Ford Lightning Range Undermines EV Efforts

Consumer Reports released a study that showed the range of individual EV models based on EPA data, which it then compared to data based on CR testing. Among their most significant conclusions was, “We found the biggest difference in range with the Ford F-150 Lightning pickup truck: Its battery ran out after just 270 miles—a 50-mile difference from the EPA estimate.”

The Ford F-150 Lightning is the company’s EV flagship. The news is another problem America’s No.2 car maker has to face as it tries to get consumers to move from gas-powered vehicles to EVs. Many potential EV buyers are worried about the range and where to find charging stations when their batteries are low.

The study showed how inaccurate Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) figures can be compared to how vehicles performed when tested. CR measured the range of EV models determined under what it called “highway driving conditions.” It tested 22 new EVs. Each started with its battery fully charged. CR then drove them at a speed of 70 miles per hour until their batteries ran out of charge. (Exact methodology here).

Some car companies, including Ford, will dismiss the results. However, CR is very widely regarded as both independent and highly expert about this kind of test. CR was started in 1936. It is supported by the public and not private interests to ensure it has no conflicts of interest with the companies that own the products it tests.

The results for Ford are all the more damning because several EVs did better than expected in terms of range. Vehicles that did well included the BMW iX xDrive 50, which did better by 46 miles, the BMW i4 M50, which performed 47 miles better than expected, and Ford’s own Mustang Mach-E Premier AWD Extended Range which did 29 miles beyond the EPA’s range. So, Ford cannot claim brand bias.

The Lightning numbers only add to consumer skepticism. It is the EV model of the best-selling gas-powered vehicle in America for the last four decades–the F-150. That makes its poor showing all the more visible.