Ford’s F-150 Lightning hits second European market, just in time for alpine winter

The all-electric Ford F-150 Lightning pickup found its second European home just in time for the upcoming alpine winter.

Ford F-150 Lightning finds second European home

Ford is bringing its electric truck to Switzerland as its second European market, the automaker announced Tuesday.

The news comes after Ford launched the F-150 Lightning in Norway in April, spearheading its European offensive. Ford said its electric truck is “perfectly suited” to handle the nation’s terrain, outdoor spirit, and passion for EVs.

Gunnar Berg, managing director at Ford Norway, said in his 25 years at the company, he’s never “never seen like the passion and demand I’m seeing from drivers right now to get behind the wheel of our F-150 Lightning.”

Berg even said he “had customers literally banging on my door and pleading for us to bring the electric pickup to Norway.”

The F-150 Lightning (Lariat launch edition) is equipped to handle the nation’s extreme terrain with a four-wheel drive dual electric powertrain. Ford’s EV truck delivers up to 450 hp and 1,050 Nm of torque, enabling nearly 3.5 tonne (7,000 lbs) towing.

Ford says it will launch the Lightning electric pickup in Switzerland at the end of November. The company claims its “electric truck is at home not only in cities, but also in the middle of nature and on the challenging roads of the Alps.”

According to Ford, the Lightning will be available to order from November for 127,000 Swiss francs ($139,500).

Ford is also launching the electric Explorer in Europe next summer. The Ford Explorer EV is based on Volkswagen’s MEB platform and is expected to start at under $50,000 (€45,000).

Electrek’s Take

Although Ford is expanding its electric vehicles in Europe with the Lightning launching in Switzerland, the automaker is delaying EV plans in the US.

Ford cut one of three shifts at its Rouge EV center, where the F-150 Lightning is built, earlier this month. And then, on the company’s third-quarter earnings, Ford said it would push back around $12 billion in planned investments to boost EV manufacturing capacity.

The news came after General Motors (GM) announced it would delay production of the upcoming Equinox, Silverado RST, and GMC Sierra EVs.