Ah Norway, the land of fjords, black metal, and…half-ton pickup trucks? Apparently so. Ford has announced that it will sell the electric F-150 Lightning pickup truck in Norway, meaning that the plug-in version of America’s best-selling vehicle will soon make it to Europe through official channels.
Norway loves electric vehicles, with a flurry of incentives helping the Nordic nation become a pioneer in EV adoption. Perhaps more surprisingly, Norway loves American vehicles. Originally a club for owners of American cars, Amcar has expanded to become one of the leading motoring voices in Norway and now extends membership to owners of all marques. Still, American vehicles dominate the club, from pre-war cars to iconic American muscle. If that sounds odd, think about how a sizable section of American enthusiasts are clamoring for cars only sold in far-off lands, and everything should make sense. To a certain extent, we all want what we can’t have.
The tidal wave of American automotive enthusiasm is so strong that Ford cites unprecedented customer enthusiasm as the chief decider in whether or not to bring the F-150 Lightning to “The World’s EV Capital,” with the brand writing in its press release “The electric version of America’s best-selling pickup is going to Norway in response to overwhelming public demand.” As Ford Norway managing director Per Gunnar Berg stated in a press release, “I’ve had customers literally banging on my door and pleading for us to bring the electric pickup to Norway.” Clearly, security at automaker headquarters is very different in Norway.
While most manufacturers would simply tell enthusiasts to go away, Ford is instead celebrating this craving with a special model. Norwegian enthusiasts can now queue up to pre-order one of an unspecified limited number of F-150 Lightning Lariat Launch Edition models, all equipped identically. The standard range 98 kWh battery sits between the frame rails and you can have any color you like so long as it’s Antimatter Blue. Deliveries are expected to start around Christmas, while pricing works out to 1,183,000 kroner. That works out to roughly $111,689 at the time of writing, which sounds like a lot but isn’t so bad once you factor in the costs of shipping, certification, tax, and all that. Hell, Norway even uses a different type of CCS DC fast charging connector than America.
Of course, supply is still quite tight, so the vetting process for prospective Norwegian F-150 Lightning owners sounds like something out of the Ferrari playbook. According to Norwegian technology website and keeper of a very clever domain name Tek.no, customers will be asked questions about things like what they plan on using the truck for and how it fills a need in their lives in an attempt to keep these workhorses out of the hands of speculators.
As for licensing, you’ll initially need a light truck license to drive the F-150 Lightning in Norway, but it’s reported that it will be possible to re-register the truck for use on a passenger car license. It’s quite amusing to think that this 79.9-inch-wide slab of American beef will soon be on sale in Norway through 70 EV-certified Ford dealers, which means it will come with factory servicing support and a factory warranty. While it’s not terribly hard to find the occasional pickup truck in Norway, most are private imports that don’t offer the same purchasing convenience of a domestic-market model.
Amidst all the intrigue, the Norwegian-market F-150 Lightning offers a lesson to enthusiasts: If you’re loud enough and willing to put your money where your mouth is, anything can happen. Even half-ton electric pickup trucks in Norway.
(Photo credits: Ford)
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My neighbors bought one of these WoKe trucks n within a month they sold it because everything was going wrong with it and it didn’t get the supposed miles per charge so it was gone Fast as it runs out of battery life.
I think the huge F150 will be kinda ridiculous on our narrow roads and and also you need a light truck license to drive it because of its porkiness. Also the statement that Norwegians love American cars should be heavily nuanced. Definitely some niche Amcar enthusiasts in Norway, but they’re mainly focused on the few surviving cars from the 60’s – 80’s. Apart from Tesla (which is popular because of the tax break for ev’s, not because it’s American) you hardly see any American cars from the last 30 years on the road here. Maybe a rotting Caliber or Stratus and a stranded Cherokee here and there, but that’s it.
Norway and Sweden both have a strong affection for American cars, and North American trucks are widely available through private importers.
Right now there are 12 MY2022 or newer Ford F series on the Norwegian classifieds site finn.no. Fancy a Raptor? This one has 100km on the clock and could be yours for 2,199,900NOK (USD208,000).
Here in Sweden, my adopted hometown of Umeå in Norrland has a dealer that imports and homologates Ram, Ford and GM trucks. It might be unusual for an American consumer to picture a showroom with brand-new examples of all three under the same roof (certainly helps with cross-shopping).
As ICE-powered vehicles, they’re insanely expensive to purchase, tax and run. But with EV platforms, sparsely populated rural areas of Scandinavia could find them very appealing.
Isn’t Sweden basically Norway with typos?
No, they got rich from oil and spends all free time hiking up and down the mountains. I dont think they got any flat spaces at all.
“The Price is Right”.
Not only Sweden and Norway are into American cars, Finland too!
Thunderhorse edition, please. Just for Toki Wartooth.
Are they changing the power outlets to 220v too?
The soundtrack being the Eurovision entry of Norway from 2019 makes it even better
No doubt the Norwegian Lightnings will come complete with Ford factory recalls, too. Hope they enjoy those as much as we do.
I don’t want to know what giant balloon tires would do to the range on one of these, but someone’s got to be planning an Iceland-spec Lightning, right?
I’m surprised to hear that every EV doesn’t automatically get sold in Norway. I believe they have the biggest EV adoption rate in the world so why wouldn’t you sell your very expensive new EV there?
“Did you ever go to a place…I think it was called Norway?”
“No,” said Arthur, “no, I didn’t.”
“Pity,” said Slartibartfast, “that was one of mine. Won an award, you know. Lovely crinkly edges. I was most upset to hear of its destruction.”
“The best laid plans of mice.”
I always wanted to specialize in fjords.
Hands down, COTD. Pour yourself a Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster.
The world wants big trucks. Even Europe. It’s just really hard to get trucks past European regulations.
Norway’s niche is hardly representative of the world.
Continental Europe really doesn’t want them. They’re too big, too impractical and too expensive for a densely urbanised society. But Scandinavia is sparsely populated and the majority of the population lives outside urban areas. Here they have a niche.
I see plenty of RAM trucks in Austrian countryside. I asked the owner in Kitzbühel why he chose RAM truck over smaller trucks (Ford Ranger, Toyota Hi-Lux, Nissan Navarro, Mercedes-Benz X-Class, etc.). He explained that RAM truck had higher towing and load capacity, necessary for some of his field works. The smaller ones wouldn’t cut it.
The additional bonus was that RAM truck had been homologated for the European market with full factory warranty while Chevrolet Silverado/GMC Sierra and Ford F-Series didn’t (they were sold through grey import sales channels with in-house modifications to meet ECE regulations).
When bar fights break out in Norway over Ford, GM, or Mopar, then we’ll know our work is done.
$112,000 to be among the first to have an F-150 Lightening in Europe. Shocking!
$112k can be as much as 50k less than a gasoline powered grey import F-series in Norway (Raptors go for about $150K here) as ICE cars are also taxed on their CO2 Emissions.
Fjord F-150
A+
Thor-d Lightning
That’s a Frigg-ing good one.
Though it’s pure Baldr-dash.
Just Norse-ing around
Keeping it Loki