The 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning Is the Pickup Formula Perfected

The 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning is the most important new vehicle of the decade. It’s the first all-electric version of America’s most popular passenger vehicle, so how it resonates with the buying public will shape the country’s view of EVs for years to come. Ford couldn’t mess this one up. It didn’t.

The Lightning is one of the best-driving pickups on sale today. While it may look like a lightly disguised version of the gas-powered truck fit for a background role in Minority Report, it’s virtually new underneath, with a revised frame, a fully independent suspension, and an electric motor at each axle. All of that translates to a uniquely refined driving experience that, most of the time, seems like you’re driving a six-figure luxury SUV rather than a pickup truck.

It all starts with the drivetrain. Buyers have a choice of a 98-kWH or a 131-kWh battery pack snug between the truck’s frame rails, there to power the standard dual in-board motors. The bigger pack delivers 580 hp, while the smaller unit comes up with a respectable 476 horses. No matter which battery you choose, you get an immense 775 lb-ft of torque, the most of any F-150 model, ever. Ford estimates a 0-60 time in the mid-four-second range, but the bigger-battery model—the one Ford had available for a brief first drive—feels quicker. Stomp the pedal at any speed under 50 mph, and the truck will briefly light up the front tires. Keep your foot in it, and you wouldn’t believe how quickly the 106-mph electronic speed limiter comes. If there was ever any doubt as to whether this truck would be a proper successor to the original Lightning, forget those thoughts right now.

It’s not just the speed that impresses. The powertrain is well-tuned to deliver a smooth driving experience without any jerkiness from the electric motors or the regenerative brakes. Turn one-pedal driving off, and the F-150 Lightning will creep forward like any other gas-powered car. And when you hit the brake pedal, it feels like a tight, well-tuned pedal rather than what it actually is—the regenerative brakes working their magic. Go deeper into the pedal and you won’t even notice the transition from regenerative braking to calipers gripping rotors. It’s clear engineers spent a lot of time to make this system seamless. It all just... works.

Stuffing a gargantuan battery and two electric motors to the underside of the F-150 meant Ford had to get clever with the suspension. Out back there’s an independent setup for the first time ever, there to make room so the rear motor could sit between the wheels under the bed. Thankfully, Ford didn’t half-ass the execution. This is the best-riding pickup in the game. All of the typical body-on-frame jitters you’d expect from a pickup of this size have been erased. At slow to medium speeds, bumps, potholes, and other imperfections in the road are shrugged off at the level you’d expect of a new Mercedes or BMW. Get over 65 mph, though, and you’ll start to experience a bit of floatiness from the springs. While I always prefer a suspension that’s too soft over one that’s too hard, especially for a truck like this, it might bother people who commute on high-speed, undulating highways.