However, it’s very different underneath, thanks to a new suspension and those enormous battery packs. The F-150 Lightning can tow 10,000 pounds, and the Ford engineers told me that they worked hard to make the bed dimensions the same as the internal combustion F-150. I checked out the enormous front trunk (with four 110-volt power outlets inside to charge up all your gear) and the 12-inch touchscreen that looks ripped from the Mustang Mach-E (or a Tesla). We got up above 90 MPH, and then Zhang informed me that 90 MPH was the speed limit at the test track, though it could get above 110 MPH if you pushed it.Īfter a few runs around the banked turns of the bit of the test track we could try, it was back inside to see another preproduction truck. I didn’t time it, but it feels about right. With 573 horsepower and 775 lb-ft of torque, Ford says the Lightning can hit 0-60 MPH in less than 4.5 seconds. The F-150 Lightning takes off like a rocket… silently.Īt the hands of chief engineer Linda Zhang, the F-150 Lightning took off like a rocket… silently. It takes a second for your brain to adjust to something this big is accelerating this quickly. It reminds me of the first time I rode in a performance Tesla Model S more than a half-decade ago. I was here to get a ride - Ford hasn’t let anyone outside the company drive the F-150 Lightning except for President Biden. Some other electric cars allow owners to plug in one or two devices at a time, but no one has gone so far as to juice up an entire home.Ī preproduction F-150 Lightning chassis at the new electric vehicle assembly facility at Ford’s Dearborn Truck Plant. The “and more” bit is what makes the Lightning so interesting: One of the best features is the ability to plug your Lightning into a special residential charging station that can fill the Lightning with energy, but, when power is lost, it can also power your entire home for days. Truck buyers are a protective and loyal group, and the company wanted to build a truck that was electric but also did everything F-150 buyers expect and more. Ford already antagonized Mustang fans when it released the Mustang Mach-E, which is electric and, perhaps worse, has four doors. It’s my first chance to get up close with the truck, and, perhaps unsurprisingly, my first reaction is that it looks an awful lot like a Ford F-150 pickup truck. The need to engineer vehicles far from prying eyes is why these private development facilities are essential for carmakers.Īfter passing through several security checkpoints and climbing into a van that exists solely to shuttle visitors around the facility, I finally make it to the inner sanctum and find a preproduction F-150 Lightning. Dedicated automotive photographers will ply common testing areas looking for camouflaged vehicles to snap pics. to have concrete runways, scheduled passenger service, an airport hotel, and more), Ford’s on-campus testing center is highly secure.Īutomobile manufacturing is a cutthroat business, and spying on development vehicles undergoing testing is common. Formerly known as the Dearborn Proving Ground and even more formerly known as the Ford Airport (the airport was the first in the U.S. Getting inside Ford’s Dearborn Development Center is not easy. The Lightning has a redesigned grille and head- and taillights, but it’s unmistakably an F-150.
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