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The Ford F-150 pickup truck goes electric: will the 755 PS Shelby be pushed into the backseat?
by Dominik Bärlocher
Ford F-150 Electric: First pictures of the electric pickup
30.9.2020
Translation: machine translated
Ford has shown the first pictures of its electric pickup. The new petrol version of the Ford F-150 is being presented at the same time. This makes it pretty clear what the electric F-150 will look like. What is unclear, however, is its name.
User Anonymous has harsh words for the idea of the electric Ford F-150 pickup truck:
I would never give up my [sic] truck for this green [sic] shit. Even if it had more than 800bhp. I couldn't care less what happens to the earth after me. Those who want to can reduce it and take more care.
Ford responds to Anonymous and all critics with a video showing a prototype of the electric pickup truck, which may be called the "Ford F-150 Electric", on sale.
The thing with the origin
Ford is being quite cautious in its switch to electric motors. Although the company is taking a big risk by lending the names of its biggest money-makers and automotive legends to electric vehicles, Ford is not going out on a limb when it comes to the design of the truck. From the outside, it is barely distinguishable from a normal F-150.
It's almost a shame that Ford didn't give the F-150 a futuristic look. The fact that Ford has its eye on the future without forgetting the past was demonstrated by the successful design of the Ford Mustang Mach-E's radiator grille. The rear with the SUV thing, which is supposed to be invisible in black, is practical but perhaps not particularly pretty, but they have done a good job with the front. The F-150 looks like an F-150, probably a deliberate counterpoint to the radical redesign of the "truck" format of the Tesla Cybertruck and the semi-futuristic gizmo of the Rivian.
Compared with the F-150 Electric in the picture from the Ford media centre, it will probably also be possible to choose a radiator grille from Ford's range of radiator grilles - yes, there is such a thing.
In the video itself, Ford shows little about the truck's performance. It pulls a trailer up a hill, ploughs around in the dirt and drives up a 60 per cent incline. But one shot raises questions.
An electric vehicle no longer has a direct need for a gear lever. So why is it there? What does it do? Because electric vehicles usually only have two gears: a reverse gear and a forward gear. Because that's all an electric motor needs. The more current a driver gives the motor, the more speed the car builds up. Theoretically, this goes on indefinitely.
But in the video, the driver pulls the gear lever back. From P to D? And if there's P for Park and D for Drive, what else is there? In a vehicle with a specific job like the F-150 - which is generally "move that" - it is conceivable that Ford has installed several Drive Modes. Similar to the Porsche Taycan, which also has two gears on the rear axle, but only one on the front axle. I'm still working out what that means.
Interior from the normal F-150?
We can only speculate about the interior. Because the prototype video doesn't give much away when it comes to that. But if Ford sticks to the design philosophy of "looks exactly like the petrol version", then we can deduce the electric F-150 from the announcement of the new petrol F-150s.
You can expect a large display behind the steering wheel and one in the centre of the dashboard that comes with Ford Sync 4 or later. The centre display should even be operable with gloves. Apple CarPlay and almost certainly Android Auto will also be included, as this is already supported in older versions of the Ford software.
You can convert the seats into a lounger and take a nap in the car. Good if you need to charge the F-150 Electric. Or you can work on the centre console, as it is wide enough to serve as a work surface for a laptop. Ford has made the lid of the centre console hinged to create a work surface. You have storage space under the rear seat. Power sockets everywhere.
So. done. The presenter in the most American video of all time is Denis Leary, actor, comedian and singer. I don't want to keep his best song from you.
Journalist. Author. Hacker. A storyteller searching for boundaries, secrets and taboos – putting the world to paper. Not because I can but because I can’t not.
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