One thing that we don’t seem to see a lot of in the automotive industry is the concept of underpromising and overdelivering. It makes sense, though, because big promises sell cars (look at Tesla), especially these days when reservations and preorders are so important to a new model’s success.
It seems that Ford forgot about that with its F-150 Lightning electric vehicle because it keeps beating its own estimates. First, we saw slightly better range than expected. Now, according to an announcement made by the Blue Oval on Friday, we see that the Lightning is going to be packing more horsepower and a higher payload capacity than previously anticipated.
Before you get too excited: The increases aren’t huge, but they are meaningful. The Lightning EV with the standard range battery was targeted to have 426 horsepower, but it will actually offer 452. The extended range model was going to come with 563 hp, but Ford says it’ll ship with 580 ponies on-hand.
The whole “getting more for your money” thing continues with the Lightning’s payload. Now, because a battery-powered truck is going to be heavy no matter how you look at it, the advertised max payload of 2,000 pounds was already kind of impressive. Now though, ford has the Lightning rated for an additional 235 pounds, and that can mean the difference between carrying enough garden soil for your raised beds in one trip or having to go to the garden center twice.
The 2023 Ford F-150 Lightning is now in full production mode and should start reaching customers soon.