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CNN
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The Ford F-150 Lightning was named MotorTrend’s 2023 Truck of the Year on Tuesday, making this the second electric pickup in a row to win that award.
MotorTrend’s panel of judges hailed the F-150 Lightning as “the best-riding, best-handling, and best-driving F-150.” Unlike other versions of the F-150, the Lightning has an independent rear suspension instead of a solid axle connecting the rear wheels. That tends to make for a smoother ride and better handling in curves.
Lightning is also very powerful. Even in its base Pro version, one of two models tested by MotorTrend, the electric motors can produce up to 426 horsepower and 775 pound-feet of torque, a measure of pulling power. That’s about the same horsepower as Ford’s V8-powered trucks and a lot more torque.
The lack of Lighining of a large machine allowing for innovative features such as large storage and work areas under the hood. The truck also has 10 120-volt electrical outlets and one 240-volt outlet powered by its large battery packs. In addition to powering tools on a work-site, people can even power their homes during a blackout — which is also possible with Ford’s hybrid trucks.
The F-150’s win, a year after the same MotorTrend award went to the Rivian R1T, highlights the growing recognition of battery-powered trucks as standouts in their category. It’s also a sign that electric power is making its mark on America’s most popular vehicle type. Large pickups, and particularly the Ford F-series, are the best-selling vehicles in the United States.
“The truck gets everybody, male or female, everybody because the truck is, of course, in-built in American culture,” said Darren Palmer, Ford’s vice president for electric vehicles, in a recent interview with CNN. “So the truck gets love, love, love everywhere.”
Because of the performance and flexibility offered by electric power, battery-powered pickups may seem like a shoo-in for awards like these, but they face a serious challenge, says Ed Loh, editorial chief for at MotorTrend. Electric trucks are great for towing because they can easily handle even very heavy trailers, Loh said, but towing that weight reduces the driving range before the truck needs to recharge.
“It’s similar to how fuel economy drops in a gas or diesel pickup when towing a heavy trailer, but the difference is the robust, extensive fueling infrastructure that supports all gas-powered vehicles ,” said Loh.
Chargers are not only harder to find, but most of them are also not designed to work well with trailers, Loh pointed out. Most EV chargers are positioned so that drivers have to pull up on the front or back end facing the charger instead of next to it, as they do at gas pumps. This is a space-efficient way to have multiple vehicles charging individually but it doesn’t work well for vehicles pulling trailers.
The MotorTrend Truck of the Year award, like its Car of the Year and SUV of the Year awards, is open only to models that are new or significantly redesigned for the given model year. That means Ford and Rivian trucks are not competing with each other. Instead, the finalists for the 2023 Truck of the Year Award are the Chevrolet Silverado, Ram 2500 Rebel, GMC Sierra and the Toyota Tundra. One or two versions of each truck were selected to represent the different models in the competition.
Just because electric trucks have won the award twice in a row doesn’t mean internal combustion powered trucks won’t have a chance, said Loh. It depends on the competitive field in a given year and the level of efficiency and innovation, he said.
The F-150 Lightning was a unanimous winner among MotorTrend’s seven judges. That wasn’t true last year when Rivian won, though, Loh said. The Ford Maverick, a small pickup made to look like a car, nearly took home the award last year, he said.
Following the Maverick’s huge market success, other automakers are now rushing to build competitors, Loh said. That shows that internal combustion trucks are still not stuck in a rut.
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