From the Copilot Temple by Deng Simiao
Reference for Intelligent Cars | AI4Auto Public Account
Little did we know, the first all-electric pickup truck from Ford was designed by a Chinese-American woman, Linda Zhang. She was born in Jinan, Shandong, and immigrated to the US with her parents at the age of eight without knowing any English; she had only recognized letters from A to H. She learned English in a hurry during the flight to the US. She has worked for Ford for 25 years since she was hired at the age of 19.
The all-electric pickup truck, the F-150 Lightning, is her masterwork. Within less than 48 hours, after its debut, it received 44,500 orders. Elon Musk also tweeted congratulations on the day of its debut. Currently, orders have surpassed 200,000, and deliveries are scheduled to begin in spring.
This electric truck is like a watershed moment in her life. Before that, she was unknown, but after that, she became well-known.
She graced the cover of Time magazine, and was voted Woman of the Year by USA Today. She was also voted one of the most inspiring women in the world.
Next, let us explore what has made her who she is today.
At 8 years old, a passion for cars started
When Zhang was 8 years old, she first came to the US, and her father rented a car to pick her up from the airport. This was the first time she had ever been in a car. The three-hour drive from Chicago airport to West Lafayette, Indiana, marked the beginning of her love for cars and her career.
In the dark of the night, she sat in the back seat, staring out the window at the world around her. She felt like a princess, riding in a four-wheeled carriage, lost in a fairy tale. She was so excited about cars that she said, “I couldn’t sleep in the car because adrenaline was pumping through me.”
This experience planted a seed in her heart.
As she grew up, she watched various American TV shows and movies, such as the artificially intelligent car KITT from “Knight Rider,” which is used to combat crime, and “MacGyver” from “Mortal Kombat,” who could creatively solve any problem with a paper clip and duct tape; all of which have had a significant impact on her and helped shape her thinking and values. Ultimately, they influenced her career choice to become an automotive engineer. At the time, she was full of curiosity and a thirst for knowledge about the world. In her free time, she would ask her parents questions such as how clouds move and how the wheels of cars rotate.When it comes to living environment and family background, Zhang Linda first lived in Indiana and later moved to Michigan, surrounded by the rich American automobile culture every day.
Her parents and younger brother are all engineers. After her father graduated with a PhD in civil engineering from Purdue University in Indiana, he worked for Ford, responsible for researching glass processing, power systems, and transmissions. As a young girl, Zhang was very interested in her father’s work.
In addition, Zhang’s upbringing was very similar to Gu Ailing’s. Her parents adopted an encouraging education style from a young age. “My parents believe that I can do anything, you are who you are, and if you want to do it, you can conquer anything.”
It has to be said that the benefits of this education style were fully reflected in her. She enjoys the process of solving difficult problems and, of course, this also made her unafraid and unafraid in the male-dominated automobile industry in the future.
From 1993 to 1996, she studied electrical engineering at the University of Michigan in the United States. It is worth noting that during this period she joined the university’s solar car team.
This team has a certain reputation in the United States. Established in 1989, it is one of the earliest solar car teams in the United States. Every two years, they design and manufacture a solar car mainly to challenge the limits of existing electric vehicle technology.
After graduating with a bachelor’s degree, at the age of 19, she followed in her father’s footsteps and joined Ford.
Joined Ford at 19, then what?
Looking back on when she first joined Ford, Zhang Linda said: “For a long time, I kept silent because I was always worried that people would think I was too young or too immature.”
In 1996, just joined Ford, she participated in a research project (Ford College Graduate Program) that lasted for two years. During this period, she had the opportunity to experience various career positions at Ford and then decide on her final career direction.
It’s a bit similar to a rotational management trainee, rotating within the company department, and then determining the position based on individual situation.
In the same year, the company sent her to take night classes at the University of Michigan, where she eventually obtained two master’s degrees, one in computer engineering and the other in business administration.
If undergraduate study laid the foundation for the engineering and manufacturing fields, then these two master’s degrees helped her go further in finance, business, strategy, and product development in the future.At the age of 28, Zhang Lindada had her first child and since then she has devoted a part of her energy to her family and children, leaving the office early and working from home several days. As a result, her career advancement has been hindered.
When asked about the biggest obstacles and challenges in her career, she answered, “Like everyone else, the biggest challenge for me is how to balance work, family, and life. Fortunately, my family and colleagues have given me great support and help.”
Since then, she has worked on various product lines, such as participating in the design and production of Ford Explorer and Escape/Kuga, as well as participating in the engine and production of Ford Mustang, and collaborating with Ford Power Systems.
Later, she focused on product development and financial management and witnessed the acquisition of Volvo and Land Rover.
But her real passion lies in innovation and change, how to use technology to truly improve people’s lives.
In fact, early in her career, Zhang Lindada was involved in electric vehicle-related work, which to some extent promoted Ford’s electrification process. She has been thinking about how to make truck enthusiasts fall in love with electric vehicles, and how to make electric vehicles overwhelmingly superior to traditional fuel vehicles, rather than just an alternative option.
Coincidentally, the opportunity came in September 2018 when she was appointed as the chief engineer of Ford F-150 Lighting.
At the age of 45, achieving mutual success with Ford’s pure electric pickup trucks
In fact, as early as around 2005, Zhang Lindada began to participate in the formulation of strategies and envisioned Ford’s electrification road.
