Does The Ford F-150 Lightning Have An Aluminum Body? Light-Weight

When they make the electric trucks, one of the most important things on the list is to make it as light but yet as strong as possible. Obviously the first thing comes to mind is some alloy of aluminum as it is the lightest and affordable material available to make the truck out of.

The Ford F-150 Lightning has a “high-strength, military-grade aluminum alloy body” to make it as light as possible. This allows it to save power because it is lighter in weight, go farther on a charge, and allow it to carry more stuff with less energy.

Of course if you’re trying to build the best truck, using the military-grade alloy is the best choice for strength and light weight and to live up to the famous Ford slogan “Built Ford Tough”.

Benefits Of Aluminum Body For An Electric Vehicle

• Weighs Less: Aluminum is much lighter than steel. That means an aluminum body is lighter. A lighter truck uses less energy getting around. This can help the battery in a electric vehicle last longer.
• Saves Energy: A lighter truck means the motor doesn’t have to work as hard. This helps to cut down on energy use, which can make your battery last longer between charges.
• Faster Speeds: Lighter trucks can also pick up speed more quickly. This can make driving an electric vehicle even more fun.
• More Payload: With a lighter body, an electric truck can carry more weight in its bed and cabin. This is a big help when you’re hauling heavy stuff.
• Less Wear: Less weight means less wear and tear on the truck’s parts, like brakes and tires. This can lower the costs of maintenance over time.
• Improved Ride: A lighter truck can give a smoother ride. This can make every trip more comfortable.
• Rust-Proof: Aluminum doesn’t rust like steel can. That means your truck won’t get ugly rust spots. It also means it might last longer without big repairs

Other “Ford Tough” Features of The Ford F-150 Lightning

From what is being said by Ford, they have really worked hard to choose the best of the best for their first fully electric truck. This is why it is currently the most popular electric truck on the market.

The High-Strength Steel Frame, And What That Means

The F-150 Lightning truck is a body-on-frame type of setup, just like it sounds, meaning that the body sits on a frame. The frame boasts a strongest of all F-150’s frame, made of high-strength steel. What does high-strength steel mean?  The steel that the frame is made of is bake-hardened in a high temperature oven to change its molecular structure which makes the steel stronger. It withstands more load.

Specifically, high-strength steel has a yield-strength of 30-80 ksi which means it keeps its shape with pressure of from 30-80 kilopounds (ksi) (in English: up to 30,000-80,000 pounds per square inch). Steel with yield-strength of more than 80 ksi is considered Advanced High Strength Steel and over 113 ksi is Ultra High Strength Steel.

A second factor in high-strength steel is tensile strength. This is the measurement of force it takes to pull the steel apart into two pieces. High-strength steel falls in between 40-100 ksi – in English, it takes a force of 40,000 to 100,000 pounds per square inch to rip it apart.

There, you just learned more than you ever wanted to know about the frame in a Ford F-150 Lightning truck. At least I did, that’s for sure.

The Motors

After scouring the Internets to find more information about the motors that are used in the Ford F-150 Lightning, I came up with nothing, other than basic information. I’m currently reaching out to Ford to see if I can get any more information about it and will edit this part of the article once I do.

In the mean time what I was able to gather is that the truck has dual motors, one in the front and one in the rear making it a 4×4, all-wheel drive. Together they put out 452 horsepower on the standard battery set up and 580 horsepower on the extended-range battery and a range of 230 to 300 miles.

These motors are a no joke, launching at 775 pf of torque taking the truck from 0 to 60 in under 4.5 seconds. With this truck, G’s come as a bonus and you won’t miss them. Any time you press the “gas” pedal, you go, there is no buffering, it launches you and you dog into the seat.

The Independent Rear Suspension

To improve the ride, Ford designed an independent rear suspension which is similar to how a car’s suspension works. It lets each wheel have its own suspension so it can react to road conditions independently without moving the entire axle and affecting the other wheel. This makes for a smoother ride and the road imperfections and pot holes are less noticeable.

Because the motor is located in the middle between the front and read wheels, they are able to run a half-axle to each wheel and this is why it makes more sense to use independent suspension on these trucks.

Software

Intelligent Range is the brains running behind the scenes calculating everything and providing the best experience to the driver and the passengers. This software collects key vehicle data, road conditions, trip information, any and all electronics that are being used and all kinds of other high tech data to accurately calculate the range of the truck.

It automatically stays updated with the over-the-air updates so it is always on top of things and the driver has the most accurate information to rely on while driving the truck.

FordPass™

This is not just an App.. it is a connection into your truck. While it is an App on your phone or tablet, it lets you control your truck from it. In the cold mornings you can start the truck and turn the heater on so it warms up the cab while you are getting your coffee. You can lock, unlock and even schedule a start from this app.

Your Ford F-150 Lightning owners manual is at your finger tips at all times. No need to go dig in the glove compartment trying to find it. This makes it convenient to learn everything about your truck.

Don’t remember where you parked? The app has a map and you can locate your truck from it. Another cool feature is that you can pay your payments right from the app.

With FordPass™ Connect your truck becomes a WiFi Hotspot via the 4G LTE connection.

Blue Cruise Hands-Free Driving

So this is still primitive compared to Tesla abilities of self-driving but it is convenient nonetheless. Ford BlueCruise is a feature that lights up a notification on the dashboard when the truck is inside a hands-free driving zone. There are over 130,000 miles of hands-free driving zones on the highways in the North America. This is still in its early stages but it is constantly being updated, so more and more highways will be added to the system with time.

Pro Power Onboard

Instead of your house charging the truck, how about switching it up and having the truck power your house? Pro Power Onboard is a feature that lets you power your house in case of an emergency for up to 10 days. This is great for camping also, in case your idea of camping is glamping. But Ford says that the truck can power a typical house needs for 3 days, but if you ration the usage and even mix it up with some Solar power, you can power  for up to 10 days.

So you can bring the power to your house in a truck when your house doesn’t have any.

Horsepower & Torque

As we discussed above, the For F-150 Lightning truck comes standard with a 452 horsepower. When you get the extended-range batteries you get a boost from 560 to 580 horsepower. This is crazy power for a typical pickup truck.

How about the torque? Insane 775 pound-feet of torque! This gives you a 0-to-60 in 4.5 seconds. Remember, this is just a pickup truck, not an exotic sports car we’re talking about. Ready to feel the G’s?

Towing Capacity

This truck can tow most regular towables. It is rated for up to 10,000 lb of towing capacity on the extended range battery and a payload of up to 2,000 lb. Compared to other electric trucks on the market, the Ford F-150 Lightning is actually much more powerful and can tow more, farther.