2025 Ford F-150 Lightning

The 2025 Ford F-150 Lightning takes America's top-selling pickup truck, replaces its V6 and V8 gas engines with an all-electric powertrain with pulling power and range, and gives it the same smooth ride as its gas counterpart. A 5.5-foot-long bed and 2,235-pound maximum payload rating give it legitimate full-size truck capability, while 775 lb-ft of torque from either of its two battery options enables the Lightning to pull up to 10,000 pounds. We covered 345 miles of range on a full battery in our testing, exceeding the Lightning's max-rated range of 320 miles. (You can take a deeper dive into our F-150 Lightning long-term test here.) The battery can charge up to 80% in about 45 minutes, while slick utility features include high-power power outlets that can run power tools and other accessories. If you have a home charging unit, the Lightning can even send power back to your house if you need it.

Edmunds spotlight: Pulling the plug

If you're a collector, take note: The 2025 Ford F-150 Lightning is likely the last of this truck's brief first-generation run. Ford is building its next-gen electric truck from the ground up, eliminating the design compromises of the current Lightning, which is essentially an EV platform shoehorned into a truck made for gas engines. Whether Ford slaps an F-150 badge on the forthcoming e-truck is anyone's guess. And with small but steady sales of the current Lightning — about 5%-6% of overall F-150 sales — we could understand some reluctance to shut down a successful product. Then again, Ford is probably just as eager to start recouping its substantial investment in a new EV production facility, due to come online in 2025. That could make the new truck and any variants (Ranger Lightning, anyone?) a top priority.

Competitors to consider

Electric pickups still lack the muscle and affordability of traditional gas-powered trucks, but the gap is closing. Ford's next-gen truck could be more accessible given its new platform and economies of scale, but the 2025 F-150 Lightning is likely to hover around its current price. That's still less than rivals like the Chevrolet Silverado EV, Rivian R1T and Tesla Cybertruck. The Rivian is more capable off-road and can actually tow more than the Ford, but a small bed limits utility. The Chevy offers more range and similar towing, but less payload capacity and a price brushing six figures. The forthcoming Ram 1500 Rev promises to be a more analogous competitor, with similar price and capabilities to the current Lightning.

The F-150 Lightning in its current incarnation is due to end its short run soon as Ford readies its next-gen electric replacement. We think so highly of the current truck we named it the Edmunds Top Rated Electric Truck for 2024.