Pass the cable, Uncle Sam. When Tesla launches with Ford, Europeans swoon

When you get the Plaid model instead of the standard “esque” Tesla, you’re in for some breathtaking moments. It’s actually quite strange that the almost six-meter long pick-up truck from Ford is similarly spectacular. Unlike the 1,000-horsepower Tesla, it can’t reach 100 km/h in just over two seconds, but four and a half seconds is not a bad result for a three-ton car.

Moreover, the F-150 Lightning is not just for the entertainment of mobile self-mademen. His ambitious goal is to get Americans to go electric. In a country where the eight-cylinder F-150 is as popular as the Škoda Octavia in the Czech Republic, this is a seemingly impossible mission. It would hardly occur to a novice that everything is possible if it is approached from the right end.

Everything as before

Above all, it is necessary not to deny the car anything that its traditional customer is used to. And so even an electric 100 tows a comparably heavy, 4.5-tonne braked trailer. For those who follow the development of electric cars more closely, this is a hard-to-believe number.

In addition to the traditionally good useful properties, Lightning adds a few little things that every native American will appreciate. Literally all over the car, Ford has spread electrical outlets that are capable of powering a household with average energy consumption for several days or serving as a power source for a picnic in the countryside. And where the six- or eight-cylinder used to reign, the biggest frunk in the world found its place. The closed space under the front hood, which opens by remote control, has exactly 400 liters. That is, as much as any average car offers. Above the rear axle, of course.

Looking at the interior, however, it seems as if time has stopped many years ago. Cadillac Deville in the 1970s already had seats similar to what the Lightning has today. And if it weren’t for the vertically positioned screen in the middle of the dashboard, we could call Ford’s controls highly conservative.

However, the somewhat old-fashioned interior is in sharp contrast to the performance that the F-150 Lightning demonstrates in practice. It’s not just that the colossus, next to which the Kodiaq looks like a city hatchback, accelerates four times faster than the electric Dacia Spring. And it’s not even surprising that 1000 Nm and 580 horsepower can create the appearance of ease with which the car sails through everyday traffic.

It’s fascinating how little power it draws for all of this. In winter weather, when the car repeatedly accelerated at the airport, drove 130 km/h on the highway, and the cabin was warmed by the heater, Lightning claimed a final 30 kWh/100 km. It can travel 400 kilometers on a single charge. And you can live with that.

Rams instead of a steering wheel

Unlike the flashy Ford, the Tesla is pretty boring to look at. The five-meter body of the Model S, a relatively ordinary liftback, is, despite minor improvements over time, ten years old. Only a connoisseur and fan of the brand will recognize the top version thanks to the carbon “lollipop” on the trunk lid and the Plaid plaque on the right rear of the car.

The steering wheel called the Yoke, i.e. a kind of angular “rams” without a crown in the upper half, attracts all the attention of the novelty. It is perhaps ideal for a long journey on a straight highway. With the autopilot system turned on, the car pulls off the highway by itself, overtakes slower machines and pulls in front of them again, all controlled by just gently holding the steering wheel in the palm of your hand.

However, when the driver needs to press the blinker button on the left side of the roundabout when exiting the roundabout, he has to fumble with his left thumb. Maneuvering in the parking lot is by far the worst.

With loss of consciousness

However, there is something else fascinating about Plaid. The ease with which he demonstrates absurd acceleration. It looks almost boring from the outside. The car crouches down, all four wheels spin on the spot, a cloud of dust rises from the asphalt, and in a few seconds you can see only a dot in the distance. The driver experiences a parallel reality at the same time.

However, the whole experience requires a little preparation. At the very beginning, you need to activate the Drag Strip mode, which ensures that the traction battery has the right temperature. When it’s below zero outside, it can easily take half an hour. But who can wait… Then all you have to do is step on the brake and the gas pedal at the same time: the air suspension sends the chassis closer to the ground, while the display reports that the car is preparing to rush forward like a cheetah.

Do you think this is ridiculous? You have never seen a checkered graphic on the screen, which is intended to give the impression that the Tesla, like a space rocket, is entering another space dimension.

And again it is necessary to mention consumption. When the driver is misbehaving with the car, the figure 150 kWh/100 km lights up on the dashboard. In normal operation, however, it is ten times less. Even highway speed, the touchstone of many electric cars, drains just 18 kWh from the battery every 100 kilometers. If nothing else was interesting about the Tesla, this alone would be enough to make the decision to buy it.

After a weekend spent with two electric Americans, it is certain that behind the big puddle there have been developments in the automotive industry that conceited Europe can watch with open mouth. While local manufacturers are racing to present their visions and plans, the Americans are quietly building cars for which the traditional European brands have no adequate answer. With no apparent pains, they managed to get rid of mocking stereotypes to show everyone what modern times look like. It is difficult to judge whether American genius or European clumsiness is more responsible for this.