2024 Ford F-150 Lightning Flash Ext Range
Price (as tested): $89,795 CAD
Colour: Avalanche
The short answer to the question in the title of this article is no. Not even close. When the option to test the F-150 Lightning Flash came around I signed up immediately. I wanted to see what this value offering full EV pickup truck looked like. A healthy amount of the backlash being aimed at EV’s is related to their cost. There’s no getting around how expensive they are which does them no favors considering how costly all new cars are at the moment. Add to that the punishing increases to the cost of living in all areas and a “budget” vehicle that costs nearly $90,000 CAD is ridiculous.
In this new “Flash” trim, you get all the usual equipment on the XLT plus things like the enormous 15.5” infotainment screen, a fancy stereo and other driver aides you won’t even know are there. You don’t get leather interior (which I approve of but not at this price point) or cooled seats. I understand a budget offering is going to involve sacrifice but for $90K I’d expect an animal or two to offer up their hides for me to sit on. I would have preferred to see things like that big obnoxious screen and fancy B&O stereo be replaced with some more conventional equipment which would work just fine.
Also included with the Flash is the extended range battery. I imagine this explains a healthy percentage of the increased cost from the XLT which only has the standard battery. Battling range anxiety is an endless war we mostly fight with ourselves. Adding more and more batteries to an EV doesn’t solve the problem and only exacerbates the issues people have with EV’s as related to cost. Your range goes from approximately 385kms with the standard battery to 515kms with the bigger battery. Neither of these estimates are accurate as I struggled to get the Flash over 400kms in an all-day range test using 92% of the battery in one day. I haven’t tested a Lightning with the standard battery so I can’t comment on its performance. If value engineering was the real goal here, then sticking with the standard battery makes more sense.
What are we to do then? How can we have our cake and eat it too when it comes to driving an EV pickup we can actually afford (mostly)? We really need look no further than Ford’s own lineup. The base “Pro” trim starts at $59,999 CAD. In the world of EV’s this is a decent price point. When you dig into the spec you also realize it has all the usual equipment you need while skipping all the tinsel we’ve been so convinced we need in our modern cars. At 60K the Lightning starts to make real sense. Yes, range anxiety will remain, and you’ll still be sitting on fabric seats but you’ll save $30,000 and you’ll do your part in telling Ford what affordable really means.
