An electric Ford F-150 already exists but there is a good reason to avoid it

Ford is currently developing an all-electric version of its immensely popular F-150 pickup truck. Earlier this month a video released of a concept version of the car saw it towing a train and an immense amount of weight. The impressive torque allowed the truck to drag such weight with what seemed like relative ease. While the official F-150 Electric is still some way away from being unveiled there is already an EV variant of the pickup currently on sale. 

A Canadian firm has created a retrofit for some F-150s which swaps out the combustion engine for an all-electric powertrain and battery pack.

Ecotuned has made a total of 15 examples of the car which is currently only being developed for fleet owners.

The mission of the conversions is to give cars second lives instead of them inevitably hitting the scrapyard.

Montreal’s Ecotuned “aims to be a leader in the field of electric vehicle conversion in North America.”

“We’re not a car manufacturer,” said Gladu.

“We’re recycling those cars that would otherwise go to the scrapyard, or the secondary market with polluting engines.”

The firm takes a regular F-150 that’s near or past the expiration of its original powertrain warranty and removes the engine, transmission, exhaust and fuel system.

A two-speed transmission, motor and electronic power components are added as well as a berry pack underneath the floor.

Battery pack sizes range from 43kWh-86kWh in size depending on how much space is available.

According to the firm, in a 2014 F-140 a 48kWh battery can produce up to 87 miles of charge but Gladu claims it can do around 124-miles.

The higher capacity 86kWh car can go 99-miles with a 14,500lbs (6,577kg) on board which is decent and suitable for a lot of motorists.

Its not got any impressive power specs and produces 214 hp and 295 lb ft of torque allowing a 0-60mph sprint of 12-seconds and 106mph top speed.

For such a huge car which is used to carrying big payloads and being used as a workhorse, the available range is probably not going to quite cut it. 

The range can be reduced if the car is weighed down or heavier and with such a limited amount of range it may not be quite suitable. 

Ford is likely to offer more range on a single charge when it launches the EV variant so it may be worth holding out for it.

However, the conversion is a great way to continue the life of the iconic pickup trucks.

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