Goodwood Test: Ford F-150 Lightning 2023 Review

What an unlikely meeting of automotive worlds the Ford F-150 Lightning appears to be. On the one hand, it’s an F-150, nothing less than an icon of US motoring, as American as an Eagle with an AR15; a symbol of tradition and a pillar of North American industry and infrastructure. It is to them what the Transit and Mondeo combined are (or once were), to us in the UK and Europe. On the other, where a V8 engine once sat you’ll now find storage space and electric sockets; between those sturdy chassis rails is a battery and amid the axles, electric motors. It’s an electric F-150; the automotive equivalent of Joe Rogan going vegan, or Donald Trump backing Universal Basic Income.

Things get even more wonky when you consider that I’m approaching this thing as a UK motorist, with European sensibilities, who might find the archaic F-Series chassis architecture enormous and crude but the electric powertrain more refined and versatile than a diesel Range Rover. Will it feel like a Tesla with a lift kit, or a silent Super Duty on space savers? Fundamentally, the F-150 Lightning has the potential to unite crowds on both sides of the fence or be incredibly divisive.

Who is it aimed at? Can it do everything a traditional American pickup can? Does it need to? Based on our five days with it on Californian roads, I’m not entirely confident in answering the second question, but pretty sure about one and three. Either way, the F-150 Lightning is a crossroads moment for a very important model that has in the grand scheme, gone largely unchanged in its 75 years of best-selling service. Oh yes, did we not mention the F-150 is one of the best-selling motor vehicles in history? Well, now you know and, as such, you know what’s at stake, as it undergoes truly unprecedented change.

On one hand, the design is quite ‘legacy’ and quite safe, which those who still have a Cybertruck reservation might not like. For what it’s worth, I think it’s a good thing – the F-150 Lightning has more to prove to Ford’s existing customers than it does to those of Tesla. 

It is absolutely the block-faced, slab-sided F-150 Ford fans know and love but with some really nice touches that let you know what’s underneath. For a start, those light bars front and rear, which look like strips of backlit gelatine, look oh-so-cool and just futuristic enough. They’re exclusive to the Lightning, as is the subtle ‘grille’, which of course isn’t a grille anymore, that sits perfectly between the front lights and underneath the DRL. The plastic panel features just enough texturing to not give the game away at a distance and not look cumbersome, but at the same time, no more than a second look lets you know it doesn’t flow. There are a few blue badges too, with ‘Lightning’ script on the sides at the rear and a small American flag with a bolt through it at the back.

In short, it’s not weird, gawky or overly futuristic but it’s not apologetic either. It just looks like an F-150 facelift that happens to be on sale alongside the 2021 gen-14 model it succeeds and, as such, is distinctive but not obnoxious about it. So the opposite of a Cybertruck, which many will find extremely appealing and some – read Elon apologists – won’t at all. We certainly do. Plus, those close enough to the front of the Lightning order book are getting their cars now.

What is somewhat obnoxious is the performance. President Biden wasn’t kidding when he exclaimed “this sucker’s fast”, after a prototype test drive. This is comfortably the quickest F-150 ever, barring anything with a Hennessey badge, thanks to its two electric motors producing a combined 588PS (433kW) and 1,051Nm (775lb ft) of torque. For context, that’s an exact match for the 6.0-litre twin-turbo V12 in the Pagani Huayra hypercar.

Is it all a bit much? Yes and no. On the one hand, 0-60mph in 3.8 seconds feels somewhat unnatural in a body-on-frame pickup, even though it deploys it with surprising composure. On the other, available performance is always handy on highway onramps. It’s also fun to leave Hellcat drivers questioning their understanding of the laws of physics or indeed whether their Hemi has popped.

You won’t be surprised to read that the speed is not matched by handling prowess. It might be able to match a Cayenne Turbo GT for acceleration but the Lightning won’t see which way the Porsche went in the corners. Ford did go to the trouble of giving it independent rear suspension, for fear of unholy levels of axle tramp, but truthfully, it’s a big softy. In fact, my European sensibilities were left quite literally shaken by its body recoil through low-speed ruts and undulations in the road.

Aggressive inputs will see it heave all over the place, though gradual dips into the rack at speed weren’t so bad, given the Lightning’s lowered centre of mass. In fact, when not crashing into broken bits of road or tackling a figure-eight, the Lightning rides well, is comfortable and quiet, with some surprisingly well-resolved NVH suppression. We expected some decent wind and road roar in the absence of a V8, with its blocky face and big tyres but Ford’s done a good job of isolating the acoustics.

