Ford has again received the right to build a pace car for NASCAR races. And again an electric car was chosen for this role. Last year it became the crossover Mustang Mach-E, and this year – a pickup truck F-150 Lightning. According to representatives of “Ford”, they can’t wait to show the possibilities of the car on the track, in fact, it has everything to surprise spectators. In particular, we are talking about the power plant with 570 horsepower and acceleration to 60 mph (97 km/h) in four and a bit seconds.
No modifications are provided for the Ford F-150 Lightning Pace Car. The new status will bring the pickup only stickers with the race logo Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 400 and “chandelier” on the roof so that technically everything remains unchanged. Two electric motors together will still produce 570 horsepower and 1051 Nm of torque, and the range will be 370-483 kilometers.
With the top-of-the-line battery, the F-150 Lightning will accelerate from a spot to 60 mph (97 km/h) in a little over four seconds. The equipment list includes Blue Cruise autopilot, which does not require touching the steering wheel with your hands, Pro Power Onboard external equipment power system with up to 9.6 kilowatts, support for digital keys in your smartphone, and over-the-air updates to onboard electronics.
If you want, you can even power the house from the pickup. How long it will run in generator mode depends on the power consumption, but with reasonable use, we can talk about ten days.
In general, Ford was the first manufacturer to use an electric car as a pace car for NASCAR races. It happened in April 2012, when the company launched the battery-powered Focus at Richmond International Raceway.