FORD'S F-150 LIGHTNING EV DEMONSTRATOR HOPE TO SHATTER FORD'S OWN PIKES PEAK EV RECORD.
The famous Pikes Peak International Hill Climb is one of the world’s most iconic motorsport events, known as the Race to the Clouds because the summit of Pikes Peak is 4 302 m high. It is 20 km long with 156 turns, many of those with sheer drops that mean big trouble if you mess up. There’s worldwide coverage of Pikes Peak and to capitalise many OEMs create their own purpose-built cars to tackle the hill. Ford is one of the very few things that is more American than Pikes Peak, and over the years has campaigned some amazing cars dedicated to taming the iconic hill. The Ford Supervan 4.2 has the Open Class record set in 2019 at a time of 8:47,682. This year Ford plans to run a new purpose-built electric vehicle based not on a van, but a truck this time. It’s the F-150 Lightning SuperTruck Demonstrator. The current record-holding driver is French race driver Romain Dumas, and he’s been commissioned as this year’s Ford driver at the wheel of the Ford Performance Motorsports EV Demonstrator. The Demonstrator is based on an F-150 Lightning developed in partnership with STARD Advanced R&D➕Motorsport. There’s over-the-top aero capable of giving the Demonstrator over 2.7 tons of downforce at 240 km/h. This F-150 Lightning SuperTruck follows on to the recently seen F-150 Switchgear, the automaker’s high-performance on- and off-road fully-electric truck that’s basically an all-electric Raptor that developed in partnership with another Ford partner, RTR. The Ford F-150 Lightning Switchgear is based on a production Lightning and is enhanced with a bolstered suspension, carbon composite panels, skid plates and more. It features a dual-electric motor setup with a 131.0-kW/hr battery pack from the extended-range model and it's rated at a decent 433 kW of power with 1,050 Nm of torque.
For this Pikes Peak, the three STARD UHP 6-phase motors and ultra-high performance Li-Polymer NMC cells will be turned up to generate more than 1,000 kW (over 1400 hp). If the Pirelli P-Zero tyres do their job and the aero makes sure Dumas stays planted in his racing line, there’s no reason the Demonstrator can’t shatter the records that Ford already owns.
“After a successful 2023 climb, I’m thrilled to be behind the wheel again with this team and to help push the limits of what an electric vehicle can achieve on the turns of this legendary course,” said Dumas. ”In testing, the F-150 Lightning SuperTruck has surpassed my expectations, so we are hoping for some good weather to try and do something very special.”
“To make the best vehicles for our customers, our research takes us racing in the harshest and most challenging conditions – the F-150 Lightning SuperTruck is the latest example of that,” said Mark Rushbrook, Global Director of Ford Performance. “Our pursuit to the top of the mountain is charged by the commitment to make all our electric vehicles more capable, more advanced, and more exciting.”
Ford cars and trucks have been competing at Pikes Peak since 1916, starting with a Model T that took just over 28 minutes to reach the finish line. This year, Ford aims to surpass its own 2023 record set by SuperVan 4.2, which completed the run in 8 minutes 47.682 seconds.
Take a look at the YouTube video that shows off a bit more about this F150-based, fully electric, purpose-built racecar that will hopefully tame the infamous Pikes Peak International Hillclimb: Can Ford's 1400 HP Electric SuperTruck Break the Pikes Peak Record?| Ford F-150 Lightning SuperTruck | Vision Effect TV
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