Biden filmed putting the Ford F-150 Lightning electric pickup through its paces
The president's usually more of a Corvette guy, but it seems like he's having a good time with the Lightning.
That's the face of a world leader who's developed a taste for electric torque.
President Joe Biden was filmed taking Ford's all-electric new Lightning pickup truck for what looked like a high-speed run down a stretch of pavement during a visit to Ford's Rouge factory in Dearborn, Michigan on Tuesday.
While Biden is known as a bit of a Corvette fiend, he seems to be enjoying himself behind the wheel of a vehicle with enough torque to make even a big block C2 quake in its boots. Even better, the Lightning looks quick enough that even the Secret Service was forced to scramble to keep up, in a video clip posted to Twitter by C-SPAN.
President Biden test drives F-150 Lightning: "This sucker's quick!" pic.twitter.com/BoVG04Ro9M
— CSPAN (@cspan) May 18, 2021
What was the presidential verdict after taking the Lightning for a spin? "This sucker's quick!" he exclaimed, adding that he'd buy one. A reporter asked how quick it was, and Biden said it did 0-60 mph in 4.3 or 4.4 seconds, looking to a Ford employee for clarification, who quickly declined to comment. The president then did a hard launch from a stop right in front of the press pool, accelerating to 80 mph.
The visit to Ford's factory comes as part of Biden's push for widespread electric vehicle adoption in America. That push comes with considerable investments in charging infrastructure as well as a move to make the entire federal fleet electric in coming years.
The Ford F-150 Lightning is officially set to debut on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. PT (9:30 p.m. ET), so we lack most of its official specs, but we do know that it's got a great big frunk and a sizable light bar across its nose to help distinguish it from nonelectric F-150 models.
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