A YouTube content creator discovered the driving range of Ford’s Lightning EV truck is significantly reduced in cold weather conditions.
According to YouTuber Tyler Hoover, the estimated driving distance of Ford’s all-electric F-150 Lightning, which is displayed to drivers in the vehicle’s instrument cluster, basically gets cut in half in 30-degree weather.
The cut in driving range was immediately noticeable upon Hoover dropping his daughter off at school, where the YouTuber commented, “That school run was only 2 miles… I think we started with 149. We’re at 143.”
“So 7 miles of range to go 2 miles, unloaded. There’s no trailer back there. It’s just cold outside.”
Driving to another location, Hoover observed he’d used up 50 miles of range to complete just 32 miles.
The range decreased further as Hoover headed back home driving against the wind, where he used up 40 miles of range just to travel 15 miles.
After the vehicle’s “low range” warning popped up, the YouTuber compared the disastrous results of his current demonstration to another recent test where he discovered the Lightning’s driving range was cut when trying to tow a car on a trailer, noting even in that test the warning didn’t pop up until he was home.
“Wow! That’s not quite as bad as towing a light load, but that’s still really, really bad,” Hoover summarized.
Arriving back home, Hoover noted, “We started with 149 and we went 64 miles. So that’s 120 miles of range in 60 or so miles – doing nothing. It’s just cold outside.”
After the demo, Hoover admitted the person he co-owns the Lightning with was considering selling the vehicle due to the driving range.
“He drives around all day for work. He’s a liquor rep, stops in dozens of liquor stores over the course of a week. So he is barely keeping up when it comes to charging at home and the range of this truck in winter, and it is stressing him out. So he’s not sure if he wants to keep this thing anymore.”
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