One of the first greater Jacksonville, FL-area Ford F-150 Lightning owners has already driven his EV pickup across the country.
Sergio Rodriguez, who is on assignment at Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay in Kingsland, Ga., recently picked up his Lightning in California and drove it home.
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EV Rider was invited to Kingsland, which is just up the road from Jacksonville, to take Sergio’s extended-range Lightning for a spin and check out all of its features.
Sergio purchased the Lariat edition, which includes the 10,000-pound tow package and larger battery that has a useable capacity of 131 kWh, which can be charged from 15-80% in 41 minutes using a 150kW+ DC fast charger, according to Ford.
Ford estimates the extended range battery has about 300 miles of range on the XLT and Lariat, and 280 miles on the top-level F-150 Lightning Platinum.
In the video you’ll find a complete tour of the F-150 Lightning, road test and a few 0-60 mph runs, which Sergio says Ford estimates at 4 seconds.
The F-150 Lightning has garnered a good bit of initial praise from automotive journalists for features that include an available maximum payload capacity of 2,235 pounds, Blue Cruise hands-free driving, and the ability to power a home with up to 9.6 kilowatts of power.
“F-150 Lightning is built for seamless transitions between charging your vehicle and powering your house when needed – and Ford is the first in the U.S. to offer this capability on an electric truck,” said Ryan O’Gorman, Ford energy services business manager.
Sergio particularly likes what Ford calls the Lightning’s “Mega Power Frunk,” which offers 400 pounds of payload where an engine would normally go.
He plans to take full advantage of the Lightning’s towing technology, which includes onboard scales that are integrated with self-adjusting range estimates. The truck allows drivers to plug in the details of the boat, trailer or other objects they are hauling or towing to get more accurate range estimates that account for the additional load.
The Lightning is available as a 10-kilowatt smart power plant on wheels. With Pro Power Onboard, Lightning drivers can use built-in electrical outlets to directly power a variety of tools, electronics, and appliances away from home. Standard on base trims is 2.4 kilowatts of power with the option for more, while Lariat and Platinum series come standard with 9.6 kilowatts of power – a combination of up to 2.4 kilowatts available through the frunk and up to 7.2 kilowatts through 11 power outlets in the cab and bed.
F-150s are also capable of providing Level 2-speed charges to just about any other electric vehicles such as the Tesla Model S or Zero Motorcycles SR/F.
In the video at the top of this page you’ll get a tour of all of it along with the truck’s other features and Sergio’s impressions after his first 3,000-plus miles of driving the F-150 Lightning. Sergio also owns two Mustang Mach-Es. A video of his Mach-E GT-Performance is available here.
The 2022 F-150 Lightning is already sold out. At the time of this post the Lightning carried a base price of $39,947 with available option packages that top $90,000.
For EV Riders that may be cross shopping the F-150 Lightning with Rivian’s R1T EV pickup, here’s an in-depth look at it from the viewpoint of Jacksonville’s first Rivian owner.
