Australian EV distributor AusEV has officially launched the Ford F150 Lightning electric ute/truck that it is importing in Australia. But the prices being asked start at an eye-watering level of more than $220,000.
Ford sold around 25,000 of the F150 Lightning vehicles in the US, but is not yet bringing the electric vehicle to Australia, which allows importers like AusEV to step into the breach and meet demand from early adopters.
But it also means higher costs. On Monday, in an online event, AusEV revealed the price for the base model will start at a cool $224,990, with the extended range variant starting at $254,990.
In the US, the base model F150 Lightning starts at $US54,995, while in Australia the fossil fuel version of the F150 starts any around $106,000.
Still, AusEv says the cheaper running costs of the electric version will deliver about $22,000 in savings over five years. The running costs are put at just over $2 per 100kms, compared to 27c for the petrol version. Savings from reduced servicing costs are a further $10,000 over the period.
There is certainly some grunt in the car. AusEV describes the 4×4 electric ute as a “driving revolution”, boasting 433kW of power, propelling the car from 0-100km in just 4 seconds. Dual motors provide 1050Nm of torque, ensuring exhilarating acceleration whenever you need it.
It has a towing capacity up to 4.5 tonnes, and vehicle to load options to power tools and even home appliances.
The two battery packs on offer include a standard 98 kWh pack which delivers up to 370 km of range. This gets bumped up to 515 km with the extended variant which comes with a much larger 131 kWh battery pack.Ā
There will be six colours vailable on both variants and as per the online configurator, all of these are included in the price of the vehicle.
When it comes to options, all three available are either offered on the bed of the truck or for towing. These include:
- Tow Technology Package – $3,000
- Max Trailer Tow Package – $2,500
- Bed Liner – $980
The F150 Lightning doesnāt only have the large truck-bed but also comes with 400 litres of space in the powered frunk, making it easier to store small-medium sized items.
Interested customers can place an order for the F150 Lightning on the AusEVās website.
RizĀ is the founder of carloop based in Melbourne, specialising in Australian EV data, insight reports and trends. He is a mechanical engineer who spent the first 7 years of his career building transport infrastructure before starting carloop. He has a passion for cars, particularly EVs and wants to help reduce transport emissions in Australia. He currently drives a red Tesla Model 3.