Until 2017, Ford’s attitude toward electrification had been closer to Toyota’s than Tesla’s, which is to say reluctant. But that year plans for a rather pedestrian EV crossover were scrapped, and Dearborn chose to take a deep dive on Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning projects. After five years of anticipation, Ford’s first all-electric pickup is finally here and promises to be the vehicle that makes EVs mainstream.

The Lightning isn’t the first electric pickup to reach customers, but the Rivian R1T is a smaller and pricier truck targeted at outdoors lifestyle customers and the GMC Hummer is an expensive and heavy toy. The Lightning is first and foremost an F-150. It does pretty much everything any other F-150 does, only better, and looks almost exactly like its gas-powered and hybrid sisters, the best-selling vehicles in America for 40 years running.

Ford has beaten its primary competitors (save Rivian) to market by at least a year thanks to some crucial decisions made early in the program. While General Motors opted to create all-new architecture for the Hummer and the upcoming Chevy Silverado and Sierra EVs, Ford opted to leverage the hardware of the new-in-2021 F-150.

Anyone that has ever driven a modern F-150 will instantly feel at home in the Lightning. Press the start button on the dashboard, shift into drive and go. It feels just like any other F-150, but quieter and quick. 

There is an option in the settings to turn on propulsion sound, but it’s little more than a low rumble, like what you’ll hear in the Mach-E’s whisper mode. One-pedal driving can also be enabled in the settings, which genuinely does feel unlike traditional pickups.

Despite a curb weight of about 6,500 pounds with the larger battery, the 580 horsepower and instant rush of 775 pound-feet of torque makes this the fastest production F-150 ever, with zero-to-60 in the low- to mid-4 second range. 

No, it’s not as quick as the Hummer or Rivian or the still-theoretical Cybertruck, but it’s faster than the F-150 Raptor and very nearly as quick as the Ram TRX. In Sport mode, the torque goes to all four wheels and the F-150 leaps off the line like a Mustang GT. 

The position of the battery means the Lightning has a near 50/50 weight distribution so it feels much more stable when unloaded than a regular half-ton truck, and shouldn’t need help from sandbags to make it drivable in winter. 

On a dirt rallycross course, 3 tons of truck will never feel entirely nimble, but it was easy to drive without spinning. With a 145-inch wheelbase and 8.9 inches of ground clearance, the Lightning lacks the extreme off-road talents of the Bronco or Raptor, but the electronic locking rear differential and easily applied low-end torque make this brute easy to take down most trails. 

The sealed battery allows it to ford up to 2 feet of water and full-length steel skid plates protect both battery and motors. On the road, the Lightning rides better than gas versions thanks to the independent rear suspension, although you won’t mistake it for a Lincoln. 

Since truck frames are like narrow EV skateboards to begin with, Ford kept the existing cab and bed and designed a new version of the F-150 frame with a battery pack between the rails and electric motors at each axle. The front suspension is similar to gas-powered F-150s while the rear gets a new multi-link independent suspension. 

While retaining the same mounting points as the gas engine frame limits the battery size compared to what the Silverado will have, it kept costs down and sped development. Ford can use many of the same stampings and most of the components in the cab which already have enormous economies of scale. 

Ford has repackaged all of the climate control and cooling hardware, pushing it back against the bulkhead. This has enabled a 14 cubic-foot front trunk, or “frunk,” that easily swallowed four carry-on bags and two backpacks. The lower portion of the frunk has a one-way drain so wet gear can drip. It also enables a new trend at football games, “front-gating,” with the frunk filled with ice and drinks. Four 120V AC outlets can also power a stereo, TV or anything else electrical. 

With the portion of the front fascia that used to serve as a grille remaining attached to the hood, access to the frunk is much easier than on the Rivian, and the space seems larger than what we’ve seen of the Silverado EV. Style-wise, even the Platinum trim level retains a matte gray “grille” panel which seems a little “work truck” for its price. 

Inside, drivers will find the Mach-E’s 15.5-inch portrait touchscreen in the Lightning’s XLT, Lariat and Platinum trims. The base Lightning Pro gets the 12.0-inch landscape touchscreen found in the premium trims of gas F-150s with physical climate control knobs, which work users might prefer.

Features like the fold-down shift lever and expandable center work surface are still here as well as the optional lay-flat front seats for napping while waiting for a charge. Unlike some futuristic EVs, this is not a sci-fi rocketship. It’s exactly what typical truck buyers expect, including ample space in back for three burly adults. 

The familiarity extends to the bed. In early research, customers made clear they wanted the same bed so they could use all their existing accessories. Commercial customers typically have toolboxes and racks for parts and supplies that they transfer through multiple generations. With most fleets likely to retain a mix of gas and electric trucks for many years to come, that commonality is a big selling point. 

The Lightning is the first EV to ship in the U.S. with bidirectional power capability. The Nissan Leaf has support for vehicle-to-home power, but no company has released an interface unit to use it. Extended range versions of the Lightning come bundled with the Ford Charge Station Pro, a 19.2-kilowatt wall charger with a CCS connector. 

With the optional home integration box from SunRun, it can detect a power outage and will automatically start powering your home from the truck, drawing up to 9.6 kW of power through the DC pins of the connector. The SunRun home integration kit costs $3,900 plus installation.

People buy trucks for two main reasons: hauling and towing. 

The Lightning can haul up to 2,235  pounds of stuff between the frunk, cab and 5.5-foot bed. That’s nearly 1,000 pounds more than Hummer and 500 pounds more than the Rivian. Chevrolet is only projecting a payload of 1,200 to 1,300 pounds for the Silverado EV.

According to Ford, 75% of F-150 owners regularly tow and 80% of those owners tow less than 10,000 pounds. It should come as no surprise that electric trucks with their massive torque are exceptionally good at towing. With the extended range battery, the Lightning will pull up to 10,000 pounds. Driving a Lightning Pro with a 9,500-pound attached, acceleration was effortless and almost felt like there wasn’t a trailer out back. 

The real concern with EV trucks is towing long distances. Pulling a trailer with any vehicle causes a significant increase in energy consumption. For gas and diesel, fueling isn’t a problem, but charging a truck with a trailer can be more challenging. 

Ford is trying to help with this by making the range estimates more accurate. When a trailer is first connected, Ford recommends a calibration. This involves driving 10 miles with the trailer so the system can measure the energy use while towing. This is combined with data from the load sensors, navigation and both traffic and weather data from the cloud, all to give a more accurate estimate. 

The range while towing is affected by multiple factors including the weight of the trailer, the height and aerodynamic drag. One benefit of towing with an EV comes on downhill stretches. While many trucks have trailer brake assist that downshifts and uses engine braking to help maintain speed, EVs can just dial up the regenerative braking. The extra weight means more regen and more energy back into the battery with less heating of the brakes. 

Depending on the type of trailer, range while towing might fall by 20 to 50%, and most EV charging stations aren’t configured for vehicles with trailers, although that is starting to change. Owners that regularly tow long distances should check what is available along their route before opting for a Lightning over a gas F-150. 

The standard range F-150 Lightning Pro starts at $41,669 including delivery while the loaded Platinum model totals $93,509. That’s pricey, but the regular F-150’s endless options list also makes it possible to run up a gas-powered F-150 Platinum into the mid-$80,000 range. For now, Ford EVs are still eligible for a $7,500 federal tax credit. 

Based on our first round of seat time in the Lightning, we can comfortably predict that buyers are going to continue to love this truck as they love the regular F-150, only now they also get to enjoy all the new things it can do as an EV.

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