Soon, there will be another Ford ready for duty on the local police beat. The electric F-150 Lightning will gain a few factory tweaks to become the F-150 Lightning Pro SSV, which stands for Special Service Vehicle. It also gains something you wouldn't normally find on the entry-level Lightning Pro – an extended-range battery with 580 horsepower.
We're getting ahead of ourselves a bit here. Ford offers the Lightning Pro SSV to law enforcement with the standard-range battery, delivering 230 miles of range and 452 hp driving all four wheels. That's still plenty of power, enough to send the electric truck to 60 mph in around 5 seconds. With the available extended battery, however, such acceleration takes only 4 seconds. That makes for a seriously fast police vehicle, but Ford does more than just offer the "big engine" in a plain pickup.
Front and rear seats are upgraded and covered in cloth, with the front seats redesigned to better accommodate officers wearing holsters. The seatbacks in front also get built-in steel intrusion plates, and the carpeting is swapped out for vinyl flooring. Police vehicles often receive specialized third-party upfits, so Ford reinforces and modifies the F-150's dash to make the installation of equipment easier. On the outside, roof-mounted lights can be added straight from the factory.
Gallery: 2023 Ford F-150 Lightning Pro SSV
In addition to hardware, the Lightning Pro SSV will be packaged with software used in Ford Pro's platform of connected vehicles. It's designed to help police agencies better manage their fleet of Fords, and the odds are good that more than one Ford is on-duty. According to the automaker, Ford accounts for 65 percent of the law enforcement market, more than all other manufacturers making police vehicles combined. And to help agencies get the electric Lightning, Ford is rolling out new financing options for municipalities that include options for charging equipment.
Automakers On Duty:
"We're proud to offer America’s first electric police pickup truck to local government customers who can use the truck’s game-changing technology to help improve their productivity," said Nate Oscarson, Ford Pro national government sales manager. "Pro Power Onboard can serve as a mobile power source to light up evening accident scenes on the highway, the electric powertrain helps to potentially reduce costs associated with fuel and scheduled maintenance needs, and the Mega Power Frunk provides extra lockable storage on top of purpose-built police additions our customers have come to expect from the leader in police vehicles."
Source: Ford