Tim Levin/Insider
- The Ford F-150 Lightning is MotorTrend’s 2023 Truck of the Year.
- The magazine says the electric model is Ford’s best truck ever.
- MotorTrend praised its acceleration, handling, style, and importance to the EV movement.
The all-electric F-150 is MotorTrend’s favorite new pickup truck, nabbing the magazine’s coveted 2023 Truck of the Year award.
But the F-150 Lightning isn’t just the best truck this year. MotorTrend says it’s Ford’s best truck ever.
“The F-150 Lightning’s instantaneous torque and standout ride and handling make it without a doubt the
best truck Ford has ever made,” Ed Loh, the magazine’s head of editorial, said in a press release. “The Ford F-150 Lightning is no less than a milestone achievement in the history of American mobility.”
The Lightning is a massive deal both for Ford and the wider transition toward clean vehicles. A zero-emission version of America’s most popular truck (the Ford F-Series), it’s seen by many as a crucial stepping stone toward mass acceptance of EVs. (Electric cars make up some 5% of US car sales today.)
MotorTrend said the Lightning excels across six criteria: safety, efficiency, value, advancement in design, and performance of intended function.
As opposed to other new electric trucks like the GMC Hummer EV and Rivian R1T (which won last year’s award), the Lightning targets existing truck owners with its familiar, traditional styling and feel. From the outside, it looks nearly identical to a gas-powered F-150.
“While some vehicles change the world by being radically different, others, like the Ford F-150 Lightning, change it by being different where it counts and familiar where it helps,” MotorTrend said, adding that the truck “successfully bridges the gulf between the powertrain of the future and the pickup truck of today.”
MotorTrend also noted the Lightning’s $52,000 starting price (which is lower than other EV trucks), its ability to provide electricity to homes, job sites, and campsites, and its excellent handling. The Lightning accomplishes truck stuff as well as any of its gas-powered rivals, the outlet said, but towing is a weak spot for all electric pickups.
