(Newser) – The all-electric F-150 “Lightning” weighs 3 tons and does 0 to 60 in 4 seconds. If you’re Ford CEO Jim Farley, you know this because you have access to a test track where you can catch your breath just for fun and hit 100 mph on the home stretch. Like other industry leaders, Farley is striving to break into the electric vehicle market. It’s not a trend; it is the way of the future, and it “will have far-reaching implications for the environment, climate change, public policy and the economy,” writes New York Times autoreporter Neal E. Boudette. To achieve “the biggest transformation since Henry Ford revolutionized manufacturing,” automakers must first invest tens of billions and reinvent the way they build cars. However, Elon Musk could already be the Henry Ford of this century.
“The traditional auto industry is pretty far behind Tesla,” said Earl J. Hesterberg, CEO of the influential Group 1 Automotive. Ford has some potential advantages: The Lightning starts at $40,000, thousands less than the cheapest Tesla; In addition, the F-Series is already America’s best-selling line of pickups. Under Farley’s leadership, Ford has made some risky bets in its design and engineering approaches and – so far – the future looks bright with 200,000 pre-orders at the start of production. But history suggests that the truck could still “stumble” when computer chips and batteries run out, or when software bugs occur. Farley has a family history in the auto industry (and in comedy, as the late Chris Farley’s cousin), but he’s had a varied career, including an early stint at IBM, which doesn’t hurt since electric vehicles are forcing automakers to become software developers. (Read the full profile.)