Back in 2017, Ford announced that it would eventually release an electric version of its flagship F-150 pickup truck. The news sent worries through the F-150 community that an electric vehicle might not have the brute force power of the gas-guzzling F-150s they’ve come to rely on for decades. But if a demonstration by Ford of its F-150 electric prototype this week is any indication, F-150 fans should be lining up to get the electric version as soon as it becomes available.
Ford released a video of the electric F-150 prototype pulling 10 empty double-decker rail cars more than 1,000 feet. Once this feat was accomplished, the rail cars were loaded with 42 gas-powered F-150s, and then the electric F-150 prototype again pulled the now fully loaded train cars. In total, the loaded train cars weighed 1.25 million pounds.
However, the fine print that goes along with the video does describe the feat as a “one-time short event demonstration” and says it is “far beyond any production truck’s published capacity.” Still, this marketing stunt does go a long way to dispelling the myth that electric vehicles can’t be anywhere near as powerful as their gas-guzzling counterparts. Ford plans to start selling a hybrid version of the F-150 in 2020.
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