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We Rode Shotgun in the New Ford F-150 Lightning Platinum, It Blew Our Minds

The Ford F-150 line of trucks is the number one selling vehicle in America and has been, seemingly effortlessly, since at least the late 1970s. But will this translate into big sales as we dive headfirst into the all-electric revolution? After riding shotgun in one at this year's New York Auto Show, we have reason to suspect the answer is yes.
Ford F-150 Lightning 2022 NYIAS 16 photos
Photo: Benny Kirk/ autoevolution
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EVs were the name of the game at this year's event at the iconic Jacob K Javits Convention Center in mid-town Manhattan. The limited number of manufacturers present at this year's event, coupled with an EVs inherent lack of exhaust, made for an even space demonstrably different than years prior.

As many as three separate test courses took up valuable real estate at this year's event, of which Ford's by far had the longest straightaway. It's a space just long enough to feel the full acceleration and sheer max torque at low rpm amazingness that a well-sorted electric drivetrain can offer.

Say what you will about EVs, the noiseless food blender motors on wheels that they are. But watching Ford's driver team warming up the tires by jetting across the straightaway and then breaking gave us a sense that, at the very least, they won't be slow.

Out on the track on this Wednesday afternoon in the Big Apple was a fearsome group of Ford EVs the company believes will finally change the American attitude fully towards EVs.

Ford F\-150 Lightning 2022 NYIAS
Photo: Benny Kirk/ autoevolution
The remarkable trio of the Mustang Mach-E GT, two different trim levels of the F-150 Lightning, and even the very same EV-swapped F-100 SEMA show for very special VIP guests, more on that in a later piece, so stay tuned.

In any case, our spot in line for the test track at this year's New York Auto show at the Ford EV track lined us up perfectly for a long-awaited, fully loaded F-150 Lightning Platinum. The $90,000-plus mack-daddy of the Ford truck line serves as the brand's shining beacon on a hill that doesn't fill the convention center with toxic smoke as its gas and diesel equivalents would.

As with pretty much every EV not based on its own bespoke platform, the F-150 Lightning looks very much like its derivative hydrocarbon guzzling counterparts. All of the ICE exclusive heat vents and air intakes are replaced by smooth curves and a unique front fascia instantly recognizable as an EV truck. Our driver greeted us cordially as a few other journalists at the show as we climbed into the cab.

Lucky for us, we got the prized shotgun seat, where we could get a real good look at the monstrous, positively gargantuan, 15.5-inch multifunction navigation and infotainment screen. This screen, which dwarfs all of the iPads we non-apple inclined people are aware of, is a feature Ford is using as a crown jewel of sorts in a truck that is as fast as most sports cars and more practical to boot.

Ford F\-150 Lightning 2022 NYIAS
Photo: Benny Kirk/ autoevolution
But in reality, the crown jewel of the tech in this truck is its drivetrain. 563 horsepower (571 PS) and a scarcely believable 775 lb-ft of torque (1,050.75 Nm) available at nearly zero rpm are enough for people who've never driven anything faster than a mid-range Civic to be convinced it's a rocketship. In reality, it's zero to 60 in four seconds flat, still impressive for sure.

It's all thanks to a bespoke dual-motor, battery-powered drive train, which, while not as cool as some motor-in-wheel prototypes Ford initially trialed, at least get the job done. What it all amounts to in the end is a truck full of awe-struck motoring journalists being told to hold their cameras with both hands at the beginning of the long straightaway.

A single stomp of the driver's accelerator pedal followed by an even larger stomp of the brake at the other end turned all but the driver into piles of smoldering, barely held together goo. Safe to say, anybody that entered this electric truck as an EV skeptic left at most a bonafide believer, and at minimum, exiting the track with huge smiles across their faces.

As for us lot, it took us a couple of minutes for frozen slacked jaws to loosen into normal human faces again. If the Model S Plaid truly is twice as quick as this truck, you might as well give its drivers their fighter pilot's wings. But you won't see any of us here talking a load of smack about EVs anymore. We were made humble around these parts after just one half a second pull.

Ford F\-150 Lightning 2022 NYIAS
Photo: Benny Kirk/ autoevolution
Stay tuned for more from our coverage of the 2022 New York International Auto Show here on autoevolution.
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