Ford’s Electric Pickup Highlights An Unjust Climate Transition

Owing to the influence of President Joe Biden, the launch of Ford’s new all-electric F-150 Lightning pickup truck has garnered much media attention as the American automotive giant slowly starts to turn its attention to electric vehicles.

Yet, while much of the coverage about the launch of the F-150 Lightning has been positive and lauded the arrival of more electric vehicle options, it has significantly overlooked the road safety and climate dangers posed by SUVs and pickup trucks.

Today we look at what Ford’s latest product means for US emissions, and how it is holding back a just climate transition.

Just Transition

When we talk about a just transition, we mean the introduction of legislation that will benefit everyone as we seek to lower greenhouse gas emissions in order to tackle the Climate Crisis.

While many of us will think about our own carbon footprint – or that of our home nation – the idea of a just transition means that we need to consider the impact for all societies worldwide.

Crucial to this is considering the role of the Global South – typically lower income countries which have historically had the lowest carbon footprints, and which are most vulnerable in the face of the Climate Crisis.

The Ford F-150 Lightning is expected to weigh 6,500lbs according to Motortrend. Compare this to the weight of a European SUV such as the VW ID4, at 4,517lbs, or a typical non-SUV car such as the VW ID3, at 3,527lbs, and you’ll soon see that American SUVs and pick-ups weigh twice the weight of a typical European vehicle.

This either means vastly higher levels of energy consumption – meaning more investment in renewable energy, or the consumption of more fossil fuels to produce electricity – a reduction in performance and range, or the production of larger batteries to make up for the shortfall in range due to weight.

Again, the latter does not represent a just transition, as the US would be consume more than its fair share of batteries and drive greater exploitation of people and land in order to produce them.

It is also important to remember that SUVs and pickups are only popular in the US due to considerable tax concessions, and that their classification allowed manufacturers to avoid fuel economy regulations.

To put this into context, each year SUVs emit 700 megatonnes of CO2 – equivalent to the entire output of the UK and the Netherlands combined. In fact, if SUV drivers were a single nation, it would rank as the seventh largest emitter in the world.

With Ford typically selling 900,000 F-Series trucks per year, the introduction of an electric alternative to the highly-polluting ICE version could help the US to make a dent in its rising automotive emissions.

This is reinforced by Ford’s plans to stop selling ICE vehicles by 2035 – albeit that this is considerably later than many countries are due to ban the sale of non-electric vehicles, with Ireland committed to ending petrol and diesel sales in 2030.

Yet, even if the F-150 Lightning does contribute to offsetting the emissions of some of the worst-polluting vehicles on the road – and that’s a big if – it still does not address the major road safety concerns of such vehicles, especially with a vehicle that stands 6 foot 4 inches (1.9 meters) tall.

As such, by committing to the continuation of these heavy, oversized vehicles – and using the incumbent President to promote them – the US is committing to a highly unjust climate transition that will only further exacerbate the gulf between rich and poor nations, while putting the safety of their own citizens at even greater jeopardy.

In the interests of road safety and achieving sufficient greenhouse gas emissions reductions, we would support a ban on the sale of SUVs alongside the sale of ICE vehicles.