Once again, Ford is resurrecting an iconic badge to put on a new vehicle. This time, it’s Lightning, which will be the name of the electric-powered Ford F-150 to be unveiled from Ford headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan, in a web event scheduled for 9:30 p.m. (Eastern) on May 19.
“Every so often, a new vehicle comes along that disrupts the status quo and changes the game,” Ford president and chief executive Jim Farley is quoted in the automaker’s news release.
Farley offered examples including the Ford Model T and Mustang, the Toyota Prius and even the Tesla Model 3.
“Now comes the F-150 Lightning,” he said. “America’s favorite vehicle for nearly half a century is going digital and fully electric.
“F-150 Lightning can power your home during an outage; it’s even quicker than the original F-150 Lightning performance truck; and it will constantly improve through over-the-air updates.”
The “original F-150 Lightning,” of course, was a high-performance petroleum-powered pickup Ford introduced for the 1993 model year, but stopped production after 1995. A second-generation version was produced from 1999 to 2004.
The original F-150 Lightning competed with the GMC Syclone and Chevrolet’s 454 SS pickup in a new Detroit muscle-truck battle. Power came from a 351cid V8 that featured “GT40” heads and other performance upgrades. More than 11,000 were produced during the 3-year run.
The second-gen resurrection featured a supercharged 5.4-liter Triton V8 and lowered suspension. More than 28,000 were built during 6 model years.
Farley called the electrified Lightning “the truck of the future.”
You Go, FORD!!!
Always ahead of the pack!!
You started talking about performnce numbers and I expected you to say something about the new Lightning perfomance numbers but…no.
Ford isn’t releasing such details until the 19th. All that’s been said so far is the name of the F-150 EV.
I’m presently looking to buy a 20 year-old Ford pick-up. Guess why.