Ford F-150 Lightning Platinum review: ‘It’s as fast as a Ferrari’
You might not have any need for the Ford F-150 pick-up truck, but it’s a force of nature.
The Ford F-150 pick-up truck is by far the best-selling vehicle in the world. Honda, Toyota and VW have the entire globe covered with their cheap ‘n’ cheerful hatchbacks, but someone buys an F-150 about every 30 seconds, and no ordinary car gets close to that. It’s a phenomenon, this thing.
General Motors and Chrysler have tried to take a slice of the pick-up pie, of course, but for nigh on 40 years they’ve been swept aside by the sales tsunami that is the big flatbed Ford. And then, three years ago, Elon Musk announced that Tesla would soon be launching an electric pick-up truck. And that made things interesting.
To be safe, Ford decided they had to make an electric version of the F-150, too – and it couldn’t be half-arsed in case Musk’s alternative wasn’t. It had to be not just brilliant but the best of the best of the best. Well, it’s called the Lightning. And it is. A point proved when Ford received 200,000 orders before it even went on sale.
I don’t like electric cars. A car without an engine has no soul, so to me it’s no more interesting than a deep freezer or a toaster. But the pick-up truck is a tool and, frankly, I don’t really care what makes it move about. Just so long as it does so well, and cheaply. “Cheaply” is an issue here because the F-150 is American, which means in England it will cost a fortune. There are other American issues too, such as a sat nav system that can only be narrowed down to a point where Belgium, France and Holland are also on the map. “Hey, it says you’re in Europe, buddy. What more information do you need?”
I also laughed at the message that flashed up on the dash every time I started the motor. It said I didn’t have enough range to reach the nearest charge point, which, in its Wilbur and Myrtle brain, was in Nova Scotia. In fact I charged it up at my garage socket and in the morning it was good for 418km.
That’s impressive, given the size of this thing. It is longer than a Mercedes S-class and only a little narrower than a full-sized Scania truck. Oh, and you drive it from a seat that’s so far off the ground, you can look down on passing airliners.
This immensity did present a few problems on the lanes of the Cotswolds. I spent most of my time going backwards and then absorbing the hatred from the oncoming motorists, who were all thinking, “Why on earth are you driving something so big, you idiot?” I’ll tell you why. It can carry nearly a tonne in the boot and tow a four-tonne trailer. This is a serious workhorse. And yet, in Sport mode, the top-of-the-range version three-tonne leviathan accelerates from 0-100km/h in 4.0 seconds. It’s as fast as a Ferrari F40.
Then things get better. Because it is quite exceptionally quiet and refined. Sure, if you concentrate you can sense that it’s a truck and the body is moving around slightly on its mountings. But you won’t be able to concentrate on that because there are so many toys to play with. You can even fold the gearlever flat so you can have a table between the front seats. And I don’t mean a “table” in the British Airways sense of the word. I mean a “table” like you’d get in Warwick Castle.
My favourite thing, though – apart from the Ford Focus-sized boot under the bonnet – was in the back. Because set into the plastic liner on the tailgate was a yardstick. And another in centimetres in case a Canadian buys one, I guess. That tells you just how hard those F-150 engineers were paying attention. They made it fast and quiet and smooth but they never forgot that the people who buy one will want to measure a log at some point.
Off road? Don’t know. I took it to the farm to see how its four-wheel-drive system would cope, but to reach the only challenging bit of land I have means going between two trees. And it wouldn’t fit. The dogs liked being in the back, though, and I liked the electrically operated panel in the back window that meant I could stop them jumping out to chase deer.
I have no need for this car at all. It’s stupid. The steering wheel is on the wrong side, it’s far too enormous, and while it’s very refined for a truck, it’s not as refined as a Range Rover. And yet I want one. Which is strange. I’ve always hated two things in life: pick-up trucks and electrical power. This is a car that combines both and I absolutely love it. Which is a measure of just how deeply impressive it is.
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Fast facts: Ford F-150 Lightning Platinum
Engine: Electric motor, 131kWh battery (426kW; 1050Nm)
Transmission: Single-speed automatic, all-wheel drive
Price: From $59,750, plus on-road costs
Rating: ★★★★