Ford Teases Electric F-150

by Tim Healey

Published: September 18th, 2020

We’re as tired of teasers as you likely are, but Ford nevertheless slipped one into its other news from earlier this week.

Matt noted that Ford claimed the truck would be cheaper to own than the gas model, and that it would be produced in Michigan as part of a major investment, but what else do we know about it?

If the teaser image is any indication, it will have different looks than the gasser, that’s for sure. At least up front. The shape is similar and familiar, but a LED light bar appears to run from one side to the other, surrounding both the headlights and the grille.

Yes, a grille on an EV, although it is unclear if it’s cosmetic or lets air through. The lights looks smaller than what’s on the other F-150 models, and the grille has a three-dimensional look. Even if the grille doesn’t provide cooling – yes, EVs need cooling, too – there could be air dams below it.

We still don’t know details about the powertrain, but it could be that the F-150 will use two electric motors, one per axle, to get things moving. A lithium-ion battery pack would supply the juice.

There should be a “frunk”, or front trunk, and Ford claims it will be the fastest accelerating F-150 ever. Not shocking (no pun intended), considering the torque figures associated with electric motors, and the instant availability of said torque.

Towing and payload should be class-competitive.

Production should start in the second half of 2022, marking the truck as a 2023 model. It likely won’t be cheap. Competition will include the crabby Hummer EV from GMC, and perhaps entries from Rivian and Tesla (yes, that might mean the Cybertruck).

Electric truck wars? Who’d have thunk it?

[Image: Ford via YouTube screenshot]

#2021FordF-150 #2023FordF0150 #ElectricF-150 #F-150 #Ford #FordF150 #FutureCars #Trucks

Tim Healey

Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.

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SCE to AUX on Sep 18, 2020

Production in the second half of 2022 means we have to endure this speculation for a long time to come. I'm not sure that the first to market wins any prize, though. The expectations for electric trucks are much broader and more difficult to meet than a sedan.

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- Luke42 on Sep 19, 2020
  
  I've been trying to explain to the Cybertruck kids what makes pickups work so well. Short version is that pickups can be configured to serve a lot of niches by bolting aftermarket stuff on. The electric F-150 will have a big advantage over the Cybertruck here. If you've built your business around studs you can bolt on an F-150, then changing to a truck as weird as the CT will have big switching costs. The CT is basically a Chevy Avalanche with a better towing capacity. It's going to rock the suburban dad use case, and even the truck nuts use case. But the electric F-150 has an edge for any use-case which requires racks or is incompatible with a tonneau cover, at least initially. A lot of the Cybertruck enthusiasts have never paid enough attention to how people use trucks to realize that bolt-on stuff is such a big deal.
  
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- HotPotato on Sep 29, 2020
  
  @Luke42 I have mixed feelings about that. Like, no, you can't bolt a service body to it. But already has three exterior locking trunks: an enormous one in front where the V8 would normally go, and one in each of the flying buttresses on the side. Plus an optional sliding cover over the bed. Plus full-length channels that let you bolt anything you want into the bed -- including, presumably, storage boxes. And, you get the benefit of a kneeling air suspension and a ramp to walk right up into the bed, or easily wheel stuff in and out. I suspect it's going to make converts of a lot of people who initially assume it won't work for them. But we'll see. They're only starting to break ground on the factory in Texas, so it will be a while.
  
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Dwford on Sep 18, 2020

So many questions. Is this a Rivian truck rebodied by Ford? Is it a regular F150 with unique styling? Or is it it's own beast with an F150 badge slapped on?

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- Luke42 on Sep 19, 2020
  
  Ford previously told everyone that the electric F-150 is unrelated to the Rivian design. They've been working on Hybrid, PHEV, and Electric F-150 variants for almost 5 years now. Their hybrid Explorer is already on the market. As someone who has screwed himself out of EVs on multiple occasions (my family has grown faster than the size of the available EVs), I've been following these big plugins closely.
  
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- Scoutdude on Sep 19, 2020
  
  It is a regular F150 with some unique styling. As Luke mentioned they have been working on this since before they purchased a stake in Rivian. One of the keys to its success will be that it is a F-150 so the majority of upfitting equipment for the other F-150s will work on it too. That is a big factor for fleets.
  
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RHD on Sep 18, 2020

"The All-New, All-Electric Ford F-150: So Far, This is What We've Got Figured Out!"* *It has nothing in common with any other Ford truck, but since it starts with an F, it will be part of our "F-Series", so we can keep saying that we're #1 in trucks.

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Bumpy ii on Sep 19, 2020

"There should be a “frunk”, or front trunk" Why? Unless the truck comes with a stepladder, or the "grille" folds down into a usable liftgate, you'll never be able to get anything out of it. Better to just stuff the underhood area full of batteries for more range.

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