"Long hauling in an electric truck is an act of pioneerism."
Road Warrior
Ford's lucrative line of trucks, the F-Series, was the number one best selling vehicle in America last year — even topping roadway regulars like Toyota's Camry — and Ford aims to remain on the top of the leader board with its F-150 Lightning, introduced last year.
But first, the automotive company likely needs to iron out a few wrinkles, especially when it comes to charging up the truck's batteries.
Ford CEO Jim Farley saw this firsthand when he decided to drive the all-electric light truck in early August for a trip from Silicon Valley to Las Vegas, which he announced on LinkedIn.
"Long hauling in an electric truck is an act of pioneerism, not because it's hard or dangerous, but because it's a new way to experience America," he wrote.
But his trip was marred by charging issues, which he called a "reality check" in a candid video on X.
Electric Revolution
When Farley went to a popular charging station in Coalinga, California and hooked his truck up to a charger, he found that it only juiced the vehicle up to 40 percent after 40 minutes. Clearly not an express ticket to anywhere in the electric F-150, the most expensive models of which can drive a little more than 300 miles on a charge.
"No surprise charging can be a challenge, but still learning a lot seeing firsthand the issues our customers face," Farley posted on X.
Ford is hoping to remedy the charging experience with a new partnership with Tesla that will allow Ford customers to use more than 12,000 Tesla Superchargers starting next year. That'll be an addition to the more than 10,000 fast chargers the company offers via its own charging network.
Getting the charging experience right will be crucial for Ford if it wants to remain on top, stay ahead of rivals like Tesla and Toyota, and meet increasingly strict government regulations on fossil fuel vehicles, such as California's mandate that all new vehicles sold starting in 2035 need to be zero emissions.
Meeting that challenge will also go a long way toward the mass adoption of electric vehicles, which seem to have hit a plateau with around 7 to 10 percent of marketshare.
So it's not hyperbole to say that if Ford, the manufacturer of the bestselling vehicle in America, hits the bullseye with its F-150 Lightning and a charging experience that lessens "range anxiety," it could be a historical inflection point in our path to a zero carbon world.
More on electric vehicles: US Postal Service Buying 66,000 Electric Vehicles, Plans To Only Buy EVs by 2026
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