Ford F-150 Revealed – Price, Specs, Range and Features | 20 May 2021

Show #1088.

Today’s big EV stories:

·       Why The F-15 Lightning Is A Huge Shift

·       Ford F-150 Price and Specs

·       The Ford F-150 Lightning Is the Electric Vehicle of Dystopia

·       F-150 Lightning's Range  when Towing

·       Ford CEO: Electric vehicle demand will transform industry

·       Frunking Fantastic Storage

 

 

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Good morning, good afternoon and good evening wherever you are in the world, welcome to EV News Daily for Thursday 20th May. It’s Martyn Lee here and I go through every EV story so you don't have to.

 

Thank you to MYEV.com for helping make this show, they’ve built the first marketplace specifically for Electric Vehicles. It’s a totally free marketplace that simplifies the buying and selling process, and help you learn about EVs along the way too.

 

"The F-150 Lightning, an all-electric version of its popular pickup truck due out in 2022, and it’s aggressively priced for an EV. The base model with 230 miles of range starts at $39,974, while the extended range version starts in the mid-$50,000s and can go about 300 miles." says The Verge: "That puts it right on par, price-wise, with Tesla’s Cybertruck and far below more luxury-minded options like Rivian’s R1T or General Motors’ exorbitant GMC Hummer pickup. And since Ford’s vehicles are still eligible for the full $7,500 federal tax credit, that price tag can essentially come down even more for early buyers. the F-150 Lightning is by far the most familiar-looking of the electric pickups announced to date. And Ford is betting big that this unchallenging boxy design — which Elon Musk poked fun at during the Cybertruck announcement in 2019 — will pay off."

 

 

"There are two undisclosed battery versions: Standard-Range and Extended-Range that are expected to have a range of 230 miles (370 km) and 300 miles (483 km) respectively. We guess that the battery capacity stands at 115 kWh net/125 kWh total and 155 kWh net/170 kWh total, respectively." says InsideEVs: "The mid-series XLT trim will start at $52,974 MSRP, while the top of the line trim is up to over $90,000. We don't know the price of the Extended-Range Battery version yet. The detailed pricing will be released in Fall 2021.  The battery cells for the electric F-150 are supplied from SK Innovation's battery plants in Commerce, Georgia (Ford will additionally form a JV with SK Innovation in the future). According to SK Innovation, the cells are the world’s first high-density “Nickel 9” (battery that has 90% nickel content in the cathode)"

 

Ford F-150 Extended Range Specs:

 

EPA range of up to 300 miles (483 km)

 

0-60 mph (96.5 km/h): "mid-4-second range"

 

top speed: undisclosed

 

dual motor all-wheel drive

 

DC fast charging: up to 150 kW

 

payload of up to 1,800-pound (816 kg)

 

Cargo box volume 52.8 cubic feet

 

Front trunk volume: 14.1 cubic feet (400 liters) and 400 pounds (181 kg) of payload

 

towing capacity up to 10,000-pound (4,536 kg)

 

Pro Power Onboard (option): 9.6 kW power export with ten 120V outlets plus one 240V outlet

(Two in the cab, four in the bed and four in the front trunk, plus a 240V outlet in the bed)

 

Intelligent Backup Power capability (standard): 9.6 kW

 

 

"It will be the first electric vehicle, the company says, to serve as a “battery on wheels.” Ford says the extended battery in the more expensive version of the electric F-150 will be able to power a blacked-out home for three days. Potential users will likely have to pay to install a home integration system, price to be determined. During the rollout event, CEO Jim Farley cited recent ice storms in Texas, which have been blamed in part on climate change and which stunted the state's electric grid for five days, as a reason to pony up for the Lightning." says Wired: "Being able to pump 9.6 Kw of power into your home is what Costa Samaras, a professor who studies energy policy at Carnegie Mellon, calls “an add-on.” “It’s a luxury that someone might use once every two years,” he says. But the vehicle’s ability to power homes, as well as tools, might be the sort of feature that will attract even the previously EV-incurious, he says. Americans might not be interested in buying products for climate resilience per se. But demand for in-home generators in Texas has reached an all-time high since the February ice storms."

 

 

"Although the Lightning is aided by the aerodynamic effects of its flat underbody, when running at real highway speeds there's no tricking the air molecules, and a bluff truck is going to suffer. In our highway range testing, which we conduct at a steady 75 mph, we typically see a range number that's about 20 percent below the EPA figure. Using that same bogey, which is probably generous in the case of a full-size pickup, would put the Lightning in the 180-to-240-mile zone for what you might achieve on a road trip." says Car & Driver: "Towing anywhere near the 10,000-pound maximum rating on XLT and Lariat models (with the maximum trailer tow package and extended-range battery) at highway speeds, we believe you'd be hard pressed to exceed double-digit miles. We'd take that bet, in fact. At least there's some smart technology to help adjust the range prediction shown to the driver in day-to-day use. As launched on the 2021 F-150, the Lightning uses a height sensor at each corner to estimate the load in the bed or on the trailer hitch and preemptively adjusts down the range predictions accordingly."

 

 

"Jim Farley, the company’s new CEO, calls the introduction of an electric version of the nation’s top-selling vehicle a watershed moment for Ford as well as for the auto industry" according to AP who spoke to him

 

Q: How long do you think it will be until the majority of vehicles you sell are battery electric?

 

A: A lot of it will depend on government support, the infrastructure (charging stations) build-out, as well as a support for the purchase. We have a $7,500 benefit still at Ford. So it depends on what happens with government policy, and whether that tips the scale for a lot of customers. It has in Europe. China is moving fast. We’re totally sold out with the Mach E (Electric SUV). On the West Coast, it’s already changed quickly. It’ll be a matter of time before that sweeps across the country

 

 

"With more and more electric vehicles entering the market, and fewer engine bays needing to hold engines, frunks are here to stay, and we can quickly see them becoming competitive battlegrounds. And the new Ford F-150 Lightning has one." says Motortrend: "The F-150 Lightning comes only in four-door SuperCrew configuration with a 5.5-foot bed. But up front, in the nose where a large internal combustion engine would normally reside, there is a large and deep cargo hold offering 14.1 cubic feet of space.  The frunk locks with the rest of the vehicle. It can be opened any one of six ways: using the key fob, pressing the button under the frunk lid, pushing the button inside the cab, tapping the 15.5-inch touchscreen, using the keypad on the door, or through the FordPass app on your smartphone.  The cool blacked-out chrome grille is attached to the hood and they open as a single piece (again, like a trunk lid facing forward). There are LED lights embedded on the underside of the grille (which look curiously like the headlights on the new Rivian R1T pickup, albeit pointed into the F-150 instead of out... ) that throw light down into the cargo area. How far the hood raises is adjustable."

 

 

What’s the best specialist vehicle you can think of which would make a great EV? 

 

Email me your thoughts and I’ll read them out on Sunday – hello@evnewsdaily.com