F-150 Lightning Pro revealed as Ford's sub-$40K electric work truck

When Ford revealed the 2022 F-150 Lightning last week, it left out the vast majority of details concerning the cheapest version. We were told it was a work truck, and that it would start at $39,974, but that was all. Today, Ford released the information we were looking for.

The work truck is officially named the 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning Pro. While it’s built with intention for commercial customers, regular consumers will also be allowed to buy it if they want the cheapest-possible electric F-150. For some perspective, the cheapest trim above the Pro is the XLT, and it starts at a much higher $52,974.

Keep in mind the truck is eligible for the $7,500 federal EV tax credit and any state-level incentives.

What you get at the Pro’s base price isn’t as basic as you might assume.

It’s the same powertrain setup as all the other Lightning trims. That means the standard range battery offers 230 miles of range and all-wheel drive from its dual motors. Output from those motors is identical to the consumer-oriented truck at 426 horsepower and 775 pound-feet of torque. And you can upgrade to the extended-range version with 300 miles of range if you want. This boosts power to 563 horsepower, but the price is bumped up to $49,974. That’s a $10,000 increase for 70 miles of additional range, so commercial customers will have to really need it to plunk down the extra cash.

There are also capability-related incentives for going with the extended-range battery. Maximum towing capacity for the standard-range Lightning is just 5,000 pounds. You can up this to 7,700 pounds with the Max Trailer Tow package, but the only way to get the F-150’s maximum 10,000-pound towing capacity is by stepping up to the extended-range version and tacking on that model’s Max Trailer Tow package. If payload is your aim, know that the Pro has a 2,000-pound payload capacity.

When it comes to standard equipment on the Lightning Pro, things aren’t as sparse as the “work truck” moniker might have you believe. All models will be in the four-door Supercrew configuration. You get vinyl seats, the 12-inch Sync infotainment system and Ford’s Co-Pilot360 2.0 driver assistance suite. It comes with a 32-amp Ford Mobile Charger as standard equipment, but if you get the extended range, Ford upgrades you to the 80-amp Ford Charge Station Pro. This charger is akin to plugging into a Level 2 charger, meaning that you’ll easily have a full battery in the morning if you plug in overnight. Ford promises the charge from 15% battery level up to 100% will take around 8 hours with the extended-range truck on the 80-amp charger. Maximum charging speed is reached on 150 kW Level 3 DC fast chargers that can bring the battery from 15% to 80% in just 45 minutes.

Ford’s Pro Power Onboard comes standard, but you only get the less powerful 2.6 kW version. If you want the mega-powerful 9.6 kW Pro Power Onboard system, that’ll be an optional extra (Ford didn’t detail pricing yet). It’s an option fleets might want for worksites, as it adds a couple extra 120V outlets in the bed alongside one 240V outlet.

Just like the regular consumer truck, the fleet truck gets Ford’s enhanced Onboard Scales system that provides real-time payload weight information, and then adjusts predicted range based on the extra weight. That auto-adjusting range system will also take into account terrain (if you have navigation set), weather and trailer load.

Fleet-friendly features and buying tools are being made available. For example, a new digital fleet planning tool will make it easy for folks to see if the electric pickup makes financial sense. You can calculate everything out for both purchase and leasing costs, factor in federal and state tax credits and even see how maintenance costs with the Lightning could change the financial outlook.

Ford is predicting that scheduled maintenance costs over an eight-year/100,000-mile period will be 40% less than that of a gasoline F-150’s running costs. Ford promises maintenance will be easy, too, as it currently has 644 EV-certified Ford Commercial Vehicle centers across the country.

“The digital fleet planning tool will help demonstrate how Ford can provide many customers improved total cost of ownership for a full-size commercial electric truck, from favorable purchase costs, lower fuel and maintenance costs plus strong residual values we expect will mirror those of the commercial F-Series trucks,” says Ted Cannis, GM, Ford North America commercial business.

Ford’s EV telematics system will let fleet managers keep a close eye on their fleet of F-150 Lightnings in the field and over time. All the data you might want is available via a cloud network. This allows you to track the vehicle’s status, health and range whenever you want. Ford also says you can “log and pay for public charging events centrally, reimburse employees for home charging” and even “remotely pre-condition the cabin while plugged in.” That could make for some happy and warm employees in winter months.

If you want to look into buying a fleet of F-150 Lightning Pros for your work needs, Ford says you can register interest at fleet.ford.com.

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