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Ford used Alaska’s trickiest terrain to test the F-150 Lightning’s all-season capability

Preproduction model with optional equipment driven under test conditions. Professional driver on closed course. Do not attempt. 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning production begins spring 2022.

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Ford is preparing for the first deliveries of its all-electric pickup the F-150 Lightning this Spring. As Ford moves closer to bringing the electric version of its popular pickup series to market, the company has been assessing the vehicle’s performance in some of the most challenging settings, ensuring customers will enjoy the top-notch capabilities the F-series has offered for decades. The F-150 Lightning spent two weeks with Ford engineers in Alaska, providing the vehicle with some of its toughest and trickiest tests to date.

Ford, which saw an over 55 percent increase in electric vehicle sales in February, took its new all-electric pickup to the coldest portions of the frozen Alaskan tundra, assessing the pickup’s performance on low-traction surfaces like snow and ice. The environment also provided another challenge: extremely cold temperatures, which are not always friendly to electric powertrains.

“Alaska provides us the extremely cold temperatures, snow and ice-covered surfaces that we need to push the F-150 Lightning in this type of testing, which is really focused on dialing-in how the truck delivers its power to the ground on slippery surfaces,” Cameron Dillon, an F-150 Lightning powertrain engineer, said. “Customers may not regularly see minus 30-degree mornings like we are seeing here, but they will see winter cold, snow, and icy roads, and they should feel confident their F-150 Lightning is ready for all of it.”

“Alaska provides us the extremely cold temperatures, snow and ice-covered surfaces that we need to push the F-150 Lightning in this type of testing, which is really focused on dialing-in how the truck delivers its power to the ground on slippery surfaces,” Cameron Dillon, an F-150 Lightning powertrain engineer, said. “Customers may not regularly see minus 30-degree mornings like we are seeing here, but they will see winter cold, snow, and icy roads, and they should feel confident their F-150 Lightning is ready for all of it.”

Ford says it performed low-mu testing, an evaluation of an all-electric powertrain and how it adjusts power delivery to the wheels on low-traction surfaces. Snow, ice, and cold temperatures all contribute to the removal of traction from normal driving surfaces like concrete and asphalt. Alaska was an ideal choice, especially as it offered extreme scenarios of what the truck will see on a daily basis.

Ford took six pre-production units of the F-150 Lightning to Alaska for the testing, it said. It also tested the pickup’s performance on a variety of winter weather conditions, including loose and packed snow, half ice-half concrete, and complete ice. The F-150 Lightning’s ability to sense wheel slip and adjust power to the wheels within the blink of an eye helps improve handling. The advantages are just another feature of electric powertrains, Nick Harris, another F-150 Lightning powertrain engineer, said.

 

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“F-150 Lightning in the snow is a very different ballgame compared to gas vehicles. The responses are extremely quick and the dual motors make it as if you have two engines pumping out power in one vehicle. A lot of our work is to coordinate the two motors to work together to best deliver torque to the ground, so that customers who drive in the snow and ice ultimately feel very confident.”

“F-150 Lightning in the snow is a very different ballgame compared to gas vehicles. The responses are extremely quick and the dual motors make it as if you have two engines pumping out power in one vehicle. A lot of our work is to coordinate the two motors to work together to best deliver torque to the ground, so that customers who drive in the snow and ice ultimately feel very confident.”

The electric F-150 Lightning has six standard benefits that all can be attributed to the use of an electric powertrain, rather than a gas-powered one:

  • Standard dual motors front and rear
  • Standard always-on 4×4
  • Quick torque delivery
  • Standard electronic-locking rear differential
  • Selectable drive modes
  • Low center of gravity for even more confident handling

Ford also can adjust the calibration to help make quick adjustments to the vehicle, making testing more efficient. While the team spent just two weeks in Alaska’s extreme conditions, Ford says the F-150 Lightning Powertrain team also dedicated numerous testing sessions in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, Borrego Springs, Johnson Valley, and at Ford’s Michigan Proving Grounds near Romeo.

The F-150 Lightning will begin customer deliveries this Spring. Ford recently split its EV and combustion engine operations into two “divisions.” The electric side is known as Model e, while combustion engine projects will fall under the Ford Blue division.

I’d love to hear from you! If you have any comments, concerns, or questions, please email me at joey@teslarati.com. You can also reach me on Twitter @KlenderJoey, or if you have news tips, you can email us at tips@teslarati.com.

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Joey has been a journalist covering electric mobility at TESLARATI since August 2019. In his spare time, Joey is playing golf, watching MMA, or cheering on any of his favorite sports teams, including the Baltimore Ravens and Orioles, Miami Heat, Washington Capitals, and Penn State Nittany Lions. You can get in touch with joey at joey@teslarati.com. He is also on X @KlenderJoey. If you're looking for great Tesla accessories, check out shop.teslarati.com

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Elon Musk reveals when SpaceX will perform first-ever Starship catch

“Starship catch is probably flight 13 to 15, depending on how well V3 flights go,” Musk said.

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Credit: SpaceX

Elon Musk revealed when SpaceX would perform the first-ever catch attempt of Starship, its massive rocket that will one day take life to other planets.

On Tuesday, Starship aced its tenth test flight as SpaceX was able to complete each of its mission objectives, including a splashdown of the Super Heavy Booster in the Gulf, the deployment of eight Starlink simulators, and another splashdown of the ship in the Indian Ocean.

