Just because a truck is aimed at commercial fleet buyers doesn’t necessarily mean you must be a commercial fleet buyer to nab one. No, you won’t need to purchase five (or more) F-150 Lightning Pros—unless, of course, you want a dozen or so of the all-electric work trucks.
That said, the F-150 Lightning Pro will benefit from a gaggle of fleet-focused data and software services aimed at limiting vehicle downtime and juggling charging needs. These likely subscription-based offerings are critical to commercial customers, regardless of powertrain. Because time where a work truck spends, um, not working, is money left on the table for a fleet operator.
Non-commercial customers might balk at the Lightning Pro’s standard equipment, which includes vinyl seats and a smaller 12.0-inch touchscreen infotainment setup (in place of the nicer models’ cloth or leather chairs and 15.5-inch screen). Others might find the low-grade fittings charming. For context, the trim is standard fare among low-cost full-size pickups. (Consider Ford’s XL trim for the regular F-150, or the WT—Work Truck—version of the Chevrolet Silverado 1500, both of which offer vinyl seats and flooring and minimal comfort and convenience items.) Some, however, might simply be floored by the price—in a good way.
What’s special here is that—basic equipment or otherwise—the Lightning Pro is an electric full-size pickup that starts at $41,669, essentially the same as an equivalent gas-powered F-150. In fact, we went on Ford’s website and built an entry-level F-150 XL SuperCrew with four-wheel drive, which without any options added, rang up at $41,855—$186 more than the Lightning Pro.
A few caveats: The gas-fed F-150 XL can, of course, go further than 230 miles on a tank of unleaded (that’s the Lightning Pro’s driving range per charge with the standard battery pack), and it’s also available without four-wheel drive or a four-door SuperCrew body (both of which add to the model’s price). But apples-to-apples, the idea that the F-150 Lightning Pro is priced in the same ballpark as its gas-fed F-150 XL counterpart is stunning. It’s even more so when you consider the Lightning Pro has 426 hp and 775 lb-ft of torque—more power than any engine (standard or optional) you can get with an F-150 XL work truck. Spring for the available larger battery pack and the Pro’s stable of electric horses jumps to 563, while its driving range stretches to 300 miles. Regardless, all F-150 Lightning Pros benefit from 9.6 kW of onboard power generation for powering tools, campsites, or even your house via plugs in the frunk and bed. So, go ahead and drool over the F-150 Lightning Pro, because you don’t need to be a pro to get one of your own.
