Ford Rules Out Electric Super Duty Truck

No larger brother of the F-150 Lightning is planned for now.

By: Angel Sergeev

Nov 26, 2021 at 8:33am ET

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With the F-150 Lightning, Ford finally has an all-electric competitor in America’s best-selling segment. With nearly 200,000 reservations already received by the automaker, it seems that the demand for the zero-emissions truck will be strong, and you might think this could motivate Ford to offer all-electric versions of its larger trucks, too. That won’t be the case, however.

The automaker recently admitted it has no plans for an electric Super Duty truck, at least for now. "At the moment, we do not have any plans to go into heavy-duty with battery-electric vehicles," Kumar Galhotra, Ford president of the Americas and International Markets Group, recently confirmed during a meeting with industry analysts. But why? We don't know what's happening in Ford's kitchen but we have our theories.

Gallery: 2022 Ford Super Duty

Very simply put, we believe the reason is the expected lower towing ratings of an electric Super Duty truck. For comparison, the F-150 Lightning has a maximum towing rating of 10,000 pounds (4,536 kilograms), which is about 4,000 lbs (1,814 kg) less than the highest combustion-powered F-150.

What do you think?

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If we do the same math for the Super Duty - roughly 30 percent worse towing capacity - this would mean even the most powerful electric Super Duty should be able to tow about 17,000 lbs (7,711 kg). This would make it marginally better than a gas-powered F-150, which will surely affect its sales.

Of course, this is just our own theory that doesn’t necessarily have to be correct. Keep in mind the electric vehicle market - including the EV truck market - is expanding rapidly, and with the continuously evolving technologies, there might be a day when Ford will offer you a battery-powered Super Duty. That day won’t be today, though.