Ford Motor Company (F 0.47%) said that its upcoming electric pickup truck will take a name from its past -- "F-150 Lightning" -- and that it will be fully revealed at a live-streamed event on May 19.
Ford's much-anticipated electric F-150 is expected to go head-to-head with electric pickups from Tesla (TSLA 1.85%), General Motors (GM 4.37%), and Lordstown Motors (RIDE -2.26%) when it arrives next spring. But the F-Series' market-leading position, Ford's longtime advantage in commercial vehicles, and the early success of the Blue Oval's electric Mustang Mach-E make the F-150 Lightning the presumptive category leader until further notice.
Ford's new battery-electric F-150 pickup will take the "Lightning" name when it's launched next spring. Image source: Ford Motor Company.
CEO Jim Farley made it clear that he expects the F-150 Lightning to be a groundbreaking product.
"Every so often, a new vehicle comes along that disrupts the status quo and changes the game," Farley said. "F-150 Lightning can power your home during an outage; it's even quicker than the original [internal combustion] F-150 Lightning performance truck; and it will constantly improve through over-the-air updates."
Ford said that the 2022 F-150 Lightning will be revealed at an event at the company's headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan, at 9:30 p.m. EDT on May 19. The event will be live-cast via several different services, the company said.
Production of the F-150 Lightning is expected to begin in the second quarter of 2022 at Ford's Dearborn Truck Plant in Michigan.
