Around the past two months, I have had two odds to take a Ford Lightning for a speedy spin — when close to the scenic village of Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin (which you probably know as the household of the famed Street America racetrack) — and at the time around the block in a part of Chicago dotted with strip malls.
I wasn’t likely to generate about my expertise, due to the fact these limited drives aren’t as useful as a comprehensive day of driving on a press excursion or a week-lengthy press personal loan, and since our very own Matt Man experienced covered the very first-push event for us. I in the beginning considered of these quick visits as a way to understand about the truck on history.
For people unfamiliar, I don’t write up just about every car I check. Sometimes, I contemplate the generate to simply just be delivering history data. I might not evaluate, say, a BMW X3, but I will know it drives, which is practical when comparing it to a competitor I am writing about. That’s just a person example.
The a lot more I mulled it around, even so, the extra I understood I had some thoughts on the Lightning, thoughts that merited sharing.
Nonetheless, this will not be a deep dive — I got possibly 35-40 minutes of wheel time, mixed. There will be no quickly-facts box. I do have at minimum 1 Lightning loan scheduled, so glimpse for a whole assessment down the road.
I drove a Platinum with the extended-assortment battery the two situations — I did not test the VIN, but I think it was the very same truck. The estimated horsepower on this design is 563 and peak torque is 775 lb-ft from the entrance and rear traverse-mounted dual electric motors. Selection is 300 miles.
What I obtain most attention-grabbing about the Lightning is how considerably like a conventional F-150 it is, regardless of the electrical powertrain and all the other Lightning-only characteristics Ford likes to advertise. Indeed, the truck has some styling cues that differentiate it from ICE-run F-150s. But the general profile continue to screams “F-150.”
Lightning’s driving expertise is definitely distinctive, of class. There’s no engine audio — just the silence a single associates with EVs. A person-pedal driving can be activated if you so select. And the torque is prompt.
The a person-pedal driving expertise retained me from having to use the brakes far too much — I primarily only necessary to utilize the binders when targeted visitors in front of me came to a sudden halt. Pay out notice to the street forward, be aware of yellow lights, and you will be in a position to coastline down to a prevent with the 1-pedal action.
The Lightning rides effectively plenty of on excellent pavement, feeling not as well various than any other comprehensive-dimensions truck with an unladen mattress. The steering does come to feel distant at situations though experience properly weighted at many others.
This truck’s best methods have very little to do with driving, however. You know about the entrance trunk (“frunk”), the onboard chargers that can energy applications (or other EVs), and even the skill to energy your property. But you may possibly not know that the truck can estimate your payload dimensions to assist you change your driving design — and to make confident the vary estimate is correct.
There’s a beneficial place in the frunk for cooling beverages — I took be aware as a person who likes to tailgate at concert events — or for baggage or two golf baggage. Talking of tailgating, the existence of electrical retailers (4) and USB ports (2) in the frunk make the Lightning an intriguing option for your next SEC football match.
I also liked that Ford’s Sync process can display you a breakdown of electricity that was made use of on your final vacation. My next spin arrived on a extremely hot day, and it was appealing to see how much the weather management (and ambient temperature) have been component of the electrical power utilization.
More wheel time is desired before I can render a verdict on the Lightning, but the much more time I expend all-around the truck, the more curious I am to see what a comprehensive loan will reveal. It is the most curious I have been about a Ford since — previous year, when I was intrigued to generate the two the Bronco and Maverick.
The EV truck revolution is upon us. I simply cannot wait around to study a lot more about Ford’s component in it.
[Images: Ford, © 2022 Tim Healey/TTAC]
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