First off, the truck is an adaptation of a 1978 Ford F-100, something that sold to the tune of a couple of million units. Only this time, it’s not a beater used pickup, but instead, a concept vehicle presented at the SEMA show in Las Vegas by the high-flying minds of product planning at the Ford Motor Company. Officially, it’s called the F-100 Eliminator and it’s the way Ford is introducing something you’re likely going to be hearing a lot more about in coming years, the plug-in – literally – crate motor for electric vehicles. Yes indeed, this is a classic F-Series converted to EV operation.
The truck is a collaboration between Ford Performance, MLe Racecars and the Roadster Shop, but the bigger news is the crate powertrain, which Ford is calling the Eliminator. The package is based around all-wheel drive via two powerful electric motors shared with the 2021 Mustang Mach-E GT Performance Edition. Two electric traction motors drive the front and rear wheels, packing a powerful 480 horsepower and 634 lb.-ft. of torque. This is a first, certainly for Ford and to our knowledge, the first time the U.S. industry has offered a drop-in aftermarket power option for, yes, performance vehicles that indeed is all electric. We’ll say this right here: The automotive aftermarket is worth billions annually, and sooner rather than later, you’re going to see both traditional and startup component suppliers taking a direct stab at it, without the current manufacturer partnership. Believe it, this is going to be big, maybe the most transformative development in the American automotive aftermarket since overhead-valve engines first became available in big numbers, shoving the Ford flathead aside. It’s potentially that significant.
Jim Donnelly On Wheels 