Fast Facts | Ford Lightning Becomes Lightning EREV
🔌 Powertrain: All-electric drive with an onboard gasoline generator to supply electricity to the battery
📏 Claimed Range: Up to 700 miles before refueling (per Ford)
🛻 Towing Reality: Range can drop 25%–50% when towing or hauling heavy loads
🧪 AAA Test Note: Range cited falling from 278 miles to 210 miles with 1,400 lbs of cargo
🏗️ Positioning: “Best of both worlds” concept, described like a very large plug-in hybrid
🌾 Use Case: Rural and work-truck drivers get long-distance flexibility without relying on chargers
📅 Roadmap: Ford also says a mid-size all-electric truck under $30,000 is targeted for 2027
The Lightning Gets a Range-Extender Plot Twist
Ford announced that it was pulling back on the production of the F-150 Lightning a few months back, but now it has decided to stop production of the Lightning as it exists now. For the future, the Lightning will become an extended range EV truck to be called the Lightning EREV. Think of it as the next gen version of the Lightning.
What does extended range mean? First of all, the EREV is still an all-electric truck but the new one will include an onboard gasoline-powered generator to provide electricity to the battery pack. It still will include an all-electric drivetrain but the added generator will let you drive it more like a conventional internal combustion engine truck.
You will take the EREV to the gas station, fill it up, and power off using the vehicle’s electric motors. According to Ford, what this means to new EREV owners is that they can drive up to 700 miles of range before they need to refuel. It makes a lot of sense for a full-size pickup.
One of the biggest problems the original Lightning had was that when you were using it to tow a heavy trailer or cart around a major load, the range dropped significantly. AAA testing showed that the Lightning’s range dropped from 278 miles to just 210 miles with 1,400 of cargo. Towing or hauling could cut your range by 25 to 50 percent. Not good.
If towing range is the whole pain point Ford is reacting to, here’s the straight talk: How Much Does Towing Affect Range?
Electric When You Want It, Gas When You Need It
The new EREV lets you leave your house with a full charge and tank of gas and travel up to 700 miles before you need to refill the gas. However, if you are not towing anything, you can charge up the battery pack at home and use it as a standard EV, never using gas at all.
When it comes to making use of all the attributes of a full-size pickup truck, Ford sees this as a great best of both worlds’ solution. Think of the new F-150 EREV as a really big plug-in hybrid. Unlike the current crop of big and expensive electric pickups, Ford’s next generation electric vehicle platform will focus on small and affordable EVs for the average consumer.
The original F-150 Lightning was a great all-electric truck. Make no mistake, it was smooth, incredibly fast, and when you would pull a heavy load, the electric motors were superb at pulling and towing efficiently. It just couldn’t tow or haul for a long period of time without a recharge. Now, the new EREV takes care of that problem.
While waiting for the EREV to appear at your local Ford dealership, the company is also creating a mid-size all-electric truck for under $30,000, said to be on sale in 2027. The EREV also means that Ford is paying attention to customer needs and wants, deciding that starting out with a big, expensive all-electric truck offering little towing capacity may have been a bad move.
We think this change is a smart move by Ford. After all, RAM never even brought their all-electric full size pickup truck to market (to be called the RAM REV) before deciding to make it an extended range vehicle as well. Ford must have been taking notes and since the RAM REV extended range truck is supposed to go on sale next year, we hope the new F-150 Lightning EREV will debut at about the same time.
Another big plus for the Ford EREV is that while the original Lightning may have worked for city slickers, folks who live in rural areas and want to use their electric F-150 as a work truck on the farm or ranch, will certainly appreciate not having to find an EV charging station on the backroads of America. It just makes a lot of sense to go to an extended range EREV.
Ford's Next Chapter
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