Ford F-150 Lightning reveal set for May 19 — everything we know so far

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Ford's first F-150 EV is a huge deal — here's what you need to know

Ford F-150 Lightning
(Image credit: Ford)

Ford has begun teasing the upcoming 2023 F-150 Lightning all-electric pickup truck ahead of its official unveiling later this month (May 19). The event, which will take place at the company's headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan, will also be live-streamed. 

The Ford F-150 is the best selling vehicle in America, and has been for more than 40 years. That makes introducing an EV variant a very big deal. Already, the company has released a teaser video to mark the occasion later this month. 

The Ford F-150 Lightning is actually a rebranding of sorts. The Lightning was a variant Ford sold as part of its Special Vehicle Team (SVT) sub-brand in the 1990s. 

At the moment, not a lot is known about the Ford F-150 Lightning. We do know that there will be a dual-motor configuration, mobile power generation, a "hands-free" driving mode thanks to BlueCruise, and, much like Tesla, over-the-air software updates. 

The Mustang Mach-E and the F-150 Lightning are a part of Ford's new strategy that will see it spend $22 billion on multiple EVs and hybrids by 2025. 

With that, here's everything we know so far about the 2023 Ford F-150 Lightning. 

Ford F-150 Lightning release date

Right now the Ford F-150 Lightning is slated for the 2023 model year, meaning that customers should start seeing delivery sometime in 2022. Apart from that, we really can't say until Ford gives us more details. 

Ford F-150 Lightning price

While the Ford F-150 has always been seen as an everyman's truck, it's definitely started to creep up in price over the past few years. At the moment, the cheapest F-150 trim, the XL, can be found for $28,949. We're fairly certain that the Lightning will not be that cheap. 

Whatever Ford decides to name its Lightning variants, we're sure it will range from a utilitarian base level, all the way to over-the-top luxury. 

The current Ford Mustang Mach-E has a starting price of $42,895. We also don't think the F-150 Lightning will be that low either. We expect it to start in the 60K range, after government rebates and incentives. But we also expect to to shoot up from there, easily going past the six-figure mark. This potential pricing strategy would make it outpace the upcoming Tesla Cybertruck, which starts at $39,900 and goes all the way up to $69,900. 

Ford F-150 Lightning range

We know nothing of the F-150 Lightning's range, but given its size, we expect Ford to be able to pack a significant battery pack inside. Considering that many truck owners live in rural areas, the F-150 Lightning will need enough juice to at least travel 200 miles with a loaded bed. Given that, we expect the F-150 Lightning to boast a range of at least 300 miles. Anything less would turn off buyers. 

Ford F-150 Lightning towing capacity

Ford has yet to unveil official specs, but per a marketing stunt back in 2019, we know that it boasts a towing capacity of 1,000,000 pounds. Granted, it was towing a row of trains on train tracks. Train wheels are made of steel, and so are the tracks. This makes for very low friction, which is why trains are incredibly efficient when moving massive quantities of stuff. It's also why trains have great difficulty in moving uphill.

Either way, Ford posted a video on its YouTube channel of an all-electric Ford F-150 pulling 1 million pounds of train. While impressive on paper, it definitely would not be able to pull that if the trains were on rubber tires. 

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Imad Khan
Imad Khan

Imad is currently Senior Google and Internet Culture reporter for CNET, but until recently was News Editor at Tom's Guide. Hailing from Texas, Imad started his journalism career in 2013 and has amassed bylines with the New York Times, the Washington Post, ESPN, Wired and Men's Health Magazine, among others. Outside of work, you can find him sitting blankly in front of a Word document trying desperately to write the first pages of a new book.