The Electric Edition. Or….
It’s no secret that Thomas Edison and Henry Ford were pals and sometimes rivals. For a while, Edison thought the future of automobiles should be electric while Ford insisted that internal combustion was the thing.
But in the end, the man who invented the electric light and powered American cities didn’t fight too hard over who would rule the road.
Ford even lent Edison some money to help develop electric batteries capable of doing more than just powering the headlights. But the venture, err, stalled.
Briefly electrics thrived and even competed at the dawn of the automotive age. But eventually they would go the way of the dinosaurs as Ford’s reeking engines blew past them.
And so, it somehow seems fitting that, a century later, it would be Ford Motors, and not an Edison spawned company, that would finally make the big, big, big breakthrough in electric vehicles.
Anybody can make a Leaf blow down the road. But Ford’s contribution to, um, carbon neutrality enhancement is bigger, more powerful, heavier and more manly than Edison himself could ever have conceived.
More autoAmerican in every sense of the word is the new Lightening F-150 pickup truck. It even comes with a presidential endorsement.
“Our brief time in the passenger seat suggested the 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning does not come with dynamic compromises that will upset loyal truck buyers. It is quicker, more responsive, and can tow and off-road as well as or better than comparable F-150s with combustion engines. And it has some perks from being electric that enhance the experience.”
Bigger. Bulkier, Faster. Heavier. What’s wrong with all that? It’s the autoAmerican way, isn’t it?
Unfortunately, yes. And that’s the problem. We already know that our love for ever bigger, faster and more powerful pick-ups and SUVs is killing us. Literally.
But that’s the story of autoAmerica in a nutshell. Tens of thousands of dead pedestrians a year is a cheap price to pay for the thrill of it all.
Get off the road all you puny Bolt drivers. Something big and bad is coming.
Turns out that size matters, even when you are trying to save the world.
If Edison had only known where all this was headed he would have fought Ford to the bitter end for market share.
And the winner is……
FreeGNV 