Ford is launching the Lightning on May 19—the fully electric F-150

Ford and its F-series of trucks, which includes the locally-available Ford F-150, have long been a staple nameplate in the full-size pickup segment. Owners are all too fond of their gas-guzzling towers of power, but Ford is introducing a play on the nameplate and aptly calling it Lightning. 

They say that lightning doesn’t strike twice, but the name Ford Lightning does ring a bell because the Ford Motor Company did in fact have such a model under its belt from the 1990s to the early 2000s. Come 2021, this new electrified F-150 is paying homage to the name of the performance pickup but with a twist. 

Launching on May 19, 2021, the electrified pickup will not be called the F-150-e, or F-150 Lightning, or F-150 EV, instead, it will be plainly called the Lightning. As the name suggests, it’s very appropriate considering a few of the teasers we’ve gotten about it in the past. The model will reach showroom floors by around 2022, and it appears to be one heck of a proposition for Ford. 

To announce its launch, the Blue Oval released a teaser video for the upcoming EV. Generations of Ford pickups from the Model T pickup, to the early F-series, and finally, the Ford Lightning were lined up in the promotional video to connect this new EV to the lineage of Ford’s ever-expanding line of pickup trucks. 

So, following May 19, there will be two Fords in the stable with particularly recognizable nameplates that will be turned into EVs. The first of which was the Ford Mustang Mach-e, which raised quite a few eyebrows given that it wasn’t a true pony car in terms of what it offers in the market. The Lightning seems more appropriate, and according to Ford, they’re going to “take electric and turn it into Lightning.” Let’s hope that they do good on their promise.