At a look, one may mistake this burly Ford pickup truck for an F-150 Raptor. And why not? It’s obtained huge mud tires (37 inchers to be actual) bolted to gnarly wheels. There’s extra floor clearance, extra stance, extra flash – the whole lot you’d count on from Ford’s common off-roader. But that face clearly belongs to the F-150 Lightning. Technically talking, this is not an electrical Raptor. However, Ford tells us it is closely influenced by years of Raptor expertise.

Officially, it’s the F-150 Lightning Switchgear and no, you possibly can’t purchase it (but). This rig is the most recent demonstrator from Ford, becoming a member of automobiles just like the Mustang Mach-E 1400 and bonkers SuperVan to showcase electrical efficiency in numerous genres. While the Switchgear is aimed toward conquering all issues off-road, Ford is eager to say this truck can be designed for efficiency on pavement. You may say it places the swap in Switchgear.

For now, you need to know in regards to the F-150 Lightning that will get airborne on goal. To make that occur, Ford teamed up with RTR Vehicles and Vaughn Gittin Jr, and although it appears merely like a Raptorized EV, Ford tells us the Switchgear is its personal entity. Fox 3.0 internal-bypass shocks are put in entrance and rear, paired with a customized double-wishbone suspension in entrance and multi-link unbiased with a stabilizer bar on the rear. The adjustments give the Switchgear a significantly wider observe, 80 inches entrance and rear, and it wears customized carbon physique panels with huge ol’ fender flares to comprise the tires.

In off-road guise, these adjustments give the Switchgear 13.5 inches of floor clearance in entrance and 11.0 inches on the again. That’s aided by the aforementioned 37-inch off-road tires mounted on 18-inch wheels, and when you peek beneath, you may see a metal skid plate and customized rock rails. Special entrance and rear bumpers assist with strategy and departure angles, too. The upgrades add roughly 150 kilos to the usual Lightning XLT, not unhealthy contemplating all these adjustments however we’re nonetheless speaking a few truck that weighs round 7,000 kilos.

Here’s the place issues get a bit attention-grabbing. The Switchgear additionally has an on-road configuration utilizing just about the identical suspension parts. The 18-inch wheels and knobby tires are changed with 20-inchers on street-friendly rubber. The skid plate, rock rails, and high-clearance bumpers are ditched for a giant carbon composite entrance fascia, rocker panels, and a tonneau cowl. The suspension is tweaked with totally different springs to favor a decrease journey top, particularly 7.0 inches in entrance, 5.0 inches on the again.