We Purchased a Ford F-150 Lightning Long-Term Test Truck | Daily News Byte

For a large portion of Americans, their first experience with an electric vehicle wasn’t behind the wheel of a Tesla, Rivian, or even a Ford Mustang Mach-E. It will join the battery-powered version of America’s best-selling vehicle: the Ford F-150 Lightning electric pickup truck.

And the Lightning has inspired every bit as much demand as its liquid-fueled sibling. In the two days following the May 19, 2021 F-150 Lightning reveal, more than 44,500 parties put down a refundable $100 deposit to reserve their electric F-150. We are one of them.

By December, Ford had nearly 200,000 reservations—so many that it had to roll out 2022 reservations in 2023. One year, five months, one week, and one day after the reveal, our 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning Lariat —the first long-term test vehicle MotorTrend already purchased—finally arrived. Just in time too, because we have big plans for our new electric pickup truck.

Even today, most new cars are purchased at a dealer, but purchasing our 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning was unlike anything we’ve ever experienced.

After placing our initial reservation on Ford’s website, we began to do what would become familiar: wait. About two weeks after placing our reservation, in early June 2021, we were invited to select our dealer, specify our truck, and place a non-refundable $500 deposit for our order. In a well-equipped Lightning XLT, we added a larger, 131.0-kWh Extended Range battery pack—a 33.0-kWh upgrade over the Standard Range battery that also increases the horsepower output of the standard dual-motor all-wheel drive system from 452 to 580. (Torque stays flat at a diesel-shaming 775 lb-ft.) The big battery also increases the rated range from 230 miles to 320 miles.

A few days after that, our dealer, the world famous Galpin Ford, contacted us to inform us that it had received more than 1,200 reservations, but Ford had only allocated this dealership 90 orders of Lightning. Unfortunately for us, Ford did not pick our order to build in that group. Galpin then graciously moved our reservation to a 2023 model year Lightning, while putting us on the waitlist for a 2022 truck if one of its approved reservations fell through.

Five short days later, we got lucky: Some late Lightning Lariat allocation slots opened up, and we were offered the chance to convert our 2023 XLT order to a 2022 Lariat order. We took a chance despite it being a more expensive trim, and we were able to define our new truck. We stayed true to our initial XLT order, opting for the Extended Range battery pack, the Tow Technology and Max Tow packages, a spray-in bedliner, and rubber floormats. Our total out-the-door price is $80,889. (It’s a good thing we ordered it when we did; eventually Ford’s price hike meant our truck would soon stick at $89,639.)

Then we waited again—over a year, with little to no meaningful updates from Ford. On July 21, 2022, we finally received an email notifying us that our 2022 F-150 Lightning Lariat is scheduled for production at Ford’s Rouge Electric Vehicle Center (REVC) assembly facility. By August 11th, we were assigned the VIN, and production began on the 15th. Then we waited some more; thanks to a global chip shortage, it took another 47 days for our F-150 to roll off the line.

Then, a shipping crunch delayed the arrival of our F-150 Lightning on the West Coast for another month, until just before Halloween. While that’s more than an inconvenience for us (we expect to throw our Lightning in our Truck of the Year test), if we bought the truck as a regular owner, a long delay would almost certainly have would be a big hassle. That goes double if we’re driving a rental car or trying to negotiate a daily driver sale.

Despite the long wait and somewhat non-traditional purchase process, the handoff at Galpin Ford is normal. Our salesperson handed over the keys to our new 2022 F-150 Lightning Lariat and then spent the next 45 minutes helping us set up our new electric pickup truck to our liking. We walked through the digital instrument cluster, reviewed every infotainment menu and setting, turned on automatic over-the-air updates, and installed the FordPass app on our phone, bringing the truck’s infotainment system into the palm of our hands.

We half expected a long discussion about charging, but instead only the basics were covered: the difference between Level 2 and Level 3 charging, the Ford Charge Station Pro home charger that we’ll be shipping to coming weeks, how to schedule charges through the infotainment system or app, and how to set a DC charge limit. We hope the information is more than enough for all but the greenest EV drivers.

With that, we got the keys to our new truck and anticipated heavy afternoon traffic in Los Angeles. Is it worth the long wait? In a word: Yes. As we wheel our handsome Atlas Blue Lightning (a color discontinued for 2023) back to our headquarters in El Segundo, we can’t help but think ahead to all the things we hope to accomplish with our electric pickup in the next few years. Yes, years. Multiple.

We usually keep cars at MotorTrend Garage for a year of testing and about 20,000 miles, but we intend to keep our Lightning Lariat for a lot longer than that. Why? Well, for starters, there’s a good chance the Lightning will be one of the best-selling EVs in the country, and we want to see how well this electric pickup’s batteries and powertrain (not to mention its software) fare over the years. severe test. , pulling, and using.

We’re also eager to see if electrification makes the world’s best-selling pickup truck better than the gas and diesel versions, both as a tool to get the job done and as personal transportation. As such, look for charging, cargo, and towing tests; road trip reports; off-road expeditions; DIY projects; and our truck to be sent to our Detroit office to test most of the above in colder climates.

As for your author—Lightning’s chaperone for the next 12 months—he’s eager to see how the first electric long-term test vehicle fits into his care of family life, both day-to-day and long journey on the highway. In other words, we plan to use our Lightning like the average American pickup buyer does: for everything. Stay tuned for more updates, and often.

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