This is about something very American. In the United States , pickup trucks aren’t mere tools, but aspirations. The boss drives a pickup here, and the boss’s boss does too. Pickups in North America are status symbols, family heirlooms, and beloved companions. And the all-electric F-150 Lightning adds environmental virtue beyond that. Plus, it’s about the quickest brick Ford has ever thrown.
Combine the Lightning’s two three-phase fixed-magnet motors, and monster torque is available to push the more than 6800 pounds of unladen truck. The majority of Lightnings come equipped with the 131-kWh extended-range battery. That’s up from the standard battery pack’s 98-kWh load of zap. As impressive as the Lightning’s initial acceleration is, its passing power is even more thrilling. At freeway speeds, the Lightning loafs along almost noiselessly. Slam the not-loud pedal, and the thing squats down and squirts forward as if it were auditioning to star as a fighter jet in the nextsequel. It’s not the astonishing vertebrae destruction that comes with the Tesla Model S Plaid, but it is leagues more dazzling than any other F-series.Nostalgia is a gooey thing.
Now a novelty, the old Lightning is what was once known as a regular-cab truck. “I like the cab,” Martinez shares. “It means I can tell people there’s no room for them to come along.”