The Ford F-150 is currently on sale in Australia after FoMoCo decided to begin exporting it to that country, where a third-party company called RMA Automotive is completing right-hand drive conversions on those pickups for the local market. The gas F-150 has since been joined by the all-electric Ford F-150 Lightning, but The Blue Oval isn’t involved in that process, as it’s being imported and converted to right-hand drive by Advanced Manufacturing Queensland, and then distributed by AusEV.
Thus far, these gray market Ford F-150 Lightning pickups have proven to be quite popular, and that doesn’t look likely to change. In fact, according to Drive, AMQ isn’t apparently worried one bit about the forthcoming launch of other electrified pickups in Australia, a list that includes the plug-in hybrid BYD Shark and Ford Ranger, which allow for a shorter distance of all-electric driving.
“I think it’s good that [competition] grows the category – what is it, a rising tide raises all ships,” said Advanced Manufacturing Queensland spokesperson Alan Brady. “It’s good that there’s more because the Australian consumer is singing out for it. What we’re seeing coming out to the market are plug-in hybrids, and certainly in the fleet commercial segment, plug-in hybrids just won’t be accepted because everyone knows you never plug them in, sadly. It doesn’t force that consumer behavior change. But also, some of the battery sizes they’ve projected, 60-odd-kilowatt hours. I mean this [F-150 Lightning] is 131kWh, so it’s two and a half Teslas, or twice what’s planned to come out.”
The Aussie Ford F-150 Lightning isn’t exactly be cheap to procure, as the standard range model starts out at $224,990 AUD ($144,792 USD) minus on-road costs, while the Lariat comes in at $254,990 AUD ($164,098 USD). However, it only has one direct rival at the moment – the LDV eT60, which starts out at a much cheaper $92,990 AUD ($61,342 USD), but is only available in two-wheel drive configuration with a single electric motor and an 88.5 kWh battery pack, giving it 330 kilometers (205 miles of range).
By comparison, the Australian gray market Ford F-150 Lightning comes with all-wheel drive and dual motors in both guises, with either a standard (98 kWh) or extended range battery pack (131 kWh), which generate either 452 or 580 horsepower and 775 pound-feet of torque, and 230 or 320 miles of range, respectively.
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 non-stop Ford news coverage.
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Fine. Send them all there.