Sometimes car names write themselves. We can debate all day about whether the Mustang Mach-E deserves the pony car’s moniker, but Mach-E in isolation was decently clever. Boxster was also a good name I’m ashamed to say I didn’t get until I was well into my teenage years.
Update 5/11/2021: Ford has officially announced the F-150 EV‘s name will be Lightning. The press release is light on details, but said that this new Lightning will be quicker than the original F-150 Lightning. Either way, the truck’s reveal is set for May 19!
Anyway, Ford intends to resurrect the Lightning badge for its all-electric F-150, Car and Driver reports it has learned from an unnamed source. While I’m sure some will grumble that the Lightning was a sport truck intended only for the streets and the F-150 EV won’t have quite the same slant, it should still be very fast and very electric — and that’s what counts. It’s just too perfect a name to ignore.
When pestered for a statement, Car and Driver says Ford responded in the usual way, refusing to “comment on speculation about future products.”
We don’t have a ton of nitty-gritty details on the electric F-150, but we do have a shadowy render of the grille. Surprise: It seems like it’ll look similar to the F-150s powered by dinosaur fuel.
Ford has promised the all-electric truck will have the most horsepower and torque and be the fastest from 0 to 60 mph of any F-150, ever. It’ll also have a stupid big frunk and has been tied up in some battery drama that went all the way up to the top of the Biden administration. The number clues have me slightly concerned this thing is going to venture closer to Hummer territory than anyone wants, but then again Ford has pushed the practicality angle before, so maybe it won’t get too high up there.
For a little perspective, the fastest F-150s Ford currently makes are the Limited and Raptor, which share the same 3.5-liter twin-turbo V6 with 450 HP and 510 lb-ft of torque. They hit 60 mph from a standstill in about 6 seconds, maybe a tick under. Back in the day, Ford recorded a 0-60 time of 5.8 seconds for the final 2004 F-150 Lightning, which carried a 350 HP, supercharged 5.4-liter V8.
Those are fast pickups for sure, but none of those numbers should be hard to topple with a modern electric powertrain. The question is, what will be the cost for all that speed?