Any production model would obviously have A-pillars, and thus a "normal" windshield" vs. what is seen in that rendering....

I wonder how much of it is Farley, and how much comes from Bill Ford, who has long been environmentally focused?   Remember, that's a key reason Fields was canned - being behind on EVs.   One has to wonder if Bill was desperate to make EVs work behind the scenes and Farley went along with it until it was evident it wasn't viable?

Yea, all of F-150's competitors (Silverado, Sierra, Ram 1500, Tundra) use different instrument cluster designs for the base models 

Correct....     Ok, and?   Given the looming regulations at the time, they had to do something, and wanted to be the first one out there with a full size EV truck.  As a stopgap, it was a good product, though it obviously fell short in some areas.     This was my opinion all along.....there's a place for EVs, but let it grow organically rather than the abrupt shift "they" (everyone) tried to implement.

Correct and this is what Ford used to be great at doing.  Let others blaze the trail, see what works and why then enter that market with a great vehicle.  You might lose a couple of years of great sales but you also avoid a potential complete disaster and over a run of 8 years they come out way ahead with less risk.   But with EVs Farley kept swinging for the fences and striking out then going double or nothing and losing again.   To his credit though he started ce1 skunkworks and let it play out in secret and I think in the end it will be a home run.  If only it had been done 2 years earlier.

We've seen spy photos before of the Chinese model, but it having US-like lighting might mean it is coming after all?  Not a chance it'll be sold in Europe.   Lincoln’s About To Fill A Corsair-Sized Hole With A Chinese SUV | Carscoops   The luxury brand has a solution and it was recently spied undergoing cold weather testing in Europe. Unsurprisingly, it’s a lightly revised version of the Corsair sold in China. The rest of the design appears to largely carryover, although the rear camouflage hints at a butt lift. We can also see new lights around the front and rear fenders, including amber ones implying this is the US-spec model.

Recent history makes it doubtful that Lincoln will do so. 

This is one case where it actually makes some sense.  It's surprising they gave the base model the same screen.   Lowering some content in a base model is one thing....when they drop it from all models is another.

Clockspring

Volvo's Cheapest EV Is Dead In The US