F150 lightning electric battery size12/18/2023 The rear “box outer” panels share a similar difference: The gas truck has a sharp character line above the wheel opening, the Lightning does not you’ll also notice that the provisions for the taillights aren’t the same, as the lights are different shapes. The front fenders, for example, are different they have charging ports (okay, technically only the one on the driver’s side is real), and the gas truck’s strong arc-shaped crease above the wheel openings is gone, replaced with a large “wheel arch flat” that smoothly transitions into the fender. Still, despite the shared cab structure, inner box structure, and side closures, much of the Lightning’s outer sheetmetal does set itself apart from the standard truck’s. And of all shared parts between the regular F-150 and the Lightning, the biggest ones are cab, bed, and doors. One of the key enablers that allowed Ford to keep the Lightning’s cost down (the truck starts at around $40,000 with the standard battery and $50,000 with the extended range battery, which is dirt cheap for an EV its size), and to get the vehicle to market so quickly was component sharing. Obviously, it looks remarkably similar to that of a standard gasoline F-150, and that’s because it is similar. Let’s look at the F-150 Lightning’s aluminum body. A Look At The Ford F-150 Lightning’s Hardware The Body We’ll talk about that more later for now, I’m going to spend quite a bit of time talking about the F-150 Lightning’s hardware. After all, as one Ford engineer put it during lunch: “The frame is the original skateboard.” As for adapting a body-on-frame machine like the gas F-150 into an EV? I think the compromises are significantly reduced in number and severity, and in fact, I think they’re downright worth making at this point in time. I agree with this, but only if we’re talking about adapting unibody vehicles - in other words, vehicles whose structural backbones are integrated into their bodies. “Dedicated EV platforms or bust” has been the widespread sentiment for a while now, with many believing that the compromises associated with trying to adapt a gas platform to fit EV hardware just yield a watered-down product. As for the second point: For years the media and consumers alike have been criticizing EVs that are based on existing gasoline vehicle platforms. Sure, there’s a big-ass screen in the cabin and there’s a frunk up front - plus the whole face looks a bit different - but by and large, the Lightning is familiar. The first point is simple enough: Ford didn’t really weird-ify the Lightning much over the standard F-150. ( Full Disclosure: Ford flew me from Detroit to San Antonio, put me up in a nice hotel, and fed me such high quality food that I bet I could blend it up, strain it, and use the juices as starting fluid to fire up an old Ford 300 straight six). These are some great cars I’m mentioning, here, but to most laypeople, they’re kind of weird. It’s the wacky column shifter in the Hyundai, the absurd number of electronic gadgets and storage offerings in the Rivian, it’s the Tesla’s humongous screen in an otherwise oddly understated cabin, it’s the whole vibe of the Honda E. The other key factor is execution, and after driving the truck last week I can say with confidence: Ford nailed it.Īfter having driven machines like the Rivian R1T, Tesla Model 3, Kia EV6, Hyundai Ioniq 5, and Honda E, I’ve gotten used to the “weirdness” that tends to accompany EVs. It’s a key factor behind why I see the launch of the 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning as a major inflection point in automotive history. But this no-nonsense approach is actually the Lightning’s superpower, allowing it to reach the market quickly, remain within a price range that many can afford, and appeal to the masses by being familiar and unintimidating. No, the Lightning is a regular, everyday F-150 with an electric powertrain shoved in, and that’s pretty much it. It’s not styled like something from a sci-fi movie. It doesn’t promise full autonomous driving. The 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning isn’t a whiz-bang gadget disguised as a truck.
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