Reservations for Ford F-150 Lightning electric ute reach 160,000

The highly anticipated Ford F-150 electric ute/pickup truck has recorded more than 160,000 reservations in the United States, according to figures published by Ford Motor Company this week.

Amidst the company’s October 2021 sales figures, Ford Motor Co. revealed that the electric F-150 Lightning, which was launched in May and began pre-production in September, has already racked up more than 160,000 reservations.

The ute is teature packed with vehicle-to-load (V2L) providing power to devices and vehicle-to-home (V2H), and the F-150 Lightning has been tailor-made for tradespeople and drivers wanting to escape the confines of the city – busting the myth that electric vehicles will “end the weekend”.

With a base level all-electric range of 370-kilometres and 480-kilometres for the extended range option, the F-150 Lightning provides an available 9.6kW of max power provided through 11 onboard outlets.

There are four 120V outlets in the front trunk, two in the cab, and four in the bed, as well as a 240V outlet in the bed – to power a tradespersons tools on the job, or all manner of device over the weekend.

The Ford F-150 Lightning has seen huge interest since its launch, with 20,000 reservations on the first day, 44,000 by the end of the second day, and 120,000 by the end of June. By the middle of September reservations had soared to 150,000, and that interest only seems to be building.

What makes it all the more impressive is that 75% of those 120,000 June reservations were customers new to Ford, according to CEO Jim Farley, speaking in the company’s second-quarter earnings call.

Farley added that 40% of people were planning on trading in an internal combustion engine (ICE) truck, a figure which “indicates a move a little bit faster to full-size truck [battery electric vehicles] than maybe our optimistic assumptions”.

Ford’s October US sales figures also showed that it was an electrified vehicle sales record for the company in October, with 14,062 electrified vehicles sold, an increase of 195% over the same month a year earlier.