Road Testing the Electric Ford F-150 Lightning in Cowboy Country

Everyone Looks Good in Western Wear

They say anyone can pull off a cowboy hat, wrangler jeans, and a quality pair of boots. I believe it. It is only a matter of finding the right-sized hat, the correct length in jeans, and boots that don’t have that ugly square-toe look. Sorry to those who have a pair, I find them hideous. They look like Bigfoot stepped on them, but I digress.

Whether you grew up watching reruns of Gunsmoke on TV Land or catching up on the last season of Yellowstone, there’s a recent and growing surge in fashionable ranch wear. It’s hip to be a cowpoke.

Cowboys Ride in Trucks

What is a pickup truck but a steel horse? Work vehicles designed for the do-it-all and look majestic in the process. It makes sense that pickup trucks are a draw for car buyers of all types, not just those who wear blue collars. Texas is the truck capital of the world, and you don’t need the eyes of a hawk to spot a pickup with a scratch-free, spotless truck bed. Plenty of people buy trucks with no intention of ever using the tow hitch or dropping the tailgate for anything other than a tailgate party.

Ford understands this logic and moves a fair bit of F-Series trucks under that mindset. So, recently, I was invited by the good folks at Ford to the cowboy country of Fort Worth, Texas, to road-test the latest variant in pickup truck technology, the all-electric F-150 Lightning. The goal of this journey was to experience the instant torque and versatility of an electric pickup truck outside the city, out of its comfort zone of having charging stations at close range.

At the Ranch with the Ford F-150 Lightning

The drive consisted of 100 miles out of the city limits to spend several nights on a 9,000-acre ranch. Called the Rough Creek Lodge Ranch & Resort, a working ranch complete with a luxurious, family-friendly resort offering every five-star amenity one could desire. Everything from hunting and clay shooting to bowling and zip lining, and everything in between, so I wasn’t exactly roughing it like a cowboy on a cattle drive under the big Texas sky. Nevertheless, this venture was far enough away to get some seat time in the 2025 Ford F-150 Lightning.

On the highway, the all-electric Lightning is a fantastic, elegant cruiser with a truck bed. The truck’s platform creates a low center of gravity, with dual electric motors placed at the front and rear for balance, and it features a rear independent suspension. On the road, it looks and feels like an F-150 truck that went to etiquette school. It is more poised, graceful as it hugs the road.

In my opinion, the Ford Lightning should be wearing a Lincoln badge instead of a blue oval.
Naturally, the cabin is quiet enough to mediate with a living room’s worth of space for the rear passengers. The silence of electric power means you can hold a conversation without needing to raise your voice or lower the audio volume. Plus, the air conditioning and heating activate much faster.

It is also quick with power outputs ranging from 452 to 580 horsepower, capable of pushing the Lightning from zero to 60 in under four seconds. That puts it in the same league as the high-performance, supercharged 5.2L V8 F-150 Raptor R.

My favorite detail about this truck is the frunk, which can hold up to 400 pounds, is large enough to store five carry-on bags, features multiple power outlets, and features a large cubby area that can double as an ice chest. Not to mention the Lightning’s most important party trick, acting as a backup power source to keep the lights on in your home during an emergency.

Does the All-Electric F-150 Lightning Work as a Ranch Truck?

The short answer is, yes. The honest answer is yes, but…

The F-150 Lightning has the muscle you’d expect in a pickup truck, with a max payload ranging between 1,800 and 2,300 pounds. Towing capacity is limited to 5,000 to 7,700 pounds unless you opt for the Trailer Towing Package, which boosts its towing performance to 10,000 pounds.

The standard range of the Lightning’s entry-level 98 kWh battery pack is 240 miles, which is plenty for running errands around town. The available extended-range battery packs, 123 kWh and 131 kWh, will boost the range to 300 and 320 miles, respectively.

When it comes to electric vehicles, drivers can often experience “range anxiety,” the fear of running out of battery power. Understandable considering that a dead EV can’t be revived with a jerry can full of unleaded. You need a flat-bed tow truck, a charging station, and, most expensive of all, an investment of your time to recharge.

Towing or hauling with an electric pickup truck significantly affects the total range, as do other factors such as wind resistance, elevation, and speed. Of course, all these factors also affect gasoline and diesel trucks. Still, currently, it is much easier and quicker to refill a fuel tank than to recharge a battery from 15 to 80 percent if the journey is several hundred miles away.

What I’m saying is I’m glad the Rough Creek Lodge Ranch & Resort had level 2 charging stations in their parking lot. Otherwise, the 200-mile round trip from the ranch to the Dallas airport wouldn’t have been as comfortable or enjoyable.

Home Charging is the Key to EV Living

So, to answer the question, yes, it can work, but it requires some accessories. To get the most out of an electric pickup truck, you need to have an EV charger on site. That is the checkmate move to get over range anxiety.

I love my V8-powered truck, but I can’t refill the tank from the comfort of home. With an EV, I can plug it in as routinely as plugging in my phone to charge overnight while I sleep. So, having a charger at a ranch, let’s say next to the barn, would definitely allow electric pickup trucks like the F-150 Lightning to put in a hard day’s work without worry.

Is it expensive to install an EV charger in your home or property? Not as much as one would assume. Advances in technology are making it easier to install home chargers without upgrading an older home or incurring expensive installation costs.

A quick search for EV home chargers on Amazon generated multiple results priced well under $1,000. Moreover, companies like Emporia offer a wide variety of devices that can charge an EV and convert a house into a smart home using an adapter that installs into the home’s fuse panel.

It can sync the home’s electrical grid to an EV and transfer power accordingly between them. For example, if the power goes out during a storm, you’d be able to keep the lights on by using the EV as a giant battery to supply power to the home. In addition to providing users with a detailed report of where every penny’s worth of electricity is being wasted to maximize efficiency.

Ford F-150 Lightning Trim Levels and Pricing

Speaking of money, Ford offers five trim levels for the Lightning, starting with the fleet Pro model at $55,000 and the entry-level XLT at just under $64,000. Higher trim levels like the Flash and Lariat reach $70,000, and the top-tier Platinum exceeds $80,000. So, it’s priced on the heavy side, but you do get a luxurious ride and premium technology for your money.

I only wish Ford would invest more in the truck’s visual presentation. All the trim levels look too similar beyond a badge that says it’s a Flash, Lariat, or Platinum. I drove the mid-range Flash and the Platinum, which have about a $15,000 price gap. If it wasn’t for a plaque on the center console stating the trim level, I’d be hard-pressed to notice the difference. Offering three different shades of white for these trucks doesn’t help matters either.

It needs more color! Add some spark to the Lightning’s calm and collected personality.