F-150 Lightning: The Motortrend Truck of the Year
F-150 Lightning: Motortrend Truck of the Year
As of this November 2022, America’s best selling truck is also America’s best selling electric truck. The Ford F-150 Lightning has been sold out in dealerships across the country for some time now, and it’s no surprise why. To add to all of the incredible hype this electrified classic has been getting, it has won the 2023 Motortrend Truck of the Year Award. To win this coveted award, the F-150 Lightning had to beat out last year’s winner, the Rivian R1T. If you notice, these are both electric trucks. We’ll get into exactly why electric trucks may have a leg up on the competition for the Motortrend Truck of the Year, beyond their raw technological innovation. We’ll also talk about some of the other aspects that made the F-150 Lightning a clear frontrunner for this year’s Motortrend Truck of the Year.
Why Electric Trucks?
In all of Motortrend’s vehicle evaluations, fuel economy is a large factor in determining the vehicle of the year. Given the prices at the pump recently, it’s difficult to blame them. However, does that mean that electric trucks will always win Motortrend Truck of the Year every subsequent year? Motortrend uses a variety of other factors to determine whether a vehicle meets their tailored criteria, but this includes advancement in design. Because tried and true trucks like the classic F-150 don’t change much from year to year, (and that’s what we like about them) they might not be the biggest contenders for Motortrend’s truck of the year. So sweet design innovations like the F-150 Lightning are more likely to be winners instead.
Ford F-150 Lightning: The Tamed Electric Beast
To stress test the vehicles in the competition, Motortrend has a specific set of tests designed to test the true capabilities of trucks. To evaluate towing strength, they use the truck to tow a trailer uphill and measure the acceleration. Motortrend also evaluates more standard parts of the vehicle, such as 0-60 time, and battery capacity for electric vehicles. While the Rivian R1T and the Ford F-150 Lightning perform very similarly on paper, clearly it was in these nuanced Motortrend tests that the F-150 Lightning conquered the competition as the 2023 Motortrend Truck of the Year.
Other Considerations
While we can’t say for certain what excellence in design means to Motortrend beyond top-of-the-line engineering in the Ford F-150 Ligntning, we can say for certain that the F-150 Lightning does the F-Series justice as an electric F-Series truck. The familiar F-Series design is still very much in tact, though it’s also easy to tell that the F-150 Lightning is an electric truck from the grille alone. On the most basic level, this sets the F-150 Lightning apart from its competitors as it wouldn’t be embarrassing to pull up to a job site in like some Jetsonsesque Rivian.
Fort Dodge Ford Lincoln Toyota: Your Destination for the F-Series and More
By now you’ve heard the news, there’s no way around it, F-150 Lightning’s are difficult to come by. That won’t stop us from helping you place a spot in line for your F-150 Lightning for when the Ford factory catches up. In the meantime, our F-Series inventory is stocked with everything you need to get the job done or hit the trail. At Fort Dodge Ford Lincoln Toyota, we carry the trucks you need to get the job done.