Stefan Grundhoff and Timothy Pfannkuchen
This number is tough: at the beginning of September, Ford had over 130,000 pre-orders in the USA for the electric F-150 Lightning, which will be launched in early 2022. For comparison: 130,000 units are equivalent to what Ford would otherwise sell in two months of the most popular car in the United States, the F-Series pick-up.
The F-150 Lightning (Eng. «Blitz») heralds the turning point in the world’s second largest car market: the pick-up market was seen as the bastion of the petrolheads and the thirsty eight-cylinder. But now the Americans are fighting over the first electric version of their best-selling pick-up. Many retailers are already not accepting orders at all for fear of too long delivery times.
«Blitz» turns everything upside down
We ask one of the largest US Ford dealers in the state of Colorado. “Even here, the demand is much greater than expected,” they say, “otherwise it is more difficult for electric cars here than elsewhere because we have hard winters with a lot of snow.” You can still pre-order the Lightning here.
Of course, Ford’s F-150 Lightning will not be the only electric pick-up: Tesla, for example, is planning the cybertruck (which will be delayed again and will hardly come before the end of 2022) or GM is planning the electric Hummer. But the F-150 is flat the US car par excellence: If it is a good electric car and the computer chip crisis does not slow down production, it will turn the US market into an e-market.
480 kilometers range
The F-150 Lightning is available as a “Pro” for tradespeople starting at 39,974 US dollars (all prices in the US are net before taxes), the equivalent of around 37,000 francs. In return, you get 313 kW (426 PS), 4×4 and a range of 370 kilometers. The “XLT” offers private customers from $ 52,974 (approx. CHF 49,000), with 414 kW (563 hp), 1050 Nm, all-wheel drive and a range of 480 kilometers.
All of them come with sockets to power appliances from refrigerators to hammer drills. Like the “normal” F-150, the Lightning has independent wheel suspension and the driving modes normal, sport, off-road and towing (up to 4.5 tons). Advantage of electric: In addition to the loading area, there is now another 400 liters of storage space at the front – that alone is more than some compact cars offer.
Half electric in 2030
At the home socket, the battery should be full again after eight hours. It’s faster with the wallbox – or the quick charger. The Lightning “fills up” with up to 150 kW of power, which should recharge 100 kilometers every ten minutes.
Ford CEO Jim Farley (59) emphasizes how serious Ford is with the Lightning: 2030 – in nine years! – According to Farley, 40 to 50 percent of all Ford-US sales should be electric cars, analogous to the plans of US President Joe Biden (78).