Anyone who still doubts the pulling power of electric vehicles should check out this new teaser of Ford’s electric F-150 prototype.
The American auto giant, which in January partnered with VW to develop electric and autonomous vehicles, and has also injected $US500 million ($A716 million) into electric ute and SUV startup Rivian, has made it clear it is not missing the EV transition band wagon.
At a conference in Detroit in January, Ford CEO Jim Hackett confirmed that the automaker would be making both electric and plug-in hybrid versions of its iconic F-Series, including the hefty, no nonsense American favourite, the F-150 pickup (known as a ute in Australia).
The new video published Wednesday morning (Australian time) is further confirmation that the carmaker is not taking the switch to electric vehicles lightly.
The video, which first shows a prototype of the electric F-150 pulling 10 double decker freight carriages over 300 metres, displays for all to see the incredible torque that electric vehicles can offer.
But that’s not all. Then, Ford fills the carriages with 42 F-150s bringing the total towing weight of over 1 million pounds (over 450 tonnes). And the electric F-150 does not flinch.
While Ford is careful to impress that the prototype’s pulling power far exceeds that which they expect will be the official towing power of the production version of the electric F-150 (or any pickup truck they produce for that matter), it is certainly a display that should finally put to rest the ludicrous suggestion that electric cars might “ruin the weekend”.
There’s no specifications given in the video for the electric F-150, nor a detailed timeline for when the production electric F-150 will be available (Linda Zhang, Ford’s F-150 chief engineer mentions “in the coming years”).
There are plans to bring a hybrid electric F-150 to market as a “mobile generator” (although this sounds more like a fossil fuel generator on wheels).
Nevertheless, it is encouraging to see automakers, especially those who appeal to the heavy duty, high polluting end of the auto market, actively demonstrating the potential that EVs have to offer.
Bridie Schmidt is associate editor for The Driven, sister site of Renew Economy. She has been writing about electric vehicles since 2018, and has a keen interest in the role that zero-emissions transport has to play in sustainability. She has participated in podcasts such as Download This Show with Marc Fennell and Shirtloads of Science with Karl Kruszelnicki and is co-organiser of the Northern Rivers Electric Vehicle Forum. Bridie also owns a Tesla Model Y and has it available for hire on evee.com.au.