The Ford Motor Company is no stranger to electric pickup trucks. Lest we forget, the Ranger EV was offered in limited number through 2002 with a three-phase induction motor that belts out in the ballpark of 90 ponies.
The Blue Oval wasn’t too interested in pouring millions of dollars into electric trucks after the Ranger EV, but a newcomer by the name of Tesla has disrupted the automobile industry as we know it with desirable EVs. Add a sprinkle of Rivian, Lordstown, and General Motors to the mix, along with ever-stringent emission regulations, and you’ll understand why the Ford Motor Company has made a 180-degree turn on pure-electric workhorses.
F-150 Lightning is the name of the dual-motor pickup that will be revealed at the Ford World Headquarters on May 19th at 9:30 pm Eastern Time, and it promises to wow F-150 loyalists with a plethora of desirable features. The biggest promise made by the Blue Oval so far is “the most powerful F-150 yet,” which means that we’re looking at ridiculous horsepower and torque.
As a brief refresher, the Raptor R is expected as a 2022 model with the supercharged V8 engine from the Shelby GT500. Codenamed Predator, the 5.2-liter motor develops 760 horsepower and 625 pound-feet (847 Nm) of torque with the help of a 2.65-liter supercharger that provides up to 12 psi.
For the 2023 Ford F-150 Lightning to exceed those figures, each of the motors will have to develop more than 380 horsepower and 313 pound-feet (424 Nm) of torque. A teaser video from December 2020 further shows the eagerly-anticipated truck with independent rear suspension instead of a solid axle, which should help the pickup handle and ride pretty darn well.
Last but certainly not least, the all-electric successor of the original and second-generation Lightning street-going trucks will enter production at the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center next spring. Ford has invested $700 million in the Rouge Complex, and as part of this investment, the Dearborn-based facility has added 300 jobs that support the ever-popular F-150 lineup.
As for the most direct rivals of the F-150 Lightning, the yet-to-be-named Chevrolet Silverado electric variant may feature the same 1,000-horsepower drivetrain as the GMC Hummer EV. Rivian offers more than 800 horsepower from a quad-motor layout. The Cybertruck, on the other hand, promises more than 500 miles (805 kilometers) of driving range, more than 14,000 pounds (6,350 kilograms) of towing capacity when properly equipped, and less than 2.9 seconds from zero to 60 miles per hour (96 kilometers per hour).
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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