Ford is taking a heavily modified version of its F-150 Lightning to Pikes Peak

Ford’s skunkworks personnel are no strangers to building a vehicle specifically to climb up a really big mountain located close to Colorado Springs. They will continue that tradition this year too, with a hardcore, stripped-down version of Ford’s all-electric F-150 Lightning set for a rendezvous with Pikes Peak. 

While the sole image released so far is mostly useless, it does confirm a huge rear wing and a lower, wider body. Ford is dubbing this a ‘demonstrator’ of the electric F-150, so don't expect it to look too much like the standard mass-market version.

Powertrain details are also being kept hush for now, but we’re expecting a more refined version of the tri-motor, all-wheel drive unit used to power last year’s competitor: the Transit-based ‘SuperVan 4.2’. That means around 1,400bhp in competition trim, by the way, and an unrestricted potential of 2,000bhp and 1,328lb ft of torque. Yikes.

The SuperVan 4.2 annihilated the previous in-class record by around 37 seconds at the 2023 event and managed a second-placed finish overall. It missed out on outright victory by just under eight seconds, so Ford will fancy its chances with this year’s smaller (and perhaps lighter) competitor.

Qualifying for the 2024 Pikes Peak event will begin on 18 June, before the official race occurs five days later.