Ford is really building on its EV performance branding. First came a new Pikes Peak car in the Super Mustang Mach-E, then Ford took SuperVan 4.2 to the Nürburgring for an ultra-fast run of 6:48.393 just a few weeks ago. Now it is time for the SuperTruck to break a record out at the Green Hell. While things didn’t go as smoothly as the SuperVan run, the prototype high-performance F-150 Lightning achieved a record, nonetheless.
Things started out OK, with Romain Dumas behind the wheel of the Ford F-150 SuperTruck, but by the time he gets through Kottenbom—the first long straight of the Nordschleife—it becomes obvious the SuperTruck has a hindrance: It can only flirt with a top speed of 162.80 mph. “In any EV that runs the Nürburgring,” said a Ford spokesperson, “there is a trade-off between available energy, vehicle and system weight, and performance and is one that needs to be managed.”
This is a similar top speed we did see out of SuperVan during its Nürburgring run, so this must be a common integration that Ford uses between the two Super EVs. You’ll also notice during that long run that both the digital dashboard and the display in the steering wheel are blurred out. While we understand Ford is doing this during a race weekend with its Mustang GT3, this isn’t a competition. Even so, Ford still has data it doesn’t want to get out in the wild and, again, something we saw with SuperVan. It is a shame, as it would be interesting to see what is going on under the bodywork.
Speaking of, there are some changes between the first time we saw SuperTruck at Pikes Peak in 2024, its run at Goodwood a month ago, and this run at Nürburgring. The aerodynamic features are changed to better suit the sea level atmosphere versus the 14,000 feet of Pikes, the tune of the motors is adjusted for that change, and even final drive ratios of the motor outputs are different to make SuperTruck perform as Romain Dumas and the Ford Performance team are all looking for in this record setting run. Dumas certainly makes this run look fairly easy. Sure, he’s moving the wheel quickly to adjust the line to the power and grip available, but it doesn’t look like an abnormal affair.
That is until it starts running down the backstraight of the Nordschleife course, better known as Doettinger Hoehe. About halfway down, the SuperTruck appears to lose a lot of speed, going from the 162 mph at its peak down to 120 mph. By the time it gets to Hohenrain—a place where you typically see the brakes applied for the final left-right-left into the finish—Dumas mostly allows the F-150 EV prototype to coast around. The huge loss of power is also expressed by Dumas’ hand going up in silent frustration as he’s at full throttle and is just slowing down. Ford admitted to us that there was an issue at the end of the run and shows that while you can have several good splits, the Nürburgring will remind you that it’s a tough place to crack.
Even so, the SuperTruck was still able to achieve a time of 6:43.482, nearly 5 seconds faster than the SuperVan despite the huge loss of speed at the end. This nets Ford the record for prototype and preproduction vehicles at the Nürburgring Nordschleife. To put this into perspective, the current lap record for production cars is held by the Mercedes-AMG One with a 6:29.09, and the Ford is only 0.182-second slower than the Porsche 911 GT2 RS (6:43.300, and the second fastest official lap of the Nordschleife) with the Manthey Performance equipped version with a set of Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 R tires. This puts the SuperTruck between that 991.2 and the Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series with its 6:48.047 (a time set on a damp track). In terms of fellow prototypes and racecars, the SuperTruck is the sixth fastest with the Porsche 919 Hybrid Evo—a modified LeMans LMP1-H class car drive by Timo Bernhard in 2018—remains the king with its 5:19.564. The second fastest time set by the Volkswagen ID.R (a 6:05.336) was piloted by Romain Dumas in 2019. While Ford has a ways to go before beating the overall Nürburgring record, it can claim to make the fastest prototype EV pickup in the world.