The Ford F-150 Lightning Hits the Off-Road Trails, Is It Any Good?

Ford started deliveries of its electric pickup truck earlier this year and the first trucks already appeared in April sales results. Ford is currently selling all trims of the F-150 Lightning, meaning that even fleet customers who ordered the cheaper trims are well served. The production rate is nowhere near the level that customers want, so it will take a while until Ford will clear the backlogs.

While working hard behind the scene to ramp up F-150 Lightning’s production, Ford took the time to show its electric truck capabilities to people in Texas. The event took place at a beautiful vineyard in South Texas, where guests got the chance to test the truck in its natural habitat on off-road trails and in the hills. One of the people attending the event was Kyle Conner from Out of Spec Overlanding, and he took the chance to show us how the Lightning handles some decent off-roading.

With the instant torque of its electric motors, the F-150 Lightning should prove a beast off-road, and this is exactly what Kyle discovers. Throughout the test, the truck overcomes anything the event hosts have prepared for it on the off-road track. Of course, this was a controlled course, so no matter how wild it may appear it was conceived to pose little problems to the F-150 Lightning, while at the same time showing its strengths.

While there’s no doubt the truck can make use of its power and torque to overcome most obstacles, it’s the ground clearance that troubles us. As an electric vehicle, it is designed to be efficient first and foremost, and aerodynamics plays a big role. This means that the F-150 Lightning might find itself a little closer to obstacles than advised. In fact, the rear motor is so low that the skid plate scratched the rocks more than once.

Having a long wheelbase doesn’t help with serious off-roading either, but for most situations the F-150 Lightning would be just as good if not better than an ICE F-150. Kyle stresses the role played by the rear e-locking differential in overcoming difficult situations, especially in low-grip scenarios or when not all wheels are on the ground. It really makes a difference.