When we hit the road at six AM, the range indicated on the F-150 Lightning’s instrument panel was 263 miles. I figured that was plenty to comfortably take me the 175 miles from Madison to Iowa City where I was going to watch my beloved Wolverines take on the Hawkeyes. It turns out, it was just enough.
The weather was perfect with temps starting in the mid fifties and climbing to the low 70s as we drove west on Highway 151 at just a few miles per hour over the speed limit. As the sun broke over the horizon behind us, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, nor was there a breath of wind either helping or hindering our progress. Yet the miles disappeared from the range indicator faster than they appeared on the odometer. What started out as a 98 mile gap between the two had closed to just 65 at the halfway point.
At that point, I dropped our speed from 74 to 65 hoping to bring the two closer in line. While that helped some, it was pretty clear we’d be cutting it close when we pulled into a DC fast charger at the Kum & Go 3/4 of a mile from Kinnick Stadium. In fact, my indicated range was 35 miles when I plugged in. That wasn’t quite white knuckle territory, but the difference in range from start to end was a bit concerning.
That was one of the very few issues I had with the F-150 Lightning a week of testing, and something I dug into after spending time with it. As in a gas powered car, MPG (in this case MPGe) can vary widely depending on where and how you’re driving. Because of the increased energy use and wind resistance, the EPA estimates 63 MPGe for Lightning on the highway and 78 MPGe around town where you also get more benefit from regenerative braking. The 320-mile range that Ford touts for F-150 Lightning is based on the 70 MPGe combined number. So you can expect about a 10% drop in range on the highway and if you tend to drive over the speed limit as the majority of people do, that will fall even further. Thus my experience headed to Iowa.
Aside from the issue with range, the F-150 Lightning proved to be an excellent long distance cruiser and an amazing vehicle. The only thing it doesn’t do better than its dinosaur-burning twin is tow long distances. It’s electric motors produce 775 lb.-ft. of torque which is plenty to tow 10,000 pounds, but that significantly affects range as this video from our friends at TFL Truck demonstrates. If you’re towing a trailer to a job site in town, you should be fine. But don’t plan on towing your boat to a cabin up north. For that use case, we recommend a hybrid powered, F-150 PowerBoost.
While the electric motors reduce the range when towing and hauling, they transform F-150 for the better in so many other ways.
Ride and handling are significantly improved. One of the main reasons for this is there’s no longer a 500 pound engine sitting atop the front axle. Instead you have a 200 pound motor front and rear with a 2,000 pound battery pack running between them under the floor. This balances the weight more evenly front to rear while lowering the center of gravity. In addition, a fully-independent rear suspension replaces the old fashioned leaf springs and solid rear axle. The difference is striking.
This is the smoothest riding, best handling pickup truck on the road today. It’s also the quietest. Without thousands of explosions happening under the hood every minute and an exhaust pipe running to the rear bumper, all you hear is the wind rushing around the mirrors and the subtle whine of the tire tread on the pavement. No longer do you have to shout over your shoulder to have a conversation with someone in the rear seat. This also cuts fatigue on long road trips. As does Ford’s BlueCruise hands-free driver assist system, in theory.
When activated, BlueCruise allows you to take your hands off the wheel as long as you keep your eyes on the road on mapped “Blue Zones.” That’s more than 130,000 miles of interstate an other limited access highway in the United States and Canada. This advanced driver assist system is not autonomous and does not give the driver license to take his or her attention away from the road. No texting, reading email, or napping. A camera in the dash focused on the driver ensures that. If you look away for even a few seconds, the system will alert you with an audible signal an eventually, if no one retakes control, the F-150 will turn on its flashers and come to a stop. In my testing I kept my feet flat on the floor an my hands on my knees ready to retake control of both the pedals and wheel if necessary.
While the system worked well on balance, I found the lane positioning to be inconsistent, with the truck drifting between the lane lines, especially coming out of a curve in the road. There were a couple of moments on tighter curves where I wasn’t confident the truck would make it without drifting into the other lane and with cars next to me, I took control. I have been told that Ford has an over the air update to BlueCruise on the way, so hopefully it will improve, but for now it’s far from best in class.
One other big benefit that comes from the removal of the gas engine is F-150 Lightning’s much ballyhooed “frunk,” the industry term for front trunk. This solves one of the biggest issues with pickup trucks by providing lockable, weatherproof storage outside the cab. And there’s storage aplenty, 14.1 cubic feet to be exact. That meant I had plenty of room for my grill, cooler, table, and folding chairs for our tailgate party. The other handy accessory is the bottle opener built into the truck’s tailgate. And if you want to get really fancy, there are outlets in the frunk and bed so you can plug in and power a blender, TV, stereo or any other appliance you might want to use to get your pregame on.
One feature that I didn’t get to test on the F-150 Lightning is bi-directional charging. This allows your Lightning to serve as a backup power system for your home when you have a Ford Charge Station Pro and their home integration system. If the power goes out, the system automatically kicks in an reverses the flow of electrons from the truck to your house. Ford touts that the a Lightning with an extended range battery can provide power for up to 10 days if your electricity is properly rationed. The cost of the charger and integration equipment is about $5,000 so similar or less than a gas or diesel generator.
Everything else in the F-150 Lightning from the overall styling, interior appointments, and technology is pure F-150 and will feel very familiar to current owners. That’s intentional. For wants this to be a truck first and an EV second and have people who use trucks for a living to find it useful. As long as you’re not towing, or driving more that 300 miles per day, it is. Which is why even at prices that can eclipse $90,000 before dealer “market adjustments,” Ford is selling every single one they can build.
2022 Ford F-150 Lariat Lightning 4×4 Supercrew
Four-door, five-passenger dual motor, four-wheel drive pickup truck
Base price: $67,474
Price as tested: $80,589 includes destination
Motors: Two inboard three-phase fixed magnet AC motors
Battery: Liquid cooled, lithium-ion, with 131 kWh of useable energy
Power: 580 HP
Torque: 775 lb.-ft.
0-60: 3.8 seconds
Max Towing: 10,000 pounds with Max trailer tow package
Max Payload: 1,952 pounds
EPA MPGe: 78 city/63 Highway/70 Combined
EPA Estimated Range: 320 miles
Charge time: 15% – 80% on 150 kW DC Fast charger – 41 minutes
15% – 100% on 48A level 2 home charger – 13 hours
