Though many Americans remain skeptical of EVs for a number of reasons, interest in those vehicles is also steadily rising, particularly as gas prices also rise to new record levels. In that regard, Ford is doing quite well, as its EV sales are growing faster than the overall segment, while the automaker also topped all non-luxury brands in terms of new EV registrations through the first four months of the year. Meanwhile, the 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning remains the most considered EV pickup on the market, but one big question remains – how will folks that live in rural areas accept it? At least one person – former New Orleans mayor and current senior advisor and infrastructure coordinator in the Biden administration, Mitch Landrieu – thinks that those folks will welcome it with open arms, as he explained to Bloomberg.
“You all are gonna be driving Ford F-150s with electric batteries in them. That’s how that’s gonna work,” Landrieu said. “And rural America’s going to beat everybody to the punch – my prediction.”
It’s not a terribly surprising comment coming from the Biden administration, which has backed EV adoption from the very beginning. In fact, Joe Biden himself was able to drive a Ford F-150 Lighting prototype early on, and praised the pickup following that little jaunt.
In the months since, the Biden administration has ordered federal agencies to stop buying ICE vehicles by 2027 and recently debuted a minimum EV charging standards proposal that calls for all stations to have a minimum number of chargers and provide consistency in terms of payment methods and the types of chargers in use. Additionally, the administration recently announced that it will spend $3.1 billion on domestic EV battery production in an effort to lessen reliance on other countries.
We’ll have more on the F-150 Lightning soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for the latest Ford F-Series news, Ford F-150 news, F-150 Lightning news, and around-the-clock Ford news coverage.
Comments
With all the speculation of rolling blackouts due to power shortages that should work out really well. Idiots.
If you read between the lines…….means the opposite is more likely. OMG! 2 1/2 more years
And thats a LIE!!!
An electric grid that is barely maintaining its own now will totally collapse under this type of short sighted agenda by politicians more interested in political power than in reality. Add millions of vehicle that require electrical service from manufacture level to final operations is a recipe of disaster (unintended consequences).
Dream on Mitch Landrieu, at $100,000 a copy after options, dealer mark ups and sales taxes, I am 100% sure this will never happen.
Democrats shoving electric vehicles in our faces and keeping us dependent on foreign oil so their stocks in companies that mine, sell and use lithium for the batteries used in electric vehicles will sky rocket and they will make a fortune on those stocks.
Well once again you all just prove how STUPID Americans have become. You need to get out more and discover exactly how far behind the rest of the world we are, why do you think we have rolling blackouts. IDIOTS!!!
Maybe rural areas like Alexandria, VA or San Jose, CA, lol.
Seriously, how out of touch can someone be?
Rural areas are where your electricity comes from!
Half of it evaporates from the high-voltage grid when it moves to you big city and suburban folk.
Shows how out of touch Ol’ Sleepy Joe is. Rural customers will be the toughest to adapt to EVs. With charging stations likely more spread out, drivers putting more miles on their vehicles just from daily driving, and the need to haul very, very large loads frequently, EVs are just not there yet, and won’t be for some time. It’s the future, yes, but stating that rural customers will be quicker to make the jump than say, someone who lives in the city and drives 5 miles to work and back, rarely has a need to tow, and has a charging station just up the street is honestly one of the more idiotic things I’ve ever heard.