Ford Strikes In Norway Selling F-150 Lightning EV

Republished By Plato

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Ford is going global with the all-electric F-150 Lightning pickup, offering a limited edition of the truck in Norway, perhaps the most advanced EV market on the planet.

Per Gunnar Berg in Ford Lightning Norway — Per Gunnar Berg, managing director, Ford Norway, inside the frunk of an F-150 Lightning, which is going global for the first time.

Officials said overwhelming demand from Norwegians made it impossible for the automaker to ignore the opportunity to sell the pickup in the country. They can apply to purchase a limited number of F-150 Lightning Lariat Launch Edition vehicles.

Norway is the unofficial kingdom of the electric vehicle. More than half of all vehicles purchased in 2020 were battery powered. That jumped to 65% in 2021. Last year, the number jumped to nearly 80% of all new vehicles sold.

There are so many Teslas in Norway its stunning that CEO Elon Musk’s picture isn’t on the country’s money — or at least a stamp. The country is well on its way to meeting its goal of ending gas-powered vehicle sales by the end of 2025.

Norwegians really want trucks

“In my 25 years at Ford, I’ve never seen anything like the passion and demand I’m seeing from drivers right now to get behind the wheel of our F-150 Lightning,” said Per Gunnar Berg, managing director, Ford Norway.

“I’ve had customers literally banging on my door and pleading for us to bring the electric pickup to Norway. F-150 Lightning is the perfect match for many customers in Norway – uniquely capable of quenching our thirst for adventure while embracing our passion for protecting the environment.”

Selling the F-150 Lighting certainly advances the automaker’s goals of zero emissions for all vehicle sales in Europe and carbon neutrality across its European footprint of facilities, logistics and suppliers by 2035. Although, it’s not the company’s first EV sold there as the Mustang Mach-E is a top 10 seller in Norway.

Ford Lightning driving in Norway REL — F-150 Lightning is going to Norway, the world’s most advanced electric vehicle market.

Ford is investing more than $50 billion globally through 2026 to electric vehicles and targeting a production run rate of 2 million electric vehicles globally by the end of that year. The company says it expects EVs to be half of its global vehicle sales volume by 2030 and is on track to achieve carbon neutrality no later than 2050.

EVs are big sellers

The nation is committed to buying EVs, clearly and Ford is looking to make its mark in the cold, snowy market with the Lightning.

“Ingenuity runs through this truck inside and out. I strongly encourage our future Norwegian customers to put this truck to the test for all their outdoor adventures,” said Darren Palmer, vice president, Electric Vehicle Programs, Ford Model e.

While it’s generating a lot of buzz, the F-150 Lightning is going to run into a few familiar names. According to the Norwegian Road Federation, the top-selling electric vehicle in the country in 2022 was the Tesla Model Y with 17,356 vehicles sold.

That was followed by the Volkswagen ID.4 (11,561), Skoda Enyaq (7,133), BMW iX (6,127), Volvo XC40 (5,279), Hyundai Ioniq 5 (5,044), Audi Q4 e-tron (4,928), Audi e-tron (4,740), Polestar 2 (4,692) and the Ford Mustang Mach-E at 4,226 units.