Ford's electric pickup truck will be the fastest, most powerful F-150 yet.
Back when Ford Performance was called the Special Vehicle Team (SVT), and long before anyone had the idea of selling a dune-bashing pickup to the masses, there was the F-150 Lightning. Offered first from 1993 to 1995 and again from 1999 to 2004 the F-150 Lightning was Ford's hot-rod truck, built for straight-line speed and surprisingly good handling. Ford has confirmed that the Lightning name is poised to make a comeback, applied to an all-electric pickup truck.
Citing internal Ford documents, Car and Driver first reported on April 30 that the upcoming, all-electric version of the best-selling pickup truck will be named the F-150 Lightning. Ford first announced its intent to build an F-150 EV a few years ago, and more recently said the electric pickup will be the fastest, most powerful F-150 yet.
Reviving heritage names is a familiar tactic at Ford. The Mustang Mach 1 nameplate is returning for 2021, and of course, Ford riffed on that name for the all-electric Mustang Mach-E. And let's not forget the Bronco and Bronco Sport. So it's not surprising to see the Lightning name making a comeback. And with the electric pickup poised to be the fastest F-150 yet, it can wear that badge with pride.
The most powerful F-150 to date has been the previous-generation Raptor, which made 450 hp from its 3.5-liter twin-turbo V-6. We expect the new Raptor to make more power from the same engine, and Ford has also confirmed the even more powerful Raptor R, which we expect will use the Shelby GT500's 765-hp supercharged V-8, though possibly with a slightly different output number in the pickup truck. If nothing else, this tells us that the Lightning should be very powerful.
Ford will fully reveal the Lightning on May 19 during a live-streamed event. Car and Driver expects the Lightning to enter production in mid-2022, but we'll have to wait to know for sure.
Source: Roadandtrack
