With the forthcoming emergence of electrical autos, Ford has jumped far into the fray to carry us the very first electrified truck, the F-150 Lightning. Having skilled the brand new Lightning throughout a hurricane right here in Florida this week, my expertise is expanded on the complete array of what the Lightning can supply exterior of its achilles heel being the missing skill to tow for a “long” vary.
The all-new Ford F-150 Lightning is basically all of what you anticipate out of a brand new F-150 fuel truck in retaining the complete type of what we’ve grown to anticipate out of the primary promoting truck in America. From a fast look, there isn’t a lot to distinguish the brand new Lightning from every other SuperCrew Cab F-150 apart from a couple of particulars of the clearly closed entrance grille, the LED mild bar design up entrance and on the ability opening/closing tailgate, and the distinctive 20-inch wheels wrapped by all-season General Grabber HTS 60 tires. The mattress’s aspect “Lightning” badge and charging port door on the motive force’s aspect are the opposite giveaways together with the passenger’s aspect dummy door to maintain a degree of symmetry.
Performance and Driving Character
Ford didn’t maintain again in terms of giving the brand new F-150 Lightning ample energy in additional methods than one. For starters, all new Lightnings get 775 lb-ft of torque from twin electrical motors, one at every axle for all-wheel-drive. The powertrain is available in one among two setups with the usual configuration having 452 horsepower and 775 lb-ft of torque with the usual vary 98 kWh battery yielding a spread of 230 miles, and the prolonged vary having 580 horsepower and a 131-kWh battery providing you with a spread of about 320 miles within the XLT and Lariat trim, or 300 miles within the heavier Platinum trim that solely comes with the prolonged vary battery possibility. Opting for the prolonged vary battery will price an extra $10,000 within the XLT or Lariat trims.
Having the Lariat trim with the prolonged vary battery to check out this week gave me the chance to expertise the most effective efforts of the brand new Lightning. Out on the open highway, the F-150 Lightning drives such as you anticipate with the exception being that it has all that instantaneous torque primarily making it the quickest F-150 ever. Zero to 60 mph ticks off in simply 4 seconds with slightly tire barking making the 6,855-pound truck really feel considerably mild on its ft. Other than the sturdy acceleration from the Lightning, there’s a welcomed dealing with attribute to the truck as there’s a decrease heart of gravity than you discover on the gas-powered F-150 even when there’s a weight penalty of about 1,800 kilos. The suspension tuning of the Lightning to deal with the additional weight and carry out its trucking duties is spot on the place there’s no shock to it driving comfortably and dealing with in addition to you anticipate a full-size truck to deal with on the highway.
The meaty massive sidewall 20-inch General tires add to the cushiness of the trip high quality and are one of many solely issues that you just hear in an eerily quiet cabin even at freeway speeds. Having the electrical energy and instantaneous torque accessible at any time helps the Lightning stay as much as its identify the place it has no situation getting as much as its 110-mph ruled high velocity after protecting 1 / 4 mile in 12.7 seconds. Overall, the Lighting is a bit comfier and extra agreeable on the highway than its gas-powered counterpart.
There’s a one-pedal driving setting the place the brake regen is aggressive and may primarily carry the F-150 Lightning to a whole cease with out use of the brake pedal. The regular braking regen is sweet and at a degree akin to a gas-powered F-150 within the regular drive mode. In the Sport drive mode regen is barely extra aggressive. There is a considerable quantity of vitality recouped by way of braking regeneration the place at instances you may even see the vary enhance, particularly for those who constantly use the intelligent braking coach to make sure you effectively brake. Use of the brakes are a seamless feeling the place you don’t really feel a lot of a transition from braking regen and the place the Lightning makes use of its friction brakes.
The F-150 Lighting can tow as much as 10,000 kilos with the prolonged vary battery setup and max trailering package deal. However, towing is way from the Lightning’s forte because it falls quick to tow any affordable distance. You’ll anticipate to right away cut back the vary by over 50% in some circumstances for those who ever tow upwards of three,500 kilos. Payload capability is 2,000 kilos for the usual vary battery and 1,800 kilos for the prolonged vary, which shouldn’t have such a unfavourable impact on the vary as does towing. Moreover, that payload will be immediately weighed by way of a intelligent onboard scale system that is ready to compensate for estimated passenger weight. My take a look at car is provided with a trailer brake controller and the Pro Trailer Backup Assist characteristic to simply maneuver backing up when trailering. I’m sure within the close to future this towing blunder will probably be addressed, as we will solely hope contemplating how electrical autos will dominate new car gross sales after 2035.
Electric Range and Efficiency
The Ford F-150 Lightning is surprisingly environment friendly round city however on the freeway or interstate vary falls in need of the said 320-mile determine. In charging up the 131-kWh prolonged vary battery of my Lighting Lariat take a look at car in 65-degree climate the pc displayed solely a 281-mile vary, which I assume is considerably primarily based on earlier driving types. The exterior temperature might have additionally had a few of an element on the said vary, which was fairly correct for setting out on my journey consisting of an equal mixture of metropolis and freeway driving. Even although I used to be dissatisfied on the 281-mile vary, which ended up being spot on for a goal as I used to be draining the battery right down to a few 12% state of cost, the Lightning proved to correctly estimate the remaining vary. But don’t anticipate it to precisely estimate towing vary, which is one thing Ford might enhance upon for the vary estimation and ultimately its functionality to tow over an “extended” vary.
