Ford has been a bit slow to get its EV range down to Australia. But after finally releasing the Mustang Mach-E electric sedan and the E-Transit commercial van, it now appears another popular electric vehicle might be on the cards .
The F150 Lightning – the electric version of the massive ute – has been spotted in Brisbane by an EV enthusiast, wynchil who shared two pictures of the navy blue truck on Twitter/X.
One of the shared photos shows the F150 reversing into a parking spot next to a Hyundai Santa Fe ICE SUV. It helps put the size of the vehicle into perspective, with the F150 Lightning coming in at 5.91 meters in length.
F150 lightning spied in Brisbane pic.twitter.com/f3nREuXdlo
— wynchil (@wynchil) September 1, 2023
On the specifics of this model, it appears to be the F150 Lightning XLT variant in the right-hand-drive configuration. Several details of the spotted vehicle lead to this.
First, the wheels on the F150 match those found on the base Pro and XLT versions offered in the US. The sighted vehicle has a light bar that runs along most of the width of this vehicle. This lightbar is not offered as standard on the Pro variant but it is on XLT.
The starting price of the XLT variant is $US54,995 which is equivalent to around $A85,100. This is before any transportation or conversion fees in Australia.
Ford’s other variants in the US include the more premium Lariat and top-of-the-line Platinum edition.
XLT variant according to Ford’s US website comes with:
- Signature Front Lighting
- 360 Camera
- Interior Work Surface
- Available Extended Range Battery
- Enhanced Zone Lighting
- Extended Running Boards
It’s offered in either a 98 kWh standard or 131 kWh extended-range battery pack. The standard battery pack has 385 km of EPA range which is generally less generous than the WLTP range seen on vehicles in Australia.
In the US, it comes with a towing capacity of 4.5 tonnes, thanks to its 1,054 Nm of torque and the 344 kW of power from its 4×4 drivetrain.
At this stage, it’s unclear whether this vehicle is here for testing or if Ford has genuine plans to bring the F150 Lightning to Australia anytime soon. As of September 2023, Ford is selling the CE version of the F150 light truck in the XLT variant with an estimated driveaway price of $116,000.
We will keep an eye out for more sightings of this particular vehicle and hope Ford does bring this down under. As we know, the more options available in the market, the drivers are more likely to make the switch to an EV.
Riz is the founder of carloop based in Melbourne, specialising in Australian EV data, insight reports and trends. He is a mechanical engineer who spent the first 7 years of his career building transport infrastructure before starting carloop. He has a passion for cars, particularly EVs and wants to help reduce transport emissions in Australia. He currently drives a red Tesla Model 3.