2025 Ford F-150 Lightning Platinum Review & Test Drive

While the electric vehicle (EV) movement has somewhat fizzled out for the time being, many manufacturers have taken the current political climate with a grain of salt and mustered on in pushing their EVs. Ford, for one, is still ‘trucking’ as we get to check out the F-150 Lightning once again with the new highlight revolving around Ford supplying their EV owners with a free North American Charging Standard (NACS) adaptor so owners of the Lightning and Mach-E can charge at Tesla Supercharger stations.

Opening up Tesla Supercharger stations to Ford EV owners is somewhat of a game-changer, as I experienced with the F-150 Lightning this week, proving that its versatility of doing mostly all truck things gets better. That doesn’t necessarily mean I’ll strap a huge trailer to the back of the F-150 Lightning to take my Shelby to the track – but it does mean a little less worry about finding a charging station or having a rash of range anxiety.

See Also: 2024 Ford F-150 Lightning Platinum Full Review & Test Drive

Continuing the same formula, the Ford F-150 Lightning in the Platinum trim gets all of the goodies starting with its dual motor setup that’s good for 580 horsepower and 775 lb-ft of torque getting the heavy-ish 7,000 pound truck up to 60 mph in 3.8 seconds. As mentioned in previous reviews of the F-150 Lightning, the electrified truck is deceptively quick and the 300 mile range is just about what you’ll expect to get in the real world.

The seamless acceleration, decent ride quality, and stylish looks, thanks in part to its Rapid Red Metallic exterior paint and 22-inch wheels, all make the Lightning Platinum trim a captivating full-size truck. In reiterating my thoughts and overall sentiment after spending a lot of quality time with the F-150 Lightning, I’m more convinced than ever that it’s the best electric truck you can buy for those who aren’t fans of the Tesla Cybertruck for a myriad of reasons.

Of course, as you probably already know, there is that one compromise and unfortunate fact that you simply cannot tow very long distances with the F-150 Lightning outside of hooking up a rather light load, such as a single jet ski or maybe a Kayak or two. Even though you have a towing capacity of about 8,500 pounds and even 10,000 pounds in other ‘lighter’ trims, the range is going to take a massive hit upwards of 50% or more, depending on the weight and aerodynamics of a trailer. Payload capacity at 1,656 pounds or as much as 2,235 in lesser trims is more of the way to go for retaining most of your expected range. Still, the F-150 Lightning continues to do all expected truck things and some when you consider its powering capabilities, such as being able to act as a off-grid power generator for your house or power a number of utilities off of the many power outlets in the bed.

Having the new NACS adaptor and access to Tesla Supercharger stations was a new experience for me with the new Ford F-150 Lightning. Pulling up to a Tesla Supercharger stall was a learning experience, as you have to get as close as possible, leaving only a couple of inches from the stall and the front bumper, while taking up two spots in order to get most Tesla Supercharger station cords to reach the charging port of the Lightning. From there, as long as the cord can reach, it’s a simple task of plugging in the adaptor and then plugging into the vehicle. With the 250 kW charging capacity of the Tesla station, the F-150 Lightning Platinum ramps up to around 187 kW for its charging speed when you’re well under 70% state of charge. After 70% or so, you’ll notice a slight decline of charging speed and then at 80%, which will take about 40 minutes to reach from a 10% state of charge, the rate falls off fast – but that’s about where you want to leave things if you’re traveling giving you just over 250 miles of range.

Ford manages to impress with the quintessential electric pickup truck for America and its forward-thinking tech featuring a large 15.5-inch infotainment touchscreen, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto integration, a plethora of active safety features including Ford’s BlueCruise handsfree driving system, and plenty of luxury amenities such as heated/ventilated/messaging front seats and a massively large power-opening frunk (front trunk.

The one area where some may balk is pricing, where the F-150 Lightning Platinum prices out at $89,355. However, looking at the full picture of all that you get in such a vehicle, the pricing may be attractive for some.

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