Right there, over his shoulder sits the F-150 Lightning.
Ford
The public needs to wait until the evening of May 19, but President Joe Biden received an exclusive look at the Ford F-150 Lightning on Tuesday ahead of the reveal. While touring the automaker’s Rouge plant in Dearborn, Michigan, which builds the current F-150, Ford teased the truck further as Biden used the event to sell his plan to electrify the US with electric vehicle rebates to boost demand and a vast network of EV chargers across the US. Before Biden took off, though, he got to drive the truck.
As for the truck, it casually sat in the background while Ford kept quiet about the big debut until tomorrow. Ford didn’t immediately share anything else, but instead left it there to whet our appetites. Biden had kind words to say about it, though. “Man, you’re going to like it,” he said after revealing Ford executives let him sit in the truck and comb over the details. “Thank you for showing how we win the competition for the 21st century,” he added.
Not only did Biden touch on the points that would affect consumers, but he also pitched the investments that would come to manufacturing in the US, specifically for EVs and batteries. They include tax credits for clean vehicle manufacturing in the US, incentives to kickstart US battery production, and funds and credits to retool facilities to begin the assembly of EVs. Costing $174 billion, Biden rolled the EV infrastructure plans into his administration’s $2.25 trillion infrastructure proposal.
Ford and other automakers have called on the federal government to support companies in the transition to EVs, asking for investments to boost local battery production and to strengthen the domestic supply chain. Today, the supply chain remains incredibly reliant on China. Biden’s plan also calls for 500,000 new charging stations across the US to support newly transitioned EV buyers, along with investments in the electrical grid to help handle the load EVs will undoubtedly unleash. On top of it all, the plan includes $35 billion to support US research and development for energy- and climate-related topics.
We’ll see the truck fully revealed tomorrow, but enjoy this little appetizer, thanks to Ford.
Climb in the driver’s seat for the latest car news and reviews, delivered to your inbox twice weekly.
