Ford F-150 Lightning Has Been Cleared For Landing
Until the public unveiling of the Mustang Mach-E in November 2019, Ford was not generally considered to be a serious player in the electric vehicle space. The Mach-E was the first purpose-built EV from the automaker, but just days later in the same hangar at the Hawthorn, California airport, Tesla TSLA -0.5% unveiled its Cybertruck pickup to worldwide amazement. Production of the Cybertruck has been repeatedly delayed and may or may not happen in 2023. Meanwhile Ford kept its head down and successfully launched the Mach-E in early 2021 before revealing its own take on an electric truck, the F-150 Lightning which will begin to reach customers in the coming days.
On April 26, 2022 Ford held an event at its Rouge Electric Vehicle Center (REVC) in Dearborn, Mich. to officially launch the Lightning. While Ford had a number of early customers on hand at the event along with executives, UAW leaders, employees and media, no keys were handed over yet the way they would be at a Tesla event. That task will be left to the local dealers that handle the transactions with customers.
While Ford’s REVC event was labeled as a celebration of the production launch of the Lightning, the facility has actually been building trucks since August 2021 beginning with low rate pre-production of vehicles for testing and validation. In recent weeks, the production rate has been ramping up and nearly 2,000 trucks have already been built, many of which were visible in empty employee parking lots at Ford offices as we were shuttled from company headquarters to the plant. Now that the Lightning has been released for delivery, those trucks will be loaded onto trains and transporters in the next several days and weeks on their way to customer hands.
The Lighting represents one of the most important product launches for Ford in decades. By creating a battery electric version of the vehicle that has been the best selling nameplate in the US market since the 1980s, Ford is going to test the real demand for EVs in this market. Most of the 1 million plus EVs sold over the past decade have gone to customers that can be considered early adopters. But if F-150 buyers are willing to go electric, it’s a sign that almost anyone will.
Nikola Inc., which aims to be a leader in battery- and hydrogen-powered heavy trucks, has begun production of electric semis at its new Arizona plant, getting to market at least a year ahead of Elon Musk’s delayed Tesla Semi.
The company’s Coolidge plant, about an hour southeast of its Phoenix headquarters, marked the start of commercial production of battery-powered Tre trucks Wednesday at a ceremony joined by Arizona Governor Doug Ducey, who convinced the company to set up operations in the state. The plant’s initial phase is a 250,000-square-foot facility that’s building just one truck per day currently. A 160,000-square-foot expansion that’s nearly complete will help boost Tre BEV output to five per day. A second phase of the factory opening in 2023 will make Tres powered by hydrogen.
“We have been a pre-revenue startup for years, where everything we spent we had to raise from investors,” Nikola CEO Mark Russell said at the event. “Today marks the day when we transition to customer deliveries. We have trucks that we can deliver to customers and get paid for. We're now going to be a revenue-producing company and will be forever.
By the time all of these electric vehicles are available to the majority of consumers the planet will be destroyed according to all the predictions these global warming people have tried to force feed us into believing . I guess we will see , the planet is still going strong even after all of Al Gores dire warnings .
The Silverado EV RST First Edition will follow in the fall of 2023 and feature a dual-motor all-wheel drive system with 664 hp (495 kW / 673 PS) and 780+ lb-ft (1,056+ Nm) of torque. The $105,000 pickup will also have 400 miles (644 km) of range and a Wide Open Watts mode, which enables it to rocket from 0-60 mph (0-96 km/h) in less than 4.5 seconds.
Other highlights include an adaptive air suspension that can raise or lower the truck up to 2 inches (50 mm). Buyers will also find a Super Cruise semi-autonomous driving system, which allows for hands-free operation on more than 200,000 miles (321,869 km) of compatible roads in the United States and Canada.
Ford maintained its forecast to produce 600,000 battery electric vehicles by 2023, and deliver more than 2 million electric vehicles annually by 2026, which is about one-third of Ford’s global volume. Eventually Ford is targeting 50% EV sales by 2030.
The company also reaffirmed its full year operating profits target of $11.5 billion to $12.5 billion, despite a $4 billion expected hit from higher commodities costs.
Ford shares rose 2.5% in pre-market trading on Thursday.
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