I noticed between 2.1 miles per kWh to 2.5 miles per kWh on my blended driving adventures and typically as excessive as 3.1 miles per kWh when cruising by way of 40 mph again roads with heavy visitors. The EPA charges the brand new F-150 Lightning prolonged vary battery at 78 MPGe metropolis, 63 MPGe freeway, and 70 MPGe mixed.
The extended-range 131 kWh battery pack accepting as much as 155kW will be charged from 10% as much as 80% in simply over 40 minutes utilizing a 150kW or 350kW DC quick charger. The standard-range 98kWh battery does the identical deal in 36 minutes accepting as much as 120kW from a DC quick charger.
If you cost at dwelling utilizing a Level 2 48-amp 240v setup it’ll take 10 to 13 hours for a full cost for a depleted battery. Ford features a charging unit (Ford Charge Station Pro) that can be utilized by way of an ordinary 120v outlet or with an included adaptor to hook as much as a 240v outlet for a Level 2 cost.
Extended Power Capabilities
Extending the capabilities and makes use of of the brand new F-150 Lightning, there’s a plethora of energy makes use of that you would be able to get out of Ford’s electrical truck. There are a complete of 11 120-volt shops present in my Lariat-trim Lightning take a look at car, and with it having the Pro Power Onboard generator characteristic, the Lighting has a 240-volt outlet and may function a backup energy supply for a home. In truth, utilizing the Pro Power Onboard system you may energy a median dimension home for 3 days or extra with a totally charged extended-range battery.
I used to be in a position to put the Lightning to the take a look at throughout Hurricane Ian, which principally spared us in north Florida after we had an influence outage for a few hours. During this time, I solely opted to make use of the 120-volt shops to energy a couple of home goods (a number of LED lights, 3 cell telephones charging, small freezer), which it obliged with no points solely utilizing about 5% of the battery cost. The one shocking facet is the system, which has a devoted energy button subsequent to the tailgate shops, solely permits you to energy gadgets if the car is totally ON. That means you’ll wish to manually flip off the car’s local weather management system and lights to preserve energy and lengthen the time for powering your home goods.
Interior and Tech
The F-150 Lightning within the middle-level Lariat trim is a wonderful place for having all the most fascinating content material and facilities, which embody ventilated and heated entrance leather-based seats, heated rear outboard seats, rain-sensing wipers, LED zone and cargo mattress lighting, power-adjustable steering wheel, 8-speaker B&O audio system, power-sliding rear window, power-folding aspect mirrors, wi-fi charging pad, panoramic sunroof, 15.5-inch infotainment touchscreen, and Ford’s Blue Cruise driver assist system with handsfree freeway driving.
Inside, the Lightning isn’t a lot totally different from different F-150 vans apart from having the bigger 15.5-inch infotainment touchscreen, which is kind of user-friendly and filled with a number of helpful car features and options as I discovered within the Ford Mustang Mach-E.
The F-150 has an added lodging in its frunk (entrance trunk), which has an influence liftgate opening an enormous storage space that may accommodate as much as 14 cubic ft of stuff weighing as much as 400 kilos. This space additionally has a decrease storage bin that can be utilized as a cooler the place it has a decrease drain to simply empty out your melted ice water.
Safety
Ford consists of all of the accessible security options for the Lightning (blind spot screens, lane departure warning/preserve help, ahead collision warning/emergency braking, rear-cross path detection, 360-degree digital camera system) however having the Lariat trim provides the Blue Cruise system, which I discovered labored nicely on the “approved” highways to offer an pleasant hands-free drive. The system makes use of sensors to observe your eyes so for those who take them off of the highway the system will warn you and require that you just take over driving. There have been instances when the system asks to take over driving on sharp curves and in some development zones, which I anticipated.
Price
Ford has set a tone for the electrification of vans and the brand new F-150 Lightning is an efficient begin. While there are some enhancements to be made, such because the dismal towing vary and general vary to compete with what gas-burning vans get, the inspiration has been laid on steady floor.
At the bottom degree with the standard-range battery, a brand new Ford F-150 Lightning Pro begins at simply $40,000, which is a decent degree value in my opinion. On the opposite hand, the one space for enchancment can be a greater value scale for the upper-level trims, contemplating my new Lightning Lariat take a look at car comes at a slight premium setting you again about $90,000. However, the brand new Lightning is a uncommon discover the place provide is low, however demand stays excessive throughout this time of chip shortages. If you may pay MSRP, do it, and be proud that you’ve one thing that everybody else is – nearly as for those who have been driving an unique automobile – sure, it’s that well-liked and funky, beating everybody else to the mass market EV truck section.
Source: www.automotiveaddicts.com