Driving Ford's new F-150 Lightning through the Texas countryside proved that the hype surrounding the electric truck is all it is cracked up to be.
The testing of the Lightning showed me that it is the ultimate road-tripping vehicle.
There are five reasons why.
The first thing that caught my attention when I started driving was how quiet it was.
Your brain is wired to expect a gas engine when you pull away from a lumbering truck. The sound of the tires hitting the pavement and wind noise are what you hear when you drive a Lightning. You need to go over 75 mph for the wind noise to kick in.
There is plenty of room to stretch out in the Lightning. For hours at a time, I drove an $80,000 Lightning Lariat and never felt cramped or uncomfortable. The back seats have a lot of space for tall people.
Storage space on a road trip is nice. The lighting has a lot of it.
The bed is long enough to hold luggage and can hold larger items like bikes, kayaks, and tents. The weapon of the Lightning is not so secret.
The hood of the Lightning doesn't hide an engine, but a cavernous cargo area. It can easily fit a few backpacks. It could be used as a spot for things that are easy to reach, rather than being buried deep in the bed.
Blue Cruise is available on some of the more expensive models. The system works like this: When you get to a stretch of highway that Ford has pre-approved, you'll be asked to take your hands off the steering wheel.
The truck uses cameras and sensors to steer, accelerate, brake, and monitor traffic. It works well in my experience. I could sometimes go long stretches without having to intervene because the Lightning stayed in its lane. Blue Cruise could make long-distance drives less tiring when traffic is not too busy.
It does not work perfectly all the time and requires constant babysitting. I kept my hands close to the steering wheel.
The lightning can give away energy, even though it sucks in electricity to charge up. The household outlets are spread throughout the truck so it can share power with electronics.
Do you want to take your espresso machine and Instant Pot on a camping trip? Go ahead.
Sometimes road trips are about going off-road, whether it is a dirt trail to a secluded campsite or an overlanding adventure. The Lightning doesn't have a problem going off the beaten path.
All trucks have two motor and all wheel drive. They make light work of big rocks, water crossings, and loose terrain by immediately delivering tons of Torque. I am not an off-roading expert, but I could point the truck at a boulder, and climb over it with relative ease.
There is an elephant in the room.
The Environmental Protection Agency says that the Lightning can travel between 230 and 320 miles at a time. You will be stopping to charge on the highway. Most people stop every few hours.
Finding places to fill up is the bigger issue. Charging infrastructure is getting better all the time, but stations are not so common. There aren't as many options in the middle of the country as there are on the coast.
I think the F-150 Lightning is the best road-tripping solution.
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