Two of America’s Best-Selling Vehicles Go Electric
Ford’s all-in on electrification and Clean Fleet Report had a chance this past week to experience the company’s commitment first hand—from the passenger seat. Ford wouldn’t let us get behind the wheel of the early production F-150 Lightning and E-Transit, but from the right-hand seat (and a chance to closely examine the interiors and, via a cutaway. the underpinnings) it’s clear the company’s $22 billion investment (through 2025) in electrification is going to pay dividends.
The ride reinforced the driving experience we’ve already had with Ford’s current EV—the 2021 Mustang Mach-E. It went on sale in late 2020 and has been an instant success.
Building (literally, which we’ll dive into later) on the Mach-E, Ford’s got two big plays to solidify its transformation into an electric drive-based company.
- The Ford Transit, America’s best-selling cargo van, will be offered in an all-electric version for the first time, the E-Transit, which will be available in late 2021
- The 2022 F-150 Lightning arrives in the spring of 2022. Pre-production builds have already started and the order bank is more than 100,000.
Power Anything, Anywhere
As if driving an all-electric truck won’t be cool enough, how about one with a serious battery that can power a house for up to two weeks? We’re getting ahead of ourselves, so let’s back-up and talk about what the revolutionary F-150 Lightning is primarily designed to do.
The Lightning will come in four trim levels of Pro, XLT, Lariat and Platinum, all with dual motors and all-wheel drive. The four trims really break down into two distinct owner groups based on the current F-150’s demographics.
The PRO is the basic work truck, starting with a smaller of the two battery packs (still with 230 miles of range), but retailing for less than $40,000, including four-wheel drive and 775 foot-pounds of torque. The XLT adds the larger battery, increasing the range to 300 miles and adding some standard equipment for just under $53,000.
Ford expects the Lariat and Platinum trim levels to appeal more to the personal truck owners. They add a 15.5-inch touchscreen and other equipment. The volume of reservations has already convinced Ford to add employees to the assembly line and double the initial production of the Lightning from 40 to 80,000 units. Ford spokespersons at the drive program assured us that it will be producing a full range of models from Pro to Platinum rather than just concentrating on the high-end, more profitable models.
Potential Lightning owners will need to look at their driving needs, and then decide to go for either the standard-range battery with a 230-mile driving range, or the extended-range battery with 300 miles. Performance numbers are about the same, with 0-60 in 4.5-5 seconds thanks to that humongous torque. We certainly felt that in our short test ride. We also noticed that the 200 pounds of battery between the frame rails also anchored the truck in any maneuvering activities. The Lightning is not a sports car, but close your eyes and it could fool you on a tight course with a straight-away to show off acceleration.
Here are the charge times for the liquid-cooled lithium-ion batteries.
Standard-Range
Level 3
150 kW
10 minutes: 41 miles
44 minutes: 15 – 80 percent
Level 2
80 Amp
60 minutes: 19 miles
10 hours: 15 – 100 percent
48 Amp
60 minutes: 19 miles
10 hours: 15 – 100 percent
32 Amp/240W Mobile Charger (provided with the Lightning)
60 minutes: 14 miles
14 hours: 15 – 100 percent
Extended-Range
Level 3
150 kW
10 minutes: 54 miles
41 minutes: 15 – 80 percent
Level 2
80 Amp
60 minutes: 30 miles
8 hours: 15 – 100 percent
48 Amp
60 minutes: 20 miles
13 hours: 15 – 100 percent
32 Amp/240W Mobile Charger (provided with the Lightning)
60 minutes: 13 miles
19 hours: 15 – 100 percent
Torque Like No Other Pickup
Clean Fleet Report recently had the opportunity to get high-performance rides in the F-150 Lightning. No driving as of now, as all the Lightnings are pre-production models and letting a bunch of over eager journalists get behind the wheel makes no sense. Having driven the Mustang Mach-E with a bit less horsepower and torque, we are familiar with what Ford has in mind for the Lightning. See the Mustang Mach-E story links at the end.
Being attentive and interested passengers, our expectations of how a pickup truck accelerates, stops and handles were completely thrown out the window. Our Ford driver took us on a tight closed course, demonstrating the acceleration, handling and stopping of the Lightning. Upon launch, the familiar EV feel of being pushed back into your seat did not disappoint, as the Lightning can really get-up-and-go. Making this g-force rush happen is the massive amount of torque that is available at any speed, any time.
