The F-150 Lightning Pro is Ford's commercial-grade electric truck
This battery-powered pickup features a low price tag and plenty of amenities vehicle fleet managers are sure to love.
Following the full F-150 Lightning reveal last week, Ford unveiled the affordably priced base version of this potentially game-changing pickup on Monday, the new F-150 Lightning Pro. This all-electric truck is designed with commercial customers in mind, though it's sure to appeal to retail buyers, too, because it promises to be an incredible value.
The Lightning Pro starts at $39,974, which gets you a SuperCrew body, standard full-time four-wheel drive and an estimated 230 miles of range. A larger battery is available as well, which should allow this truck to go 300 miles between charges. Examples fitted with the extended-range battery start at $49,974. Please note, neither of these listed prices include destination fees, which Ford has not shared yet. The delivery charge is $1,695 for combustion-powered F-150s, though it's almost certainly going to be more for the Lightning since it's practically guaranteed to be significantly heavier, probably similar to the reborn GMC Hummer EV truck, which tops out at more than 9,000 pounds.
Three-hundred miles of range in an EV is an important milestone, though it also feels a bit skimpy when rival companies like Lucid promise more than 500 miles between charges. However, Ford did its homework and even the Lightning's small battery pack should be more than enough for many users. The company analyzed more than 145 million miles of commercial customer telematics data and the results are quite surprising. On average, the daily travel needs of 95% of F-150 operators in the US are less than 174 miles. It's basically the same story with the upcoming E-Transit commercial van, which has a laughably small 126 miles of range. That's all commercial customers need for their specific usage scenarios, and it's all they want to pay for.
The Lightning Pro comes standard with a Sync 4 infotainment system, which can help drivers manage range and find nearby charging stations if their truck needs to be juiced up during the workday. Aside from that, fleet managers will love the various telematics solutions Ford is offering. They can remotely monitor vehicle utilization, odometer readings, warning lights and any diagnostic trouble codes. Beyond that, they can keep track of their Lightnings on a live map, which also features geofencing. They can also monitor trip histories, drive events, energy usage and much, much more.
Aside from the aggressive pricing and those work-oriented features, the Pro variant provides the same benefits of higher-end Lightning trucks. It offers fast recharging times, standard Co-Pilot 360 driver assistance technology, a 4G LTE modem and Enhanced Pro Power Onboard, which provides up to 9.6 kW of juice, enough to run a construction site for days or rip up to 25 miles of plywood with an electric saw. Additionally, this truck comes with Ford's Mega Power Frunk, or front trunk. This lockable, weather-tight storage space clocks in at about 14 cubic feet and can support up to 400 pounds of cargo, making it a great place to stash certain building materials, tools or other valuable items out of the elements and away from prying eyes.
The F-150 Lightning Pro gets a smaller Sync 4 screen.
A boon for commercial customers, the F-150 Lightning Pro promises lower up-front costs and significantly reduced maintenance, plus its residual residual values should be similar to current F-Series pickups, though with how quickly technology changes it will be interesting to see if this last point actually pans out. What's bleeding edge today is often painfully antiquated tomorrow.
Ford claims to own 43% of the Class 1 through 7 full-size truck and van market in the US. The automaker also estimates demand for all-electric vehicles like these will surpass 1 million units annually in the US by 2030. With the new Lightning Pro, it looks like Ford has a great opportunity to further dominate this market.
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