Ford F-150 Lightning
Ranked 3 of 5 electric pickup trucks by recommenders
Owners praise its home backup power, low running costs, acceleration and truck-like feel. Critics say it suits light work and that repairs and parts can be slow.
Owners praise its home backup power, low running costs, acceleration and truck-like feel. Critics say it suits light work and that repairs and parts can be slow.
155 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 59
- criticize it
- 96
- approval share
- 38%
Recommended in 11 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 59 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 0.6 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 11 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Powers home during outages
“The F150 Lightning includes 120V and optionally 240V outlets, so it replaces the need to carry a separate gas-powered generator.”
Comment from 14 Jan 2026 in “Ford F-150 Lightning outsold the Cybertruck and was then canceled for poor sales” “It's great for rural folks or others with power issues. For a few thousand bucks, you have a backup generator in your garage.”
Comment from 14 Jan 2026 in “Ford F-150 Lightning outsold the Cybertruck and was then canceled for poor sales” “My Lightning will power all the important bits of my house for the better part of a week”
Comment from 25 Sep 2026 in “Toyota is taking the Corolla electric” - Comment from 7 May 2026 in “I Want to Live Like Costco People”
Feels like a normal truck
“I've got a Lightning and I think I like the 'converted to electric' aspect. Everything that fits on a regular ICE F-150 fits on my truck.”
Comment from 29 Nov 2025 in “Electric vehicle sales are booming in South America – without Tesla” “My Lightning is difficult to distinguish from an ICE F150 unless you know specifically what you're looking for.”
Comment from 6 Jan 2026 in “Worlds's first all-solid-state battery ready to power up production vehicles now” “reviewers talked about it they generally praised how normal truck like it was compared to even the Rivian R1T”
Comment from 16 Dec 2025 in “Ford kills the All-Electric F-150” Strong torque for towing
“The thing has 800 lb-ft of torque, it has absolutely no problem towing or pulling heavy stuff.”
Comment from 16 Dec 2025 in “Ford kills the All-Electric F-150” “There isn't anything short of a tuned powerstroke that pulls like a Lightning.”
Comment from 16 Dec 2025 in “Ford kills the All-Electric F-150” “will carry anything I want, tow big trailers, has huge interior space for the family”
Comment from 11 Jan 2026 in “BYD's cheapest electric cars to have Lidar self-driving tech” Low maintenance, no oil changes
“no more oil changes, no more annual emissions-testing bill, no transmission to ever worry about”
Comment from 25 Jan 2026 in “Adoption of EVs tied to real-world reductions in air pollution: study” “EVs are also much simpler to repair, on average. Definitely not disposable. They sure were expensive, though.”
Comment from 16 Dec 2025 in “Ford kills the All-Electric F-150” “A whole category of cost just straight-up disappeared, for cheaper than I could get a RAV4 Prime too.”
Comment from 25 Jan 2026 in “Adoption of EVs tied to real-world reductions in air pollution: study”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Poor fit as work truck
“Electric trucks don't make sense. In the "I drive my truck to pick up groceries" sense, it's fine. But as a work truck, it's not ideal.”
Comment from 16 Dec 2025 in “Ford kills the All-Electric F-150” “Ford doesn't sell it with an 8 foot bed. Every time you get plywood or drywall or whatever, it's gonna hang out the back.”
Comment from 16 Dec 2025 in “Ford kills the All-Electric F-150” “I didn't really trust it for some of the logs I was moving, as the trailer hitch was added on after and the frame isn't really designed for shocks”
Comment from 16 Jan 2026 in “Ford F-150 Lightning outsold the Cybertruck and was then canceled for poor sales” Repairs and parts backlogs
“They're difficult to repair. A regular F-150 is designed to be repaired; these things are designed like iPhones to be disposable.”
Comment from 15 Dec 2025 in “Ford kills the All-Electric F-150” “The F-150 Lightning only checked the fit for use box, since parts backlogs made it unrepairable for potentially months.”
Comment from 15 Dec 2025 in “Ford kills the All-Electric F-150” “The part with the worst availability is the godforsaken shifter, which happens to be shared with the ICE F150s.”
Comment from 16 Dec 2025 in “Ford kills the All-Electric F-150” Limited long-distance towing
“They really are a fantastic vehicle for those who don't need to quickly tow heavy trailers 400 miles.”
Comment from 15 Jan 2026 in “Ford F-150 Lightning outsold the Cybertruck and was then canceled for poor sales” “They also can't tow long distances easily, but are superior in nearly every other way.”
Comment from 14 Jan 2026 in “Ford F-150 Lightning outsold the Cybertruck and was then canceled for poor sales” High price
“You have a vehicle that started off as a hard sell to the crowd that normally buys the vehicle and then you make it so the price is astronomical”
Comment from 14 Jan 2026 in “Ford F-150 Lightning outsold the Cybertruck and was then canceled for poor sales” “Ford gambled they could build a BEV truck like an F150 and make it affordable enough to attract their normal buyers.”
