Ford unveiled their electric F-150 Lightning earlier this month with two different battery configurations. The standard range battery would be able to travel an estimated 230 miles (370km) on a single charge, while the extended range battery could travel up to 300 miles (482km).
Some were disappointed with those range numbers, but it appears they might be higher than advertised.
Popular YouTuber Marques Brownlee (MKBHD) was able to test out a pre-production unit, and discovered from a Ford employee the estimated ranges includes having 1,000lb of cargo in the truck.
During his tests the truck’s computer was showing 367 miles at about 80% charge with just him in the truck. That means at a 100% charge it would be able to travel 459 miles (738km), or about 50% further than the estimated rated range.
Does the math make sense?
While the numbers are impressive, there are some things to consider that might put a damper on these new estimates.
The first is that 1,000lbs of cargo isn’t that much extra weight. The average male weighs about 200lbs, so that’s the equivalent of only 5 people in the truck. As any electric vehicle (EV) owner can tell you, going from 5 adults to just a driver does not increase your range anywhere close to 50%.
You typically see that kind of impact on range when towing 3,000lbs or more.
The other thing to consider is this was a pre-production truck, and the battery estimation might not have been properly calibrated. It is not unusual, even in production EVs, to see computer range estimates be inaccurate until the car’s battery management system has been properly calibrated by charging and recharging multiple times.
Whatever the actual range of the F-150 Lightning is, the electric truck could prove to be a big seller for Ford. Just a few days after the unveiling Ford CEO Jim Farley announced they had already received more than 70,000 reservations.
You can check out MKBHD’s full review below, it is worth the watch.
