While The Blue Oval is currently basking in the 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning pickup’s honeymoon period, it is no doubt looking to the future as well. The automaker is running full tilt toward scaling up and preparing for its second generation battery electric vehicles, a $50 billion endeavor that will allow the company to produce approximately 2 million electric vehicles per year by 2026. As Ford Authority previously reported, part of that plan involves the development of a second fully electric pickup. But as it turns out, seemingly none of Ford’s future pickups will take after the Lightning going forward, according to CEO Jim Farley, who spoke rather directly when asked about Ford’s legacy operations impacting its EV program at the 2022 Alliance Bernstein Strategic Decisions Conference.
“In a kind of weird way, it’s kind of too bad that Lightning winds up being our most successful vehicle today because it feels so derivative from the F-Series. It’s not our only truck and the other trucks won’t look anything like it,” said Farley. While that statement may seem radical, it isn’t completely out of line with how the company is thinking about its future as an electric vehicle manufacturer. The 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning is simply an electric variant of the Ford F-150 and rides on the same basic platform. Going forward, that is not how Ford will develop its lineup, as it intends to do more than make carbon copies of its internal combustion lineup. As Ford Authority recently reported, that may even spell the end of established and popular vehicles like the Ford Escape, since the company’s pivot is geared toward icons and commercial vehicles.
In all likelihood, while the company certainly learned a lot developing the 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning, it may ultimately be remembered as a very compelling stopgap pickup that paved the way for a fully electric Ford Ranger to go its own way instead of relying on its internal combustion counterpart. That said, not every Ford product will ditch tradition in the future, as the Ford Super Duty lineup is expected to remain somewhat traditional until technological advances can properly meet the needs of heavy duty pickup customers.
We’ll have more on Ford’s EV pivot and the 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning soon, so subscribe to Ford Authority for the last Ford F-150 news, Ford F-150 Lightning news, and up to date Ford news coverage.
Comments
Who is going to buy 2 million EVs? The average payment on a Mach E is $829.00 per month. People are having a hard enough time paying for housing and food, saving a few hundred a month on gas is not going to make up for the downpayment, paying for a charging station, if you can even charge where you live.
Robert,
I’ll be the first in line to buy a 4×4 F-150 EV that can get 600 plus miles on a charge. It better get at least 85% of that while towing a trailer. I see that as a pipe dream and not reality anytime soon. Tesla works because it found a niche with the EV market when the big players were all sleeping. The country is not ready for 5-15% of the vehicles to be EV. Where is the charging stations to support that? Where is the electricity to support that? The “responsible” electric generating windmills can’t handle what we have now. Many places are predicting mandatory power shut downs this summer!! 2022 and we do not have enough capacity to generate the electric for our current needs!! BTW, I don’t watch Fox news, what little news I do watch is News Nation, but I have enough common sense to see a disaster in the making and the current “leadership” is failing America like no other. Maybe you’re too influenced by CNN or MSNBC? Brother, wake up and face the music! We have way bigger problems than switching over to EV’s as a main source of transportation. I wish I was wrong, but the facts are right there in front of all our faces.
The average car payment has nothing to do with anything. High car payments just mean people aren’t putting any money down. I trade every 4-5 years and haven’t had a car note in more than 20 years, which also means very little. Nobody has ever said an EV is right for everyone, or even that its right for every situation if they do own one.
Take a 450$ Ice car payment add 100$ weekly for gas. Your at over 850 not including oil changes and more brake pads. So currently it’s comparable but not cheaper
I don’t agree with with everything you wrote, but I appreciate the way you presented it.
Nice truck, the world definitely isn’t ready for ALL EV’s
I reserved on day 1 of the original reveal. Since I’m not famous or on social media, I’ll probably never get a chance to place my order anyway. Now Let’s scare the country with high fuel prices. My house or neighborhood couldn’t handle the infrastructure if everyone decided to own an EV. Even if they could, we will never get them at least for another 2-5 years
.. welcome to the Robert Walter show. I’ll be your host, Khloe Kardashian ..”
