Edmunds 3 year Lightning review

[No Oil HaHa]

I need to read their other reviews to figure out how they got 345 miles on a single charge.

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[davehu]

In addition to what others have already noted

....
The one guy said something about the rattles and squeaks, but perhaps the reason they notice them more is because of how quiet the vehicle is?

Yep. Not too long after I traded in my Chevy Avalanche for my Lightning, I picked up some treated lumber for some deck work. I left the tailgate down and with everything tied down proceeded to make the 2 mile trip home on a 2 lane country (paved) road when I heard a terrible noise coming from the back. I pulled over and realized that when hitting a bump the tailgate bounced along the the lumber making a hellofa racket. I realized that this must have been happening for all my years of driving my Avy and other pickups but because the engine noise was so loud I never realized the damage I might have caused to the tailgate.

 

[jackdeaoux]

In addition to what others have already noted

They talk about how it’s the best EV truck then they complain that it is heavy? Doesn’t handle like a sports cars I guess??
Then they complain about the range drop towing a 7500 pound trailer and say how great the hybrid is, but they don’t say what the range drop in the hybrid is!!!
The one guy said something about the rattles and squeaks, but perhaps the reason they notice them more is because of how quiet the vehicle is?
I have just over 21,000 miles now and I have had it for a year and a half and I don’t have any rattles and squeaks. The only difference is I do not tow trailers very often so I rarely see the range hit that they are complaining about! I also charge at home 99% of the time!
Overall, not a bad review, but their complaints are a little whiny in my opinion!

More than a “little whiny”. Easily the best vehicle I have ever had!

 

[Scorpio3d]

I must admit that I have never considered any of my vehicles, other than my 1967 Pontiac GTO, a realistic asset. Personally, I consider an asset as something that I invest in with the expectation that its value will increase over time, as with my house, stocks and bonds. Financially, a vehicle is a tangible asset which depreciates over time, but I think of it practically as a transportation expense. I bought my GTO in 1970, and I plan to keep my Lightning for many years. Vehicle depreciation is irrelevant to me.

Well, I’m sure if you keep the lightning for 55 years it will start appreciating again at some point???

 

[kubel]

What's with the guy saying he didn't like the ride on the highway? I can't think of a better truck when it comes to ride comfort.

I need to read their other reviews to figure out how they got 345 miles on a single charge.

They are based in Santa Monica and the majority of their driving is commuting between their HQ and their employee's houses. Their driving loop is slow and warm, conditions the Lightning loves when it comes to range.

 

[Jackdforme]

I’ve had mine a 2025 flash for about two months now. I’m coming from a model Y and prior to that have had a variety of trucks, including pickup trucks. All gas. I feel like I can offer a unique perspective due to the fact that I’m coming from an EV. It’s really only fair to compare the lightning in a few ways.

First and the top priority is, we should be comparing it to the other full-size electric pick up trucks that are out there right now. I would not compare it to a Rivian.
So realistically, we’re comparing it to a Silverado a Sierra, which is the same and maybe a cyber truck but that’s a stretch. In that comparison, the F150 is far more refined, and in my opinion, has the benefit of not feeling like some EV engineering project. However, it also lacks vertical integration and due to that you can see where they’ve had to take some real liberties and limitations due to the fact that they’re building it on top of the ice platform. Compared to driving Silverado night and day refinement goes to the F150 all day. Neither interior truly blow my mind and I’m also having a ton of issues finding a comfortable position in the driver seat on the 25 flash. Active x, pure garbage. Anyone who offers lumbar support without high adjustment should be fired. My knee squeaks my door panel if I rest it there. Other than that, it’s better. Better put together too.

Speaking of better put together and now let’s compare to other EV’s. Coming from my model Y the fit and finish on the F150 is leagues above. Dare I say this but it feels faster. I did wind up with the instant understanding that having a less efficient EV did mean not only more charging, but more cost for power every month even at home. Something no one really talks about while we all scream efficiency. The F150 is also far quieter and well mannered on the road. The seats in the model y are epic and so is the sound system. We won’t even get into user interface because although I like having an actual dashboard in front of me, I prefer if it were Tesla software. Blue Cruise is a joke compared to FSD or even just basic auto pilot. More importantly and having nothing to do with this review, not feeling like I’m a 22 year-old software engineer driving around my town was worth everything.

last and certainly not least let’s compare it to the future or what’s possible. There will come a time sooner than later where battery density and safety will increase while cost for those batteries will decrease. You will get 600 to 800 miles of range just like a large ice vehicle with a diesel. The next F150 lightning, if they don’t destroy it will be more dynamic while respecting the F150 feel and familiarity(ahem Chevy). My assumption is that Ford will also either go all in on Apple CarPlay ultra or go to the GM route and create some sort of partnership process with a locked ecosystem. Charging speed will increase and we may even see an 800 V architecture. The prices will be high on these for a while and then through the normal market flows of what we’ve seen over the last few years come down to earth. The country seems to mentally be temporarily giving up on EV. However, in the background there’s continued push to install infrastructure funding or not because it’s a profitable industry, a growing industry.

Hey ford let’s try not to continue to add more subscriptions to your vehicles. Everyone hates them from everyone. If GM gets a dog mode and a camping mode before this truck then you don’t have any right to charge for software.

So if I do my little mind, algorithm and level, set my expectations against my use case which isn’t long haul towing, this thing is not only right for the moment in time and the technology we have but it’s more refined than it’s competition.

 

[inchman254]

I always find the complaints about depreciation in EV's a bit like EV fires. Journalists just pick up on EV stuff because EVs are still a bit of an enigma to most people. All new cars depreciate terribly.

