We got a bit of surprising/not really surprising news this week as patent filings reveal a Ford Maverick Lightning and a Ford Ranger Lightning could be coming.
As first reported by CarBuzz, the filings were made at the European Union Intellectual Property Office and these filings were specifically for “Maverick Lightning” and “Ranger Lightning.” This certainly got the internet’s attention.
Ford Maverick, Ranger Lightning
It is no secret the industry is rapidly moving towards battery electric vehicles and with the amount of demand for the F-150 Lightning, it makes sense for Ford to expand the Lightning name. This is the same thing they have done with Bronco and Mustang Mach-E.
A new Maverick Lightning and Ranger Lightning could literally borrow the same game plan from the F-150 Lightning and be nearly identical versions of themselves — albeit with a battery and a couple motors instead of an engine.
These kinds of things seem pretty easy, but where would they build these pickups?
Well, interestingly enough, Ford is building a new, massive 3,600-acre campus for EV production called Blue Oval City for new models like, say, Lightning variants of the Maverick and Ranger. This plant should be online by 2025, which makes us think these other Lightning models will be out as 2026 models.
They will likely both have the latest Ford technologies such as power on-board and zone lightning as well as be very quick off the line.
Lastly, pricing is going to be very interesting. It is no secret, more demand for EVs is causing a run on the materials to build batteries, and current EV battery pricing is going upwards, not down. If Ford can weather the storm on this initial supply crunch, it could be very suited to offer a cheap battery electric Maverick or Ranger by 2026.
The bottom line
A smaller pickup truck running on battery power makes a lot of sense for many consumers who don’t need a big truck, still want a truck bed and live where they don’t need to drive much everyday. If Ford can get the price right, it could really have a couple winners here.
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