Is America ready for the electric car? Yes. “Cue half an hour of shouting, no way, you’re lying, disbelief.”
They get even more amped, then he tells them that’s the EV. Darren Palmer, VP Electric Vehicle Programs (aka the Brit heading up Ford’s $50bn bid to upend Tesla as the biggest EV maker in the world) tells a lovely story about asking some grizzled Texan truck lovers what kind of animal would an electric truck be? “A Chihuahua.” OK, what drink would it be? “Pink champagne.” He then proceeds to distract them by talking about the new F-150 Raptor before rattling off the specs of one more exciting future model.
Problem is, dazzling Silicon Valley types tired of waiting for their non-existent Cybertruck to be delivered is the easy part… tempting its core audience over to an EV is going to be trickier. Ford had to turn the tap off at 200,000 reservations, over a year’s worth of production, because it didn’t want things spiralling out of control and customers having to wait years for delivery. Rivian, by all accounts, is having difficulty ramping up production, the four-tonne Hummer is $100k+ and the Chevy doesn’t arrive until next year. What makes the Ford unique is it looks (by and large), like any other F-150, it’s affordable (prices start from under $40,000) and it’s ready. True, there are suddenly quite a few about, like the new Hummer EV, Chevy Silverado EV and Rivian R1T, as well as Elon’s stainless-steel wedge, the Cybertruck. We’ll have more on the F-150 Lightning soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for the latest Ford F-Series news, Ford F-150 news, F-150 Lightning news, and ongoing Ford news coverage.What is it about electric pick-up trucks at the moment? Still America’s most considered EV pickup, the F-150 Lighting has received near-universal critical acclaim since its launch, while Ford recorded its first sales of the new model just last month.
FORD LIGHTNING PRO
In spite of numerous production constraints, Ford is actually building its entry-level Pro model in decent quantities, as Ford Authority reported back in May. The electric Silverado will be available with four-wheel steering, unlike the Lighting, and will reportedly beat it in terms of range as well, traveling up to 400 miles on a single charge. Later on down the road, more trims including the RST and Trail Boss will be offered, with prices ranging from $50k-$80k. The entry-level Silverado EV WT is scheduled to launch in the spring of 2023 with an MSRP of $39,900, while the fully-loaded RST First Edition will follow in the fall of 2023 with a price tag of $105,000, minus destination charges. The 2024 Chevy Silverado EV was just revealed back in May, though it seems as if GM took Ford’s bait in terms of pricing.
However, it did somewhat force GM’s hand in that regard, particularly since the Silverado EV is going to be pretty late to market compared to the already-launched F-150 Lightning. The fact that Ford would want to undercut its cross-town rival on price in terms of a competitive product isn’t a huge surprise, nor is it the first time such a thing has happened. “The team hoped that would nudge GM lower than it wanted in pricing the electric Silverado,” sources explained to WSJ. However, it also seems as if FoMoCo gave the 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning a low starting price on purpose to mess with its future rival – the Chevy Silverado EV, according to a recent report from the Wall Street Journal. But Ford also surprised a lot of folks when it priced the F-150 Lighting at just a hair under $40k, which makes the Pro version a bargain compared to other EVs, not to mention certain ICE trucks, too.
Part of that attention is due to the fact that electrifying the perennially best-selling Ford F-150 is obviously a big deal, while the EV version also offers up quite a few innovative features, to boot. The 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning has garnered quite a lot of press since its reveal for a number of reasons.
0 kommentar(er)
