Though it was originally revealed back in late May, we haven’t yet received a ton of details regarding The Blue Oval’s latest EV demonstrator, the Ford F-150 Lightning SuperTruck. Aside from its wild, downforce-generating bodywork, Ford did give us some details pertaining to the SuperTruck’s powertrain, which consists of three STARD UHP 6-Phase Motors and Ultra-High Performance Li-Polymer NMC cells, which generate a combined 1,600 horsepower, along with some suspension factoids. Now, however, we’re learning much more about this wild machine.
Following its first place finish – and record-setting performance – at the 2024 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, Motorsport.com was able to catch up with F1 & High-Performance EV Manager at Ford Performance, Sriram Pakkam, who revealed some interesting details about the Ford F-150 Lightning SuperTruck. He noted that the most difficult part of the vehicle’s development process was actually finding ways to make it lighter, though Ford ultimately managed to shave 100 kilograms compared to the SuperVan, thanks to things like magnesium forged wheels.
As far as the powertrain goes, Ford looked to STARD because it has “well-cooled batteries, well-cooled motors, and a pretty power-dense package,” according to Pakkam. Power can be split between the single front and dual rear motors as desired using controls on the steering wheel, and there’s even space for a fourth motor if The Blue Oval deems it necessary. However, for Pikes Peak, the additional power wasn’t needed, nor did it compensate for the added weight it would provide, according to Pakkam.
The Ford F-150 Lightning SuperTruck also utilizes a ton of trick tech to help get that power to the ground, including a fully custom in-board suspension system, along with aerodynamic elements such as a triple-element front wing, headlight ducts, hood ducts and louvers, front dive-planes, side diffusers, rear diffuser, and multi-element rear wing, which help the SuperTruck generate 6,000 pounds of downforce at 150 miles-per-hour – 30 percent more than the SuperVan, in fact.
We’ll have more on the Ford F-150 Lightning SuperTruck 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 non-stop Ford news coverage.
Comments
So what makes this a “lightning”? Does it share anything with that vehicle?
It’s called the lightning. Ford saying so makes it so. Would you still want it to be exactly like the old one or can people ever seem to understand that things change?
That bad boy also won the Goodwood Hill Climb. Unlike Scott Maxwell, Multimatics star driver, who stuffed the all-electric Lotus Evija X prototype into the hay bales at the same event. Apparently the front wheels were doing 150 MPH while the back wheels were running 170 MPH. Oops.