The EPA handed Ford a small victory on Monday now that the agency has shared final range figures for the upcoming Ford F-150 Lightning. The range of Ford’s EV take on its popular truck has outdone the carmaker’s own estimates, increasing from 300 to 320 miles. That’s an extra 20 miles per full charge. If you recall that the average commute distance hovers around 16 miles one way, then it means the Lightning just gained one extra trip to work on a forgetful Monday morning when you realize you didn’t plug it in to charge.
The theme here is Mondays, and the theme keeps on if you’re like Garfield and hate the moon’s day, as there are a couple of caveats to the news. The first being that the 20 extra miles only apply to some Ford F-150 Lightning trims when equipped with extended range. Customers that pay the $10,000 or more for the bigger battery on the XLT, Lariat and Pro models get the extra 20 miles.
All standard range Lightning trucks keep the 230 miles Ford first announced. This means the pretty big difference in price between the standard and extended range Lightning does buy another 90 miles of range. Well, except on the Platinum, which keeps the 300-mile estimate even when equipped with extended range. That’s the other caveat; the fanciest F-150 EVs don’t go as far.
I’d say go with the XLT or Lariat because that buys you the extra trip while saving you some money. The 20 bonus miles from the EPA estimate amount to a small but notable increase because in the car-buyer collective consciousness, every mile counts.
The 320-mile final figures put Ford’s truck ahead of the Rivian R1T, which has a 314-mile range per the EPA. The Rivian gets only six miles less than the Ford in real world tests! And yet, I suspect that Ford will be celebrating because at this nascent stage in the electric truck segment, even single digits are a win.