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Hummm, I think I should reserve judgement on Farley’s comments until I see the NEXT version of his full-size electric pick-up.. Interestingly – Farley spent some time at Jay Leno’s garage – where Jay’s ‘parting shot’ (after test driving the ‘lightning’) was ‘Keep producing interesting vehicles.
I enjoy Jay Leno’s reviews and restorations since he doesn’t screw with the usually EXCELLENT designs of Decades Old vehicles and is generally level-headed about everything… Perhaps that will keep Mr. Farley ‘Down to earth’.
Robert Walter, I’m guessing you’re one of those idiots.
Y’all are not thinking this out everyone don’t have a garage to charge in people are mean these days if you run a 110 out of Apt these kids will unhook it an charging station will be vanderlize like these air station are today
Amazing how determined these anti-EV people are. And they use ridiculous arguments (30 minute charges are too long, range is too short. Being that most (not all) EV owners charge at night, they almost never spend any time charging during the day. The average US driver drives less than 40 miles a day, how is a 200-300 mile range not enough? Most people don’t take drives that are over 200-300 miles, for them EVs are great. If you do drive more on a daily basis, stick with ICE or hybrid vehicles. No EV supporter says otherwise, but for some reason ICE supporters just think no one should drive an EV. I remember when cell phones were new, so many people were saying that they weren’t necessary and would cause cancer and that they would never own one, pretty sure they all do now. Same thing when cars replaced horses or when electricity replaced gas in street lights, or indoor plumbing. It’s just surprising how adamant these people are. If you don’t want one, don’t buy one. Don’t make stuff up to try to justify your position.
But that’s what I like about it! It looks like a truck and not a Subaru Brat.
EV’s are wayyyyyy too expensive, and prices are NOT going to reduce in the coming year’s. As Elon has stated, they are only increasing in cost and he sees a future whereby the majority will not be able to afford a car. Nope. You’ll be forced to “rent usage”, just like at Alamo or Hertz for example. The manufacturers are seeing “dollars signs” looking at “subscription services” for many “options”. You want “heated seats” you pay $20.00 a month. You want “adaptive cruise” you pay $50.00 a month. So you’ll not only be paying outrageous prices for a car, you’ll never truly “own it”. All the options will be subscription based. Pay $12,000.00 for Tesla FSD, you sell the vehicle, you have lost that full $12,000.00 value. Next buyer needs to pay Tesla $12,000.00 for that option and if you buy another new Tesla and want FSD option, guess what, you pay $12,000.00 all over again. Manufacturers realize they won’t make money anymore on “repairs” so they must make it on the initial vehicle cost and through subscription services. Yea. No thank you!!!! You can keep your expensive EV. I’ll drive my 10 year old vehicles. I’m not interested in 144 month financing that many will require in order to qualify for a monthly car payment they can qualify for.
If I hear one more “EV Fanboy” tell me how “I should enjoy stopping and wasting 30 – 90 minutes recharging my EV, paying 300% more vs charging at home, I’m going to F__king scream. The new Ford EV 150, maxed out at 160 miles of range towing a trailer, on a closed course, designed by Ford for maximum range, which really equates to closer to 125 miles of range, in the summer, probably almost half that in the winter. Yea, absolutely NO Fing way I’m interested in one. I’m supposed to be happy having to find a charger every 60 – 90 minutes, stop for an hour, and pay 300% vs charging at home ??? This 100K+ vehicle is for the “elite rich” who uses it to run to Home Depot or Lowe’s on weekends or to simply “run around town”. You can have it.
The reason the Lightning has been so appealing to so many is because it IS an F-150. Start making the electric truck options an entirely different vehicle that look like a spaceship and the appeal won’t be there for traditional truck buyers. In my opinion, the Lightning is too different from the F-150. It should just be an F-150 with an electric powertrain. The name Lightning should go where Powerboost or Ecoboost goes. Not replace the vehicle name. No special center screen. No special headlights and taillights. Just another powertrain option on the F-150.
Honestly, I believe a large part of the appeal of the Lightning is its familiarity. I fear it may be a mistake to do a complete redesign if the result doesn’t look like a Ford truck. The Tesla and the Rivian will never compete with the 1st Gen Lightning. They may compete very well against an equally alien Ford.