FORD F-150 LIGHTNING · ROLLS-ROYCE BOAT TAIL
America’s bestselling pick-up truck has gone electric, and everyone’s favourite tech YouTuber, Marques Brownlee, has had a play
Marques Brownlee previews America’s bestselling pickup truck turned electric, plus Rolls has built a car that wants to sail the seas
Ithink this is the most important electric vehicle we’re going to see this year. More so than the Tesla Cybertruck, the Rivian or the Model S Plaid or anything else that may or may not come out in 2021. It’s the Ford F-150 Lightning – the battery powered version of the bestselling vehicle in the US for the previous 40 years straight. And I got to spend a few hours with it at my studio in New Jersey.
So there are two versions. The standard range model costs just under $40,000 and has a 230-mile range. Then there’s the extended range battery option. That starts at just under $50,000 and has a 300-mile range. And get this – Ford told me that the 300-mile range is the EPA estimate with almost half a tonne of cargo in the back. This truck at my studio, with no weight in the trunk, was quoting me 367 miles. And looking at the indicator on the dashboard, its battery was 80-ish per cent full. Not scientific I know, but let’s just say a 350-mile real world range looks realistic if you’re not hauling huge loads.
This is also the fastest truck Ford has ever made. You’re looking at 426 or 563bhp depending on which version you get. The extended range model does 0–60mph in 4.5 seconds. That’s faster than a Raptor – crazy and just so unnecessary. Torque is more important in a truck – both models put out 775lb ft, which is huge. Towing capacity is 4.5 tonnes.
There are two great new features in this Lightning that I guarantee will impress you because you don’t see them in normal trucks. First is that since this truck doesn’t have an engine, it has room for an absolutely massive front trunk. Not only is it pretty sweet for a pickup to have covered, locked weather-sealed storage for things you don’t want to store in the bed or in the back seat, but it’s also just about the biggest and most impressive front trunk I have ever seen in an EV.
And then there’s bidirectional power. You know how you can already charge up at your house, and start every day with a full battery? Well if you get Ford’s own 80A wallbox, the F-150 Lightning lets you power your entire home from your truck battery in the event of an outage. It can keep your whole house humming for up to 10 days if you’re careful.
You can power other stuff with the Lightning too. Lots of people work out of their trucks – outlets in the bed and frunk mean you don’t need to carry a separate generator for power tools, air compressors, table saws and drills, big lights and anything else that doesn’t run on battery power. So now I’ve got a pickup truck, a portable generator, and basically a Tesla Power Wall all in one vehicle.
The inside is still pretty industrial, but you can get the same 15.5-inch portrait touchscreen as the Mustang Mach-E with the physical volume knob at the bottom, which I do like. The F-150 I looked at was the highest trim level – Platinum – which can cost around $90,000, so it had leather seats and a sunroof and all kinds of other stuff.
The gear selector folds down into the centre console, and then the elbow rest unfolds into a huge flat working surface, like a counter for your computer or paperwork. Plus there’s a household plug next to the display.
The truck will get software updates and improve over time. And for your convenience it pulls in various compatible charging stations across several networks through the Ford Pass app. It can even account for your shorter range, using the onboard scales in the bed of the truck to measure how heavy your cargo is and adjust accordingly.
Now I’m not a truck person and I haven’t driven it yet, but the Lightning seems pretty complete from every angle. Ford has made a more powerful, more responsive, more functional version of the original F-150 that everybody loves. And it just so happens to be electric. Ford has over 70,000 reservations already – none from the UK, because you guys aren’t getting it. And you know what? I think you’re missing out.