Ford F-150 Electric Pickup May Get Newly Patented Range Extender in Its Bed
https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a34277725/ford-f-150-range-extender-ev-pickup-patent/

The abstract for the patent states: "This disclosure details electrified vehicles that are equipped with removable generators for increasing the electric range of the vehicles. An exemplary electrified vehicle includes a cargo space, such as a truck bed, and a generator removably positioned within the cargo space. The generator is adapted to selectively supply power for either charging a battery pack of the electrified vehicle or for propelling one or more vehicle drive wheels. In some embodiments, the generator is shaped like, and therefore disguised as, a toolbox."

The system would work similarly to the range extender found in the BMW i3. A small motor acts as a generator to recharge the battery of the vehicle to limit the need for charging. It could also keep the truck on the road with a trip to a gas station.

Maybe of even more use would be the truck acting as a power station for a construction site.

[stevej37]

I really liked the Prez's comment....."This sucker is quick"!

[onewhippedpuppy]

Pickup truck buyers tend to be incredibly loyal, conservative, and a majority live in the Midwest or rural areas where electric cars are most challenging to own. Some Ford buyers still think the Ecoboost is exotic. Good luck selling many of these things Ford.

[kach22i]

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

Pickup truck buyers tend to be incredibly loyal, conservative, and a majority live in the Midwest or rural areas where electric cars are most challenging to own. Some Ford buyers still think the Ecoboost is exotic. Good luck selling many of these things Ford.

Have you seen gas prices lately?

People conservative with their money are going to look at this and other similar offerings with a serious eye I suspect.

Most pickup trucks I see are status symbols that never get used as trucks, these suburban show trucks are the market.

[rusnak]

Li-Ion powered electric vehicles are going to be like Disco and roller skates were in the 1970s. People thought those things were like, "really really serious" too. I mean Disco was life or death!

[stevej37]

Originally Posted by stevej37

I really liked the Prez's comment....."This sucker is quick"!

I wonder if Ford could make that clip into a commercial?

[craigster59]

Originally Posted by stevej37

I wonder if Ford could make that clip into a commercial?

They'd have to CGI over the guy who was actually driving the truck.

[porsche4life]

I’ll be curious to see what the final details are. I know the old school guys that hate the progression of tech will hate it, but the res for modern society is a positive move towards the future!

The hybrid f150 is already out and seems to be selling well despite the large price tag. It has a built in 7.5kw generator available too!

[porsche4life]

For comparison, the stupid cybertruck got. 250k preorder commitments. This will be much more normal and useable, and less massive. This will appeal to the mainstream and bring over buyers on the fence. Cybertruck will only ever appeal to the EV loyalists.

[rusnak]

The same sort of logic that a battery powered truck is the "way of the future" is the same sort of abbreviated logic that some people use to conclude that "we could have stopped the Covid if everyone IN THE WORLD stayed home for 2 weeks".

I mean, really. Maybe in the trunkated view of people who really want to "believe", that makes sense if you say it really fast and then change the subject before anyone asks you to explain yourself. The same way that EVERYONE on the PLANET can live off-the-grid with no outside potable water, no sewer, no food, no medical services, no electricity, no internet (we did say "everyone stays home", and everyone means 'every one'), no public transportation....even in the entire country of India, or China, or Japan...you begin to see the giant leap in logic here.

Similarly, you would have to tow your boat, haul your lumber, or your load of rocks, etc to whatever job site you're working on and back and then rely on downtime sufficient to re-charge, and then do it again and again, day after day until your investment is amortized. After all, a truck is not a people mover. It's a cargo mover, lest you plan on driving around a battery powered empty steel box, and still have enough surplus power capacity to avoid getting stuck. Because people who use a truck have nothing else to do but wait for the vehicle to charge up, right? They must not drive all day. Surely they spend the entire day behind a DESK, right? Right?

[thor66]

people who really use a truck like torque

this thing has torque

what it does not have is a big range or ability to quickly refuel/recharge

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by rusnak

The same sort of logic... blah blah blah ...
... right? Right?

Did you actually have something to say there? Your post makes no sense.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by porsche4life

For comparison, the stupid cybertruck got. 250k preorder commitments. This will be much more normal and useable, and less massive. This will appeal to the mainstream and bring over buyers on the fence. Cybertruck will only ever appeal to the EV loyalists.

True, but the reason Tesla has been successful is that they have been able to tap into the EV movement vs just selling an EV. I think that’s why most of the “normal” EV vehicles have been a flop, they don’t appeal to the pretentious manbearpig EV buyer and they don’t appeal to the average car buyer, leaving them in limbo. Tesla is synonymous with the EV, but is the F150?

This thing is an epic fail for my critical truck mission - about 600 miles across rural KS and MO to Lake of the Ozarks hauling our boating gear. Not an EV charging station in sight. Normally this is where I say that an EV makes more sense in an urban area - but does an F150 really make much sense in LA, Chicago, or Boston? To me this thing is built to suit the current political climate, no shock that Biden was driving it around. Again I say good luck selling them!

[jyl]

A lot of F trucks live in one city or metro area - work trucks, for example, and the trucks that people drive when they really could be driving a compact car.

I wouldn’t buy any EV now if use is long roadtrips. My wife wants an EV, we drive from Portland to Tahoe a few times a year, just did it and she realized there are so few chargers on the preferred route (the shorter route) and the drive is so long (600 miles) that you’d add 2+ hours sitting at a charger and God help you if you miss the charger or it’s not working, because there isn’t another one for 250 miles.

Realistically, will the e-F truck be more than 10% of F truck sales in this first model? No way in heck. But it doesn’t need to be.

[Sooner or later]

I think it will do well with local contractors that might drive a 100 or 200 miles a day. Less maintenance and fuel costs. Plus, a power supply for tools has to be available and a big plus.

[dad911]

Originally Posted by thor66

people who really use a truck like torque

this thing has torque

what it does not have is a big range or ability to quickly refuel/recharge

Plenty of room for a generator in the bed. Charging stations at the more urban home depots?

What's the towing/payload capacity?

[rusnak]

Originally Posted by thor66

people who really use a truck like torque

this thing has torque

what it does not have is a big range or ability to quickly refuel/recharge

People who use trucks really need big range though. And the ability to refuel "on the go".