

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. It feels just like any other F-150, but quieter and quick. Press the start button on the dashboard, shift into drive and go. Sam Abuelsamid An F-150, But BetterĪnyone that has ever driven a modern F-150 will instantly feel at home in the Lightning. By design, the Lightning retains just about everything familiar to regular F-series buyers, and development piggy-backed on the current generation F-150, new last year.

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. 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.įord has beaten its primary competitors (save Rivian) to market by at least a year thanks to some crucial decisions made early in the program. The Lightning is first and foremost an F-150.

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. After five years of anticipation, Ford’s first all-electric pickup is finally here and promises to be the vehicle that makes EVs mainstream. 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. Until 2017, Ford’s attitude toward electrification had been closer to Toyota’s than Tesla’s, which is to say reluctant. Coming soon to pretty well everywhere near you: the 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning blends EV power seamlessly into the traditional virtues of the F-Series, America’s best-selling vehicle for 40 years running.