With solid engineering technology and professional knowledge, from 2018 to now, she has led a team of hundreds of people, consisting of researchers, marketers, production and manufacturing personnel, engineers, and designers. Her presence, like glue, binds various departments and enables the entire team to achieve efficient collaboration.
As the chief engineer, from the proposal of design concepts to production and manufacturing, and from planning to execution, she has to supervise every step. For her, the most important thing is to understand what customers really want, not only to satisfy their needs but also to far exceed their expectations.# It’s Not Easy to Electrify the Best-Selling Vehicle in the US
As a translator in the automotive industry, I am responsible for English translation, spelling checking and wording modification. Here is my professional English translation:
To electrify the best-selling vehicle in the US (pickup trucks), is no easy task. It requires withstanding enormous pressure and expectations, as well as facing the skepticism and distrust of truck enthusiasts.
For Zhang Linda and her team, this project is a completely new and unknown area. They have plenty of space to demonstrate and create. This excitement and enthusiasm also makes them feel a little confused and at a loss because of their lack of experience.
At the beginning, they encountered problems with product positioning and design. They were not sure what kind of electric truck should be designed, and whether it would be reliable and durable.
To be specific, they had to figure out how to install a sufficiently large battery in the vehicle and achieve a range of 370 km without changing the size of the battery. Trucks produced in that time needed a lot of effort to climb hills.
She said that a major challenge at the time was figuring out how to install a large enough battery in the vehicle while achieving a range of 370 km without changing the size of the battery.
Although many problems were encountered, Zhang Linda did not think failure was a bad thing. She believed that it was more important to deal with failure, make improvements, and learn from it. Whenever they encountered difficulties, the only thing the entire team did was to get a good night’s sleep and continue working hard. They never considered giving up, they always tried to find solutions to problems.
Later, she and the team unanimously agreed that in order to launch an ideal electric pickup truck, they not only needed to inherit and continue the various performances and spirits of the original gasoline pickup truck, but also needed to further improve and achieve new breakthroughs, doing what traditional gasoline pickup trucks could not.
Therefore, Zhang Linda repeatedly emphasized the two words “reliable” and “durable”, wanting to create an electric pickup that is no different from the original gasoline pickup truck. The electric pickup truck must be capable of doing everything the gasoline pickup can do, including working, traveling long distances for shopping, and occasionally hauling furniture, agricultural machinery, generators, and much more.
Just like what she said, “We should not sacrifice abilities for sexiness.” Actually, this statement applies not only to this vehicle, but also to her identity as a woman who receives attention.To dispel public concerns about the power of electric trucks, in 2019, Linda Zhang and her team conducted a test that had an electric pickup truck pull 10 double-decker train cars with a total weight of about one million pounds (approximately 454 tons) for over 1000 feet (304.8 meters). The first train car was empty, while the second was carrying 42 conventional F-150 pickup trucks.
For Zhang, this power test marked a crucial turning point for the all-electric pickup truck because it proved its capability and dispelled people’s doubts and mistrust.
Moreover, this electric pickup truck can accomplish functions that traditional fuel pickup trucks cannot, such as a massive front trunk, called the “Mega Power Frunk,” that can hold up to 400 pounds (181.44 kilograms) of belongings, providing privacy and security for personal items. Additionally, this vehicle can also serve as a mobile power source to supply electricity to an entire household during power outages and enable vehicle-to-vehicle charging.
As the delivery date draws near, Zhang and her team subjected the vehicle to various harsh environmental tests, including temperatures ranging from minus 40 degrees to over 120 degrees and off-road scenarios like mud, gravel, and watercourses, rigorously testing each battery, battery pack, and software.
The fact that they’ve received 200,000 orders to date shows that the public has high expectations and confidence in this all-electric pickup truck.
Undoubtedly, Linda Zhang is the biggest contributor to achieving such results.
As Ford’s CEO Jim Farley puts it, “Linda Zhang possesses a unique excellence that drives the whole team to achieve optimal results, and she is also highly collaborative. She is a natural leader, and nobody else could do this job better than she can.”
In the short term, Zhang and her team dedicated three years and seven months to develop this all-electric pickup truck.
In the long run, she ignited her passion for cars when she was only eight years old, and it has been burning ever since.
Her existence vividly exemplifies the three spirits represented by pickups: struggle, life, and transcendence. It can be said that the F-150 Lightning, an all-electric pickup truck, to some extent, shaped her career and directly influenced Ford’s electric vehicle development and the company’s future.
However, the horn has just sounded.
There will be countless Linda Zhangs in the future, holding up the banner of electrification and breaking through obstacles to accelerate the electrification process of automobiles.
In fact, there are also many well-known women in the Chinese auto industry who are committed to promoting electrification.
For example, Zhuang Li, CEO of Magi Technology, Jiang Jingfang, Senior Vice President of Hedo Technology, Qiu Yujing, CEO of Xinci Technology, and so on.
Do you know any others? Please leave a comment in the comment section.
References:
[1] https://www.thedrive.com/news/40840/how-the-ford-f-150-lightnings-chief-engineer-linda-zhang-brought-the-world-an-electric-pickup
[2] https://getjerry.com/insights/chief-engineer-linda-zhang-behind-ford-f-150-lightning
[3] https://time.com/6109417/linda-zhang-interview-cop26/
[4] https://www.linkedin.com/in/linda-zhang-bb699b7/
[5] https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/opinion/2022/03/21/usa-today-women-year-linda-zhang-piloted-ford-f-150-lightning/9290718002/
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This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.