Ford has excellent news for the customers that will start getting their F-150 Lightning trucks this spring. The EPA range these vehicles will have is actually higher than what the company initially estimated. We had anticipated this on March 17 but it is now official. Although the numbers are not much more significant, they will help the electric pickup trucks go a bit further than these future owners were counting they would go.
All ER (Extended Range) units will travel 320 miles (515 kilometers) according to the final EPA numbers. Before officially disclosing these results, Ford said the ER derivatives (Pro, XLT, and Lariat) would travel only 300 mi (483 km).
The F-150 Lightning Platinum was the only other derivative that had an improvement. Instead of the 280 mi (451 km) of EPA range that Ford estimated it would have, the final number was 300 mi.
When you check the Pro SR (Standard Range), XLT SR, and Lariat SR version of the electric pickup truck, what you get is the same 230 mi (370 km) of range that Ford previously expected them to have.
We have asked Ford why only the ER derivatives and the Platinum present better results. If those were efficiency gains related to the powertrain or aerodynamics, they would probably also affect SR versions of the electric pickup truck. Being restricted to ER units of the F-150 Lightning gives us the impression that it has to do with the battery pack.
Ford told us that its estimates of what the SR battery packs could deliver were more accurate than what the ER battery pack could really offer. That said, the engineering team was able to come up with more improvements to the ER vehicles that reflected in the better ranges. We just wonder what these improvements could be that they benefit only the ER units and not the SR units.
Ford may have found a way to increase the energy density of the ER battery packs. With more juice, these vehicles could run further without any changes to the motors, inverters, and other components that can affect the energy efficiency of the F-150 Lightning. It may also be the case that the more expensive versions could get better motors, inverters, and other components that would just make the SR derivatives more costly than Ford promised they would be.
Regardless of the reason, this is great for customers that are already waiting for their new electric pickup trucks. Linda Zhang promised that her team is “laser-focused on continually improving our energy consumption efficiency for Lightning.” As the chief program engineer for the F-150 Lightning, delivering better results even before the electric pickup truck lands into these customers’ parking spots gives her enough credibility for us to believe they can provide more good news in the future.
The F-150 Lightning Platinum was the only other derivative that had an improvement. Instead of the 280 mi (451 km) of EPA range that Ford estimated it would have, the final number was 300 mi.
When you check the Pro SR (Standard Range), XLT SR, and Lariat SR version of the electric pickup truck, what you get is the same 230 mi (370 km) of range that Ford previously expected them to have.
We have asked Ford why only the ER derivatives and the Platinum present better results. If those were efficiency gains related to the powertrain or aerodynamics, they would probably also affect SR versions of the electric pickup truck. Being restricted to ER units of the F-150 Lightning gives us the impression that it has to do with the battery pack.
Ford told us that its estimates of what the SR battery packs could deliver were more accurate than what the ER battery pack could really offer. That said, the engineering team was able to come up with more improvements to the ER vehicles that reflected in the better ranges. We just wonder what these improvements could be that they benefit only the ER units and not the SR units.
Ford may have found a way to increase the energy density of the ER battery packs. With more juice, these vehicles could run further without any changes to the motors, inverters, and other components that can affect the energy efficiency of the F-150 Lightning. It may also be the case that the more expensive versions could get better motors, inverters, and other components that would just make the SR derivatives more costly than Ford promised they would be.
Regardless of the reason, this is great for customers that are already waiting for their new electric pickup trucks. Linda Zhang promised that her team is “laser-focused on continually improving our energy consumption efficiency for Lightning.” As the chief program engineer for the F-150 Lightning, delivering better results even before the electric pickup truck lands into these customers’ parking spots gives her enough credibility for us to believe they can provide more good news in the future.