Supercar-quick Ford F-150 Lightning teased

Ford Performance has revealed it is developing a faster take on the battery-powered Ford F-150 Lightning electric pick-up, as part of the weekend announcement that it will return to Formula 1 with Red Bull Racing in 2026.

Within an infographic detailing Ford’s past, present and future high-performance EVs, there was a blacked-out side profile of the unmistakable silhouette of an F-150 captioned ‘COMING SOON’ and surrounded by the Mustang Cobra Jet 1400, SuperVan, Mustang Mach-E 1400 and retro Eluminator concept.

No more details were provided but in a second image showing the same blackened F-150 side profile, Ford Performance revealed that it was being developed to compete in the extreme Off-road/Dirt category, suggesting it will be a zero-emissions take on its current F-150 Raptor.

Range-topping Raptor and Lightning models could both join the V6-powered F-150 Lariat and XLT that will become officially available via Ford in Australia from mid-2023 from dealers.

There’s no word yet on what will power the extreme F-150 EV, but we expect plenty of performance since the F-150 Lightning already delivers up to 420kW of power, 1051Nm of torque and 4.4sec claimed 0-60mph (97km/h) pace.

The upcoming RAM TRX-rivalling, Ford Performance-developed F-150 Raptor R, meantime, comes with a Mustang Shelby GT500-sourced 522kW/868Nm 5.2-litre supercharged V8 that will make it a lot quicker than the standard F-150 Raptor, which packs a 336kW/691Nm 3.5-litre twin-turbo V6 delivering 0-100km/h acceleration in less than six seconds.

One theory is the F-150 Lightning will come with a development on the Mustang Mach-E 1400 prototype’s powertrain, which pumped out an incredible 1044kW, although engineers might struggle with packaging all seven of the high-output SUV’s electric motors within the F-150’s ladder-frame chassis.

As well as epic power, the more powerful F-150 Lightning is also expected to feature plenty of lightweight composites that are being developed by Ford, including its new organic carbon-fibre that is claimed to be far greener that existing materials.

Commentating on the new faster F-150 Lightning, Ford CEO Jim Farley said: “We are entering an exciting new age for Ford Performance. 

“All the while, we’ll continue to excite the world with cool demonstrators like SuperVan 4 and Mustang Mach-E 1400.”

Ford gave no indication of when we might see the range-topping battery-powered pick-up, nor whether it has any chance of reaching production.

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