I just did a quick comparison between a 2025 and 2022 Audi A6 (my last sedan) and a Lightning Lariat on AutoTrader (not sure if you have that as a resale site in the US).

A new 2025 A6 Technik is listed at C$102k and 2022s are going anywhere from C$42k and C$62k. So, on average, a 50% depreciation.

New 2025 Lightning Lariats are listed at about C$90k. The lone 2022 is listed at C$60k... probably a bit optimistic... let's say C$55k. That's "only" 40% depreciation. Clearly, not as bad as an Audi. And, yes, high-end European cars do depreciate a lot. And the Lightning is definitely not as good for depreciation as a Toyota Tundra or a GM Sierra 3500HD, probably because the tech in these vehicles hasn't changed very much, so a well maintained used one is almost the same as a new one.

Tech improves so quickly in up-and-coming technologies that depreciation is just natural. Batteries and heat pumps for our Lightnings come to mind. And clearly, our eventually sub-300 mile ERs are going to overshadowed by newer-tech vehicles with longer range and faster recharge times in the next couple of years. Who really needs that much range for most of their driving, anyway? And recharge times only matter if you don't charge at home.

But, if someone drives 12,000mi/20,000km per year, driving an ICE pickup costs about C$2,500 more per year than a Lightning. Will it make up for the difference in depreciation in a few years when it comes time to sell/trade in our current vehicles? With attitudes and knowledge gradually changing, or if gas goes up in price significantly, resale EV depreciation may improve.

Naysayers can spend their whole life waiting for the next best thing. In the meantime, we get to drive some amazing, smooth, quiet, spacious, powerful, eco-friendly, useful machines. That's definitely worth something. If a bit of depreciation is that something, then so be it.

 

[Chillguy]

Another BS Edmund's review IMO.. very dishonest. I've owned 4 EVs (13 yrs in total) before I got my Lightning Platinum some year and a half ago... 20K miles, 30% of it towing heavy. I absolutely love my truck, it is absolutely same as the day I picked it up from the dealer. Charging at home is the best! I love the fact that I NEVER need to stop at gas stations, change oil, filters, etc is a such a relief! AND I never mind stopping every 3 hours or so during long distance trips anyway.... bathroom/coffee/food breaks while I charge is a no-brainer to me. To me personally, my Lightning is a WIN-WIN-WIN!

 

[Benny Boo Boo]

The kind of criticisms they offer make it clear that they don't drive EVs, don't recognize the value the customer base sees, and that they have extremely superficial relationships with vehicles.

It boggles me when someone says charging is inconvenient. Especially someone touting themselves as a professional car reviewer.

Remembering the original namesake Ford Lightning, a sports car in a truck body to capture a new demo, I wonder if the conversation around it was about range and towing. Maybe we should expect those sorts of numbers added to the sticker for Corvettes next year.

 

[b.go]

I just charged this weekend on the road for the first time since November. I had a short weekend camping trip with my sons. The Electrify America session on Saturday (at noon) wasn't too terrible. We had to wait about 10 minutes for a stall to open up, and it wasn't the cheapest place or time to charge, but it was fast and I got back on the road in 40 minutes. This morning during my drive home I found a Flo Network location that was fantastic. The rate was good, I had plenty of room to pull in, a long cable, and the location was quiet and a nice place to spend 30 minutes.

I love my Lightning and will never go back to an ICE pickup.

 

[NeighborGeek]

"Backing into tight places is jerky with one pedal drive."

Did anyone tell that fellow he could push a button to take it out of one pedal drive.

I wish it were a button, and not a digital toggle on mine. OPD and Auto Hold should be controls that are very easy to access, not something you've got to flip around in menus for.

 

[Bokenator]

I just learned that you can partially close the tailgate and it will finish the job (see video at timestamp 3:08). I have always just reached underneath and hit the button. How have I never figured this out in 3+ years? I actually went out to the truck and made sure it worked before posting; yep it works!

 

[MountainAlive]

I just learned that you can partially close the tailgate and it will finish the job (see video at timestamp 3:08). I have always just reached underneath and hit the button. How have I never figured this out in 3+ years? I actually went out to the truck and made sure it worked before posting; yep it works!

Haha yep my kids discovered this for me one day by accident.

 

[Traconesu]

My 2022 lightning platinum is the absolute best F150 that I've ever owned. Right at 24K miles. I only charge at home often using my excess solar energy. I've only fast charged about 3 times using the free 250 kwh from electricity America. In fact that expired before I got a chance to use all of it. My ford 80 amp and 32 amp chargers are both included with the vehicle. My normal trip seldom exceeds 60 miles and normally get 2 mpk. Or slightly better. I've used my truck a couple of time to power my home after several cloudy days when my home batteries weren't getting fully charged using the 240 volt 7.2 kw receptical. It hauls and tows everything my 2014 F150 V8 did at a fraction of the cost. So far I've had 3 HV battery modules replaced all at the same time under warranty. These trucks work like any F150, rides like a Cadillac and performs like a sports car. Unbelievable how quick a near 7000 lb vehicle is. The first time I took my neighbor for a ride I couldn't resist demonstrating the 0-60. I told him to put his head up against the headrest. He said YEAH RIGHT. I said Ok, are you ready he said yes. He told me his neck hurt him for about a week after that. I told him I was sorry, but remember I did warn you. I love this truck.

 

[Vulnox]

I wish it were a button, and not a digital toggle on mine. OPD and Auto Hold should be controls that are very easy to access, not something you've got to flip around in menus for.

You should have three memory buttons on the driver door. Set one to your normal, set two for a spouse if needed, and set 3 to the same as 1, but turn off 1PD and Auto Hold before you save the profile. Can then just hit 3 when you want them off, no menus.

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