AGAINST THE GRAIN

Is Ford's all-electric, all-American F-150 Lightning really an environmental hero? Stephen Dobie finds out on a tree-felling shift in the Peak District

-  Stephen Dobie

An instant hit of torque isn't exclusive to electric vehicles it's also quite pronounced in electric chainsaws. Which is quite a daunting prospect when you've never picked up a chainsaw of any kind. Giving a numpty like me a Husqvarna 540ixp - which has a maximum chain speed of roughly 45mph, reached with a mere twitch of the fingers - is like popping a learner driver in a Porsche Taycan Turbo S for their first lesson. Everyone is going to be holding on tight.

Thankfully, I successfully slice through the trunk of tree before me with zero incident. In fact, it's all rather pleasant, the typical gnawing scream of a chainsaw significantly muted, bringing just a touch more peace to this Peak District woodland. You can hear yourself think with an electric chainsaw and trust me, I'm thinking pretty hard as I slice up a bunch of logs small enough to load into the vehicle I've brought along.

Yep, the chainsaw isn't the only plug-in power tool I'm using today. The Husqvarna plus my delectable lumberjack outfit - made it to the cool, blissful forest in the load bed of a Ford F-150 Lightning. Yes, the all-American pick-up truck - the best-selling vehicle in the US for donkey's years - has gone electric.

While official imports to the UK aren't likely, largely on account of its sheer girth, Ford has shipped one across for a bit of a holiday. And what better place to take it than a glorious National Trust reserve in the Peaks, just as the conservation society is planning how to morph its fleet of diesel vehicles to electric? 

We're spending the day in Dovedale, weaving the Lightning past hordes of heatwave picnickers to go beyond public access points and learn of the benefits of tree-felling for a place like this. These tracks feel narrow in the Isuzu Rodeo that my wise partner for the day, Charlie Horsford, usually drives. Now they're downright claustrophobic.