The Ford F-150 Lightning will blast NASCAR in Martinsville
By using the 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning this is the third time in history that Ford has seen one of its electric vehicles serve as a safety car during a race. NASCAR. Last year, the manufacturer used the Mustang Mach-E, and, in 2012, the electric Focus!
The Ford F-150 Lightning will headline the next NASCAR Series event to be held at Martinsville Speedway, Virginia this weekend. Indeed, it will play the role of safety vehicle (Pace Car) in front of the racing cars which will compete in the races Camping World Trucks Series, NASCAR Xfiniti Series and, naturally, the most prestigious of all, the NASCAR Cup Series. The Lightning will hit the track for the first time at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 9.
For Ford, this is an opportunity to demonstrate the manufacturer’s know-how in terms of electric vans. Although there’s a huge amount of interest in electric pickups (Ford has received more than 200,000 reservations for the Lightning), there remains a hard core that still refuses to consider electrification.
By putting this electric pickup truck ahead of racing cars and pickup trucks, Ford wants to make a strong statement about the value of this new engine in the F-150. Jeannee Kirkaldy, Head of Motorsport and Ford Performance Marketing, sees this as a real opportunity to change mindsets: “What we’re absolutely certain of is that our enthusiasts love pickup trucks, and we’re sure that feeling will only grow when they see the Lightning on the track (…). »
It must be said that the Lightning is now the most powerful version of the F-150 with 563 horsepower and an impressive 775 lb-ft of torque. Of course, the question of autonomy remains central depending on the use of the vehicle, but Ford offers innovative charging technologies that will allow relatively rapid energy recovery. The first copies of the 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning will arrive in dealerships in the coming weeks on the Canadian market.