It was the first launch that featured a payload deployment:

SpaceX Starship Flight 10 was so successful, it’s breaking the anti-Musk narrative

SpaceX was transparent that it would not attempt to catch the Super Heavy Booster, something it has done on three previous occasions: Flight 5 on October 13, 2024, Flight 7 on January 16, and Flight 8 on March 6.

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This time, it was not attempting to do so. However, there are bigger plans for the future, and Musk detailed them in a recent post on X, where he discussed SpaceX’s plans to catch Starship, which would be a monumental accomplishment.

Musk said the most likely opportunities for SpaceX to catch Starship itself would be Flight 13, Flight 14, and Flight 15, but it depends on “how well the V3 flights go.”

The Starship launched with Flight 10 was a V2, which is the same size as the subsequent V3 rocket but has a smaller payload-to-orbit rating and is less powerful in terms of initial thrust and booster thrust. Musk said there is only one more V2 rocket left to launch.

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V3 will be the version flown through 2026, as V4, which will be the most capable Starship build SpaceX manufactures, is likely to be the first company ship to carry humans to space.

Musk said that SpaceX planned to “hopefully” attempt a catch of Starship in 2025. However, it appears that this will likely be pushed back to 2026 due to timing.

SpaceX will take Starship catch one step further very soon, Elon Musk confirms

SpaceX would need to launch the 11th and 12th test flights by the end of the year in order to get to Musk’s expected first catch attempt of Flight 13. It’s not unheard of, but the company will need to accelerate its launch rate as it has only had three test flights this year.

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Tesla Robotaxi rival Waymo confirms massive fleet expansion in Bay Area

New data from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) said Waymo had 1,429 vehicles operating in California, and 875 of them were “associated with a terminal in San Francisco,” according to The SF Examiner.

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Credit: Uber

Tesla Robotaxi rival Waymo has confirmed that it has expanded its fleet of driverless ride-sharing vehicles in the Bay Area of California massively since its last public disclosure.

It is perhaps one of the most important metrics in the race for autonomous supremacy, along with overall service area. Tesla has seemed to focus on the latter, while expanding its fleet slowly to maintain safety.

Waymo, on the other hand, is bringing its fleet size across the country to significant levels. In March, it told The SF Examiner that there were over 300 Waymos in service in the San Francisco area, which was not a significant increase from the 250 vehicles on the road it reported in August 2023.

In May, the company said in a press release that it had more than 1,500 self-driving Waymos operating nationwide. More than 600 were in the San Francisco area.

Tesla analyst compares Robotaxi to Waymo: ‘The contrast was clear’

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However, new data from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) said Waymo had 1,429 vehicles operating in California, and 875 of them were “associated with a terminal in San Francisco,” according to The SF Examiner.

CPUC data from March 2025 indicated that there were a total of 1,087 Waymo vehicles in California, with 762 located in San Francisco. Some were test vehicles, others were deployed to operate as ride-sharing vehicles.

The company’s August update also said that it deploys more than 2,000 commercial vehicles in the United States. That number was 1,500 in May. There are also roughly 400 in Phoenix and 500 in Los Angeles.

While Waymo has done a good job of expanding its fleet, it has also been able to expand its footprint in the various cities it is operating in.

Most recently, it grew its geofence in Austin, Texas, to 90 square miles. This outpaced Tesla for a short period before the company expanded its Robotaxi service area earlier this week to roughly 170 square miles.

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Tesla one-ups Waymo once again with latest Robotaxi expansion in Austin

The two companies have drastically different approaches to self-driving, as Waymo utilizes LiDAR, while Tesla relies solely on cameras for its suite. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has made no mistake about which he believes to be the superior solution to autonomy.

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Tesla launches Full Self-Driving in a new region

Today, Tesla launched Full Self-Driving in Australia for purchase by car buyers for $10,100, according to Aussie automotive blog Man of Many, which tried out the suite earlier this week.

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla has launched its Full Self-Driving suite in a new region, marking a significant step in the company’s progress to expand its driver assistance suite on a global scale.

It is also the first time Tesla has launched FSD in a right-hand-drive market.

Today, Tesla launched Full Self-Driving in Australia for purchase by car buyers for $10,100, according to Aussie automotive blog Man of Many, which tried out the suite earlier this week.

Previously, Basic and Enhanced Autopilot suites were available, but the FSD capability now adds Traffic Light and Stop Sign Control, along with all the features of the previous two Autopilot suites.

It is the first time Tesla has launched the suite by name in a region outside of North America. In China, Tesla has “City Autopilot,” as it was not permitted to use the Full Self-Driving label for regulatory reasons.

However, Tesla still lists Full Self-Driving (Supervised) as available in the U.S., Canada, China, Mexico, and Puerto Rico.

The company teased the launch of the suite in Australia earlier this week, and it appeared to have been released to select media members in the region earlier this week:

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Tesla FSD upcoming Australia release seemingly teased bv media

The rollout of Full Self-Driving in the Australian market will occur in stages, as Model 3 and Model Y vehicles with Hardware 4 will receive the first batch of FSD rollouts in the region.

TechAU also reported that “the initial deployment of FSDs in Australia will roll out to a select number of people outside the company, these people are being invited into Tesla’s Early Access Program.”

Additionally, the company reportedly said it is “very close” to unlocking FSD in customer cars:

Each new Tesla sold will also come with a 30-day free trial of the suite.

Australia is the sixth country to officially have Full Self-Driving available to them, following the United States, Canada, China, Mexico, and Puerto Rico.

Here’s the first look at the suite operating in Australia:

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