I Spent a Week In the 2022 Ford Lightning Electric Pickup Truck, and This is Why It Just Might be My New Favorite Truck

Updated: Jan 16, 2023

After just a week, falling in love was easy.

If a girl could have a truck for a Valentine and if this were February, I’d be saving my most special stickers and chocolates for the 2022 Ford Lightning electric pickup truck. It’s true, I drive a Ram and I love it, but it’s really hard to go back to something that costs $120 to fuel twice a week and doesn’t have a frunk.

There is so much to love about the 2022 Ford Lightning that it’s going to be hard to cover it all here, but I’ll try to summarize my week with the truck and some of the things that stood out to me as really awesome, whether they are unique to the Lightning or available options on any new F-150.

Charging the Lightning is Easy

I’ve driven electric cars before and discovered that they don’t all come with the adapters needed to charge on a household outlet, or they come with that, but not the adapter for a 220 outlet. I’ve even spent $160 for a fancy adapter to be able to charge a non-Tesla on a Tesla charger. But the Ford Lightning came with both the 110 and 220 plugins which made it super simple to charge at home in my garage or at my brother’s house. And when I tried our local public chargers (Volta) for the first time, the experience was truly plug and play. While charging the truck you can open the door for a quick overview on the driver’s display, or you can see the charge status in the FordPass app on your phone. You can even start/stop the charging or schedule charging from your phone.

Trucks are full of technology these days with massive multimedia screens and digital dashes. Photo: Erica Mueller

The Ford Lightning Technology Just Makes Sense

Something my husband noticed which I ended up absolutely loving is the automatic headlights which dim and brighten again gradually vs snapping off and on. It’s such a small thing but it’s really cool and it just feels natural.

Features like Wifi, wireless Apple Car Play and Android Auto, wireless charging plus enough USB and household outlets to power a family of five means everyone can stay connected the whole trip. There are even some fun games in the multimedia system that can be played on the big vertical screen in case you’re parked and waiting for someone.

I wish I’d had a camera to record people’s reactions when I put groceries or instruments “under the hood” of this F-150 pickup truck! Photo: Erica Mueller

As it Turns Out, I’m a Junk in the Frunk Kind of Girl!

There, I said it. The frunk is my single most favorite feature about this truck. For the first time ever I can drive a truck that is capable of all the truck things, seats my entire family comfortably, and has covered lockable storage so that luggage and groceries aren’t crowded in around the kids in the back seat or rolling around in the bed. My guitar fits in the frunk. The charging cable fits in the extra storage compartment under the frunk. There are lights and outlets to plugin appliances, fan, more lights, phones, speakers, whatever your heart’s desire all right there inside the frunk which has a power open and close button just like the liftgate on an SUV. And the frunk can hold up to 400 lb of cargo. That’s a lot!

Have I mentioned how much I love the frunk?

Towing with the Ford Lightning

We don’t talk a lot about towing here, but we know that some people do like to tow occasionally and since one of the biggest questions being asked about the Lightning is how it does while towing I thought it would be good to give it a try! The Ford Lightning can tow up to 7,700 lb unless its equipped with the Max Tow package which brings the tow limit up to 10,000 lb. The truck I drove had the tow package so I worked with a local trailer company and we did a tow test with one of their flatbed tilt trailers and my brother’s Tesla Model S. These added up to 8,186 lb. The Lightning handled the load like a champ. Thanks to the extra torque from the electric motor gaining speed to enter the highway was no problem at all. The ride was smooth and quiet and it was pretty easy to forget we had a huge load back there.

We towed for 40 miles doing some rolling shot video footage for the trailer company and allowing both the truck’s computer and me to do some calculations on the range difference while towing. The truck is smart enough to weigh the load and calculate, adjusting your predicted range accordingly. During the Ford Lightning tow test saw a range loss of approximately 40% while towing, so if we were to start with a full charge we would have about 200 miles of range instead of 320-340.

What You Need to Know About the 2022 Ford Lightning

Starting price: $39,997
Exterior: Star White
Interior: black and white
Engine: dual motor
Battery: extended, 320 mi range
Transmission: single-speed transmission
Max recline driver and passenger seats
Spray-in bedline
2,000 lb payload limit
10,000 lb tow limit (extended)
Can power your house for up to 3 days
14.1 cubic feet lockable storage in the frunk
563 horsepower and 775 lb ft of torque
Blue Cruise enabled
Premium audio
Vehicle & Options: $92,609.00
Destination & Delivery: $1,695.00
TOTAL MSRP: $94,304.00