The range is pretty good when not pressing on. In our week with the truck, going out on errands, running a couple of 50-mile round trips to San Francisco and ahem, testing the performance, we got it down to 43 per cent charge. Indicated efficiency most of the time was above 2m/kWh, which would suggest 240-250 miles of real-world range based on the hefty 131kWh battery. The EPA rates our top-spec Platinum example at 300 miles of range, with up to 320 miles available from the ‘Extended Range’ configuration in lower specs. Depending on your use case (we’ll get to that) we wouldn’t bother with the ‘standard-range’ 98kWh battery, as it offers only 230 miles of EPA-rated range (now revised to 240). We wouldn’t mind the lower-power model if it meant more range like in most other EVs.

It’ll tow, too but even without trying it, we straight up recommend you avoid the Lightning, or any EV, if that’s what your primary use of it will be. It’s within its capabilities, up to 10,000lbs in the big-battery versions, but doing so will decimate your range. Towing is important to people too, given the two that stopped us to ask about it, got to the issue within 30 seconds.

Being a top-spec Platinum, it adds nice leather for the extremely comfy chairs – and they are chairs – but some of the build quality and plastics are awful. If you’re talking about touch points, the nicely-trimmed steering wheel with its leather and tactile buttons is in gross contrast to the Tonka Toy drive selector, which feels and looks like Fisher Price developed it.

There’s a button to fold the shifter away, allowing the central storage lid to flip 180 degrees and become a tabletop of sorts, which is very handy indeed. Yet the loud motor, clunky action and tinny plastic clicking only emphasise the cheapness. It’s a clever feature but you grimace each time you use it and think "Is this what my $98,000 has bought me?” and “Will this still be working in six months?”. Truthfully, if you buy further down the Lightning range, it’ll remain offensive, but as offensive? Hopefully not. Plus, I’m not sure American buyers will find it as glaring as I do.

Apart from the drive selector and a few other gappy panels and scratchy plastics, the cabin of the Lightning is perfectly agreeable – a quiet, mostly rattle-free place to be. The seats are very comfy, there’s decent visibility, plenty of storage space and a contemporary array of technology and features, which as the header suggests, we’ll continue to discuss below.

There’s an unreasonable expectation of electric cars that they’ll be super tech-ey. It’s probably something of a Tesla hangover. Happily, the Lightning is a bit of a feature fest, especially in Platinum trim. For a kick-off, there’s that almighty 15.5-inch Mustang Mach-E-style vertical infotainment screen, with its rotary controller at the bottom. Within are contained a number of important controls, such as for climate and media and even driver profiles.

It’s standard from the Lariat specification onwards and honestly, we’re not sure we’d have it. The 12-inch landscape screen with physical media and climate controls below looks much more intuitive and tactile to us and given this remains a truck, tactility is the name of the game in our mind.

Indeed the Platinum perhaps plays pretend luxury a little too much, with the cheaper XLT’s standard power tailgate and optional toolbox and bed divider sounding a bit more like it. XLTs also get the interior work surface (the lid that folds over the Toymaster special shifter) and the 360-degree parking cameras as standard, while the heated seats and steering wheel are optional.

An XLT with the extended range battery also features the Pro Power Onboard, one of the Lightning’s coolest features, which effectively is a set of house power sockets in the truck’s powered frunk, with plenty of applications for tradesmen, family trips and beyond. With the Ford Charge Station Pro installed in your garage, a fully-charged extended-range Lightning is also able to power a house for three days in the event of a blackout or be charged up in just eight hours.

From the outside looking in, without having experienced it, it’s easy to be sceptical of the F-150 Lightning. The V8 evangelists are a tough sell and as a tool for towing? Honestly, don’t even try. But knowing, as I do, a number of average middle Americans who have run trucks in the past just as their daily driver, the Lightning feels perfect for them. Most have driveways – perfect for charging – and the performance, range, comfort, convenience and available features offer a great deal from the perspective of those people who in reality are the ones that always made the F-150 the best-seller that it is.

Is it a proper luxury vehicle in Platinum form? No. Is it a Cummins-shaming all-around workhorse? The power outlets and work surfaces are compelling, but for big loads and towing, no. It’s just a good American car that happens to offer a big load space, lots of room inside, good road presence, a few well-thought-out features, and a badge as old as the hills, which is what most F-150 buyers actually want.

The real killer with the Lightning, though, is the price. It wasn’t cheap to begin with but with the latest price hikes – a symptom of rising production costs – a decent-spec XLT with the $12,000(!) Extended Range upgrade will set you back over $85,000. That’s a full $25,000 over an equivalent 5.0 V8 XLT and around about what a well-specced Rivian R1T will set you back. As a Platinum? The starting price is now just under $98,000.

If the Lightning were positioned more as an aggressive performance model a-la the Raptor – and it has the performance – that price would make a little more sense. But that’s from my perspective. Perhaps it wouldn’t fly over here. From that of those average American buyers I was talking about, who might be fine with the $62,000 cooking model, with incentives? The packed-out 200,000-person order book that Ford has had to shut a few times for fear of being unable to supply the demand should tell you all you need to know. The short of it? The first electric Ford F-Series is a good F-150, a good EV and generally, a good car.