It will be interesting to see if these stories, and the truck’s capabilities, are enough to convert the remaining die-hard traditionalists in the heartland.įeatured image: Jeff and Tammy Head in Alaska, with their fishing boat. With these stories, we can see that the appeal of not only electric pickup trucks, but Ford’s take on them, is winning people over, and not just commuters in blue states.
Owners are utilizing the 400 liters of storage in the frunk to store equipment and taking advantage of the 2.4 kW of Pro Power Onboard to power their campsite or charge their power tools while driving. The Mega Power Frunk is one of the most popular and photographed features of the F-150 Lightning thus far. “With this truck, I can enhance my love of tailgating while at the same time play a small role in creating a better planet for my children.”īefore his wife, Emily, convinced him to buy the F-150 Lightning, Ashley has thought about purchasing an electric vehicle for a few years.Ĭustomers have found that the F-150 Lightning may fulfill a wide range of requirements, no matter where they are located. “The Lightning is the best thing I have ever purchased,” said Chris Ashley, a resident of Maryland and a first-time electric vehicle buyer. Other people are using their trucks for more mundane uses. “And the guy in me likes having the baddest truck on the planet,” Jeff Head added. “We had no doubt that this truck will have trademark Ford quality which gave us the confidence to transition to an electric vehicle.” “From the time we watched it at the reveal, we knew that we wanted it,” Tammy Head said. I know that Tesla fans who think Lightnings are showing up to power outages arranged in advance might think this story from Ford is a bit too convenient, but that’s not the only story they’ve shared from customers doing crazy things with a Lightning.įor example, Jeff and Tammy Head, the owners of both an F-150 and an F-150 Lightning, have primarily used their new electric truck to tow a boat from Anchorage to Kenai River - roughly a three-hour drive - for salmon fishing. of near instantaneous torque - more than any F-150 ever - and a 0-60 mph time in the mid-4-second. Gol linked his F-150 Lightning to the car’s charging adapter and provided enough power to safely return her home. Ford F-150 Lightning targets 563 horsepower, 775 lb.-ft. He recently assisted his neighbor’s wife, who had only six miles of charge left in her electric car’s battery and was away from home. We have driven more than 3,000 miles already and towed and carried hundreds of pounds of concrete in the frunk,” said Emre Gol of Texas, who uses his F-150 Lightning to power his kitchen and bath remodeling company. With the most F-150 Lightning deliveries through July, Texas - the truck capital of America - and California - the electric vehicle capital of America - have taken the lead, but that doesn’t mean people all over aren’t looking to electrify their truck transport. still hasn't developed widespread public charging infrastructure, a problem the Biden administration is trying to address by earmarking $5 billion to build out a national network of high speed chargers.In only two months, Ford has delivered electric F-150 Lightning trucks to residents in all 50 states of the United States, from the Kenai River in Alaska to Houston and even Hawaii. "We're trying to figure out what does that mean for camping trips because I'm not sure I feel comfortable going given the lack of infrastructure up there." "It was just not a great experience at all," Schmidt says. The clean energy worker took his F-150 Lightning on a camping trip with his wife and daughter his first weekend with the truck, and he found himself unable to find a charger. Schmidt ran into one big issue soon after getting his F-150 Lightning, one that is all too familiar to other electric vehicle owners: charging. Still, challenges abound for auto makers. The company initially planned to produce about 40,000 Lightnings, but the truck was so popular that Ford stopped taking reservations after it received 200,000. GM and Ford are working on electric versions of the Equinox and Explorer, respectively.Įarly reservations for the Lightning were promising. GM is rolling out an electric Silverado next year.
Others are also turning to their most popular models.
After all, the truck has been America's best-selling vehicle for decades. In the U.S., that means pickup trucks and SUVs.įor Ford, electrifying the F-150 made sense. Legacy automakers are electrifying some of their most popular models. An All-Electric Silverado is displayed at the New York International Auto Show in New York City on April 15.