2022 Ford F-150 Lightning Pickup Shines Behind President Biden

The much-anticipated Ford F-150 Lightning, the all-electric F-150 that revives an iconic pickup name, is set to debut May 19—but a certain someone is receiving an exclusive first look a day early. That someone is President Joe Biden, who visited Ford’s Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn, Michigan, today, to play up EVs and the future of the car industry. During the President’s speech, which took place in front of an old F-series pickup, a current F-150, and a covered-up electric F-150 Lightning, wouldn’t you know it, the sheet slipped off the Lightning (the silver truck to the left of the white F-150).

Now we must stress that a much better look at the F-150 Lightning is coming tomorrow, along with official details and info. (Here’s what we know so far.) But you just know Ford couldn’t resist offering the world a peek at the new fully electric pickup truck while the news media was carrying the event live. Sure enough, while the White House’s livestream of the event offered a mostly blocked view of the electric pickup, CNN’s live TV coverage was more zoomed-out, showing the entire front end of the Lightning. A full-width LED brow not found on regular F-150s set it apart. The same truck was shown in tweets of the facility from earlier today covered by a black sheet—a strong hint, along with Biden’s EV-centric, future-of-the-auto-industry speech, that it’s the Lightning.

In addition to the truck poking out before and during Biden’s speech (behind the Presidential podium), images taken during the President’s tour of the factory revealed a bare F-150 Lightning chassis (pictured below) which seems to reveal a fully independent suspension. (Do you see a live axle in the rear? We don’t.)

Starting next year, the electric F-150 will be built at the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center where Biden spoke today. The facility sits on Ford’s sprawling and historic River Rouge grounds along the Detroit river, and represents a $700 million investment in Ford’s electric future. When the 2022 F-150 Lightning goes on sale, it’ll enter a whirlwind of fresh electric pickup-truck competition, from GMC’s Hummer EV Pickup to the Rivian R1T to—possibly—Tesla’s Cybertruck.

The F-150 Lightning’s full reveal is taking place Wednesday May 19, at 9:30 p.m. Eastern time. Be sure to check back in this space for more.

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