Ford is stepping up its first electric truck the F-150 Lightning. On April 26th, Ford officially started production of the truck with a livestream event from the Lightning assembly line in Dearborn. Today it has more news to entice customers to the truck, the automaker has announced the Lightning will have better range than previously stated, it will pack more horsepower and a higher payload capacity than previously anticipated.
The company chose the underpromising and overdelivering route unlike Tesla which dials everything to eleven right from the announcement.
The new changes aren’t huge but they are enough to sway a customer who is on the fence. The Lightning with the standard range battery was targeted to have 426 horsepower, but it will now offer 452. The extended range model was going to come with 563hp, but Ford says it’ll ship with 580hp instead. In terms of payload, the advertised max payload was 2,000 pounds, Ford has revised it and added 235 pounds.
“We were seriously focused on raising the bar on this truck, including after we revealed it, so we can deliver more for our customers,” said F-150 Lightning Vehicle Engineering Manager Dapo Adewusi. “And our drive for continuous improvement will get a big boost when we start getting feedback and ideas from customers when they receive their Lightnings.”
Since the production has already started, it is just a matter of time before the pickup is delivered to customers. Ford’s CEO, Jim Farley, has already referenced “another electric pickup that’s different than this one” is on the way. The upcoming pickup will be built in Tennessee which is a new manufacturing center purposed to build batteries and the next-generation electric F-Series.