The power came on smoothly and of course, silently. Owners of a gasoline or diesel pickup will be the first to tell you how they don’t like the Lightning’s electric quiet, and how they could never get used to it. Our experience at Clean Fleet Report says different. We frequently speak with converts to electricity that have all said the same thing. Once they realize this is their new propulsion reality, say they would never go back. Some miss the grumble, rumble and throaty sound of a V8, but that soon passes, just like all the gasoline stations they will be driving by. The take-away is the torque and horsepower are wonderful.
Handling, Towing and Hauling
The handling, for the 6,500-pound Lightning, felt flat with no harsh body roll, helped in part by the low center of gravity as the batteries are placed low between the frame rails of the chassis. The independent rear suspension with coil-over shocks and a stabilizer bar, a first in the storied history of the F-150, is joined by front independent trailing arms, coil springs and a stabilizer bar, along with either 18-, 20- or 22-inch tires. The Lightning may become the best handling half-ton pickup truck.
Ford has built the Lightning with a military-grade aluminum alloy body, a high-strength steel frame, four-wheel drive and a cooling system that is designed to withstand the extremes of cold and hot. The payload is either 2,000 pounds with the standard range battery, and 1,800 pounds if ordering the extended range battery (it’s added weight reduces the payload). There is only one bed option measuring 61.1 inches long, 50.6 inches wide between the wheels, and 21.4 inches high. Where an engine normally would reside, is a front trunk or frunk. This handy 14.1-cubic foot storage area is water resistant, and has a drain plug so it can be hosed-out.
The base tow rating is 7,700 pounds but, with the Tow Technology Package (optional on the Pro, XLT and Lariat models, but standard on the Platinum), it raises to 10,000 pounds. The package includes trailer backup and hitch assist, trailer reverse guidance, trailer brake controller, a smart hitch, onboard scales, trailer camera and a smart trailer tow connection.
Warranties and Pricing
Bumper-To-Bumper – Three years/36,000 miles
Electric Vehicle Components – Eight years/100,000 miles
Aluminum Body Panels – Five years/Unlimited Miles
Paint Adhesion – Five years/Unlimited Miles
Roadside Assistance – Five years/60,000 miles
Pricing: Base price of the Ford F-150 Lightning PRO, the work truck version, will be less than $40,000, according to Ford. That truck will have standard four-wheel drive (dual motors) and a range of approximately 230 miles. Serial production is scheduled to start early next year with the first customer deliveries in spring 2022.
Clean Fleet Report will have a complete review of the all-new 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning in the middle of next year. We are as excited about driving the Lightning as you are hearing about our experience.
The E-Transit
The third leg of Ford’s electric stool (along with the Mach-E and Lightning) is its purely commercial vehicle, the Transit. This workhorse delivery van, often seen with an Amazon logo on the side, will launch before the Lightning. First deliveries are expected before the end of this year.
The rear-wheel drive E-Transit will launch with the 67 kilowatt-hour, 400-volt Mach-E battery pack nestled between its frame rails, delivering a 126-mile range. That’s part of Ford’s clever strategy to leverage both the volume of its conventional vehicles (the F-150 and Transit) for common non-electric comments while relying on the new volumes of the Mustang Mach-E, F-150 Lightning and E-Transit to drive enough volume in electrified components to drive those prices down as well. The sum of these two initiatives is something new in EV launches–Ford executives have said they expect the Lightning to be profitable from day one.
As with gas Transits, the E-Transit will come in three roof heights, three body lengths and chassis cab and cutaway models. All 13 Ford upfitters will be working with this new model so a variety of electric applications are expected to flow to the market. Like the Lightning, the E-Transit will have a Pro Power Onboard option that can supply 2.4 kilowatts of exportable power.
Though maintenance is expected to be less than internal combustion engine models, the E-Transit will have the support of 2,100 EV-certified Ford dealerships. Its standard 12-inch touchscreen includes driver-coaching programs that give feedback on performance to encourage more efficient operation.
Payloads are expected to range from 3,800 to 4,290 pounds, depending on the configurations. The electric motor hauling those loads is expected to have 266 horsepower and 317 pound-feet of torque. The unladen version we rode in was surefooted; having driven a similar gas version, the electric Transit appeared much more stable and definitely significantly quieter. Ford is targeting an MSRP for the cutaway version of the E-Transit of under $45,000.
Story by Michael Coates and John Faulkner. Photos by Clean Fleet Report and Ford.
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More Electric Ford News:
First Timer: 2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E
Road Trip: 2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E
Road Test: 2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E
News: Ford Introduces E-Transit
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