Comment from 30 Sep 2026 in “Tesla takes on $30B in credit as it approaches unprofitability”
Other electric pickup trucks people recommend
The four most recommended other electric pickup trucks, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Slate EV truck | 109 | 59 | 65% | 12 | — | — |
| Tesla Cybertruck | 85 | 478 | 15% | 12 | 2 yrs3 owners | — |
| Ford F-150 LightningThis page | 59 | 96 | 38% | 11 | — | — |
| Chevrolet Silverado EV | 11 | 5 | 69% | 7 | — | Approved |
| Rivian R1T | 10 | 9 | 53% | 7 | — | — |
What people said
40 of the 234 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Ford gambled they could build a BEV truck like an F150 and make it affordable enough to attract their normal buyers.”
“I got my extended range Flash for 50K out the door, which was a good bit less than the hybrid I had been shopping for.”
“My Lightning will power all the important bits of my house for the better part of a week”
“even after needing to compete with the F150 lightning, Hummer EV, silverado EV, and Rivian R1T”
“The F-150 Lightning I think was too early for its time... an electric truck doesn't work unless it's mostly for leisure”
“The F-150 Lightnings are coming off lease and are available used now for a reasonable price.”
“As an owner of the f150 lightning, I get a chuckle whenever SpaceX uses them to do something a cybertruck can't.”
“having that giant storage space that locks makes it so much better than anything else out there”
“It's basically a whole house backup generator that we can happen to drive around.”
“We have a F-150 lightning, and charge it on a 12A, 120V charger. It's fine for 6-10 trips a week.”
“no more oil changes, no more annual emissions-testing bill, no transmission to ever worry about”
“A whole category of cost just straight-up disappeared, for cheaper than I could get a RAV4 Prime too.”
“I didn't really trust it for some of the logs I was moving, as the trailer hitch was added on after and the frame isn't really designed for shocks”
“They really are a fantastic vehicle for those who don't need to quickly tow heavy trailers 400 miles.”
“I struggle to think what vehicle has more all around utility (by my own definition) than my Lightning.”
“If would could just plug into the truck that would have saved a lot of space/weight in the truck, it seems like a no-brainer.”
“It's great for rural folks or others with power issues. For a few thousand bucks, you have a backup generator in your garage.”
“They also can't tow long distances easily, but are superior in nearly every other way.”
“The F150 Lightning includes 120V and optionally 240V outlets, so it replaces the need to carry a separate gas-powered generator.”
“You have a vehicle that started off as a hard sell to the crowd that normally buys the vehicle and then you make it so the price is astronomical”
“will carry anything I want, tow big trailers, has huge interior space for the family”
“My Lightning is difficult to distinguish from an ICE F150 unless you know specifically what you're looking for.”
“they were actively pushing people away from the Lightning because the service needs were so low”
“The Lightning auto-resumes lane centering after a lane switch, Tesla requires manually restarting”
“having an equivalent whole house battery backup in Tesla power walls would be more expensive than the truck”
“Ford doesn't sell it with an 8 foot bed. Every time you get plywood or drywall or whatever, it's gonna hang out the back.”
“reviewers talked about it they generally praised how normal truck like it was compared to even the Rivian R1T”
“EVs are also much simpler to repair, on average. Definitely not disposable. They sure were expensive, though.”
“I think the Lightning is pretty cool but there's about 5 vehicle classes I'd want to buy before "electric pickup"”
“Electric trucks don't make sense. In the "I drive my truck to pick up groceries" sense, it's fine. But as a work truck, it's not ideal.”
“Having owned both an EV Ford and a Tesla I can say with absolute certainty that the ford runs circles around the Tesla.”
“There isn't anything short of a tuned powerstroke that pulls like a Lightning.”
“The part with the worst availability is the godforsaken shifter, which happens to be shared with the ICE F150s.”
“The thing has 800 lb-ft of torque, it has absolutely no problem towing or pulling heavy stuff.”
“Charge at home, that’s the whole point. My F150 lightning costs about $14 in electric charges a month for about 600 miles on average.”
“The F-150 Lightning only checked the fit for use box, since parts backlogs made it unrepairable for potentially months.”
“They're difficult to repair. A regular F-150 is designed to be repaired; these things are designed like iPhones to be disposable.”
“I've got a Lightning and I think I like the 'converted to electric' aspect. Everything that fits on a regular ICE F-150 fits on my truck.”
“It reliably turns off the bright parts above that line, but it seems like the "low beam" area is fixed.”
“I love my Lightning, but I do not for one nanosecond trust that Ford would keep the app ecosystem on my truck running”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.