By James Raia
In about a week since its announcement, Ford has received nearly 50,000 reservations for its new F-150 Lightning electric pickup truck.
Jim Farley, the CEO of the carmaker, said the manufacturer received 44,000 reservations of a refundable $100 for the truck in the first two days since its name was announced.
The Lightning has been marketed as debuting in mid-2022.
According to the manufacturer, the F-150 Lightning will have a towing capacity of 10,000 pounds when equipped with the Extended Range battery. It has a maximum payload of 2,000 pounds with a smaller battery pack.
Ford Lightning pickup makes industry sparks
The new truck will also feature onboard scales. Drivers can see how much they have loaded in the truck with a display on the touchscreen. It will also provide an estimated driving range when hauling and towing which adjusts based on tongue weight.
Ford has been the country’s leader in pickup truck sales for several decades.
Despite its strong reservation debut, Ford’s much-hyped new EV paled in comparison to Tesla’s electric truck’s unveiling.
The manufacturer owned by Elon Musk said it had received more than 146,000 reservations within the first day after its futuristic-looking Cybertruck was announced at the 2019 Los Angeles Auto Show. Tesla reports it now has 650,000 reservations.
Rivian says that it’s going to start deliveries of the R1T, its electric pickup, next month. It should be followed by the Hummer EV pickup truck later this year, then the Tesla Cybertruck.
More than three million pickup trucks are sold annually in the United States.
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James Raia, a syndicated columnist in Sacramento, California, publishes a free weekly automotive podcast and electronic newsletter. Sign-ups are available on his website, www.theweeklydriver.com. He can be reached via email: james@jamesraia.com.
##RVT1001b
Another electronic toy for the Millennials to play with. I doubt the towing capacity will have very much success, in a video on you tube it has all ready been proven that EVs that tow don’t make it from one recharging station to the next, even if it did very few people are going to want to spend several extra days of their vacation setting in recharging stations waiting for their EV to get enough electricity to make it another 100 miles.
Not a word on range. And certainly not a word on range towing a ten-thousand-pound trailer uphill into a headwind. Until the latter is at least several hundred miles, these are of zero interest to me. I’m not anti-electric (in fact, I’m seriously considering buying an electric commuter car of some sort), but the battery technology just isn’t there yet for an actual working truck.
Tri-motor cybertruck should be able to get over 200 miles while towing since the unloaded range is 500+
Power is pulling a large weight over a distance, period. Under 20,000 lbs is a joke for a powerful truck. LGT, little girly trucks.
I like the Hybrid F-150, especially the option to power 30amps from the truck.