Yahoo Autos 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning Lariat Drivers' Notes: The shine isn't wearing off
The 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning continues to impress with each successive time we get behind the wheel. It’s an electric F-150 without any major barriers or quirks to turn off the average truck buyer. Judging by the ravenous demand, Ford appears to have gotten this formula right. That’s no surprise, though, as very few brands know truck buyers better than the king of full-size truck sales, Ford.
Here, we have a Lariat model with the extended-range battery pack. Based on pricing, the level of equipment and the range provided by the big battery pack — 320 miles — it’s likely going to be a popular grade to buy. The AWD Lightning with this extended range pack produces a walloping 580 horsepower and 775 pound-feet of torque, and with our tester’s Max Trailer Tow package, can tow up to 10,000 pounds. Payload capacity sits at a slightly less impressive 1,800 pounds, but you do get the Technology of the Year award-winning Onboard Scales and Smart Hitch tech to make towing and hauling easier.
Pricing for the Lightning has changed between when we tested it and when this review was published (to give you an idea of how often Ford has increased the Lightning’s prices this year). When we had the truck, it stickered for $80,739, but today, a similarly-equipped 2023 F-150 Lightning will run you $89,314. Even for an already expensive truck, that's a big uptick. Even so, there’s so much to love about this electric truck that looking beyond that price increase is possible. The F-150 Lightning is truly one of the best trucks you can buy today, electric or not.
Consumer Editor Jeremy Korzeniewski — The Ford Lightning seems designed specifically not to wow onlookers. Besides the blunt-nosed face with its grille-less opening, you pretty much have to look underneath to see that this isn't a run-of-the-mill F-Series truck. Next to the Hummer EV I drove on the same day, the Lightning just didn't stand out.
If that sounds like a demerit, it's not meant to be. Not only is the appearance like that of a standard Ford truck, so too is the experience from behind the wheel. Except that it's really, really powerful. I've put thousands of miles on dozens of Ford F-150 models, and the Lightning is easily the most fun to drive (I'm excluding the Raptor for obvious reasons). There's power whenever and wherever you want it. Considering its mass and the fact that it's a pickup truck and not a sport sedan, it even rides and steers pretty darn well.
It's honestly hard to believe that this is Ford's very first electric pickup truck. It's refined, drives well, has a lot of range (though towing a large load will cut that in half), and well packaged. If only they weren't so hard to find for sale without ridiculous dealership markups ...
