Ford F-150 Lightning

The electric version of America's best-selling pickup is a 580bhp modern-day muscle car

- RICHARD PORTER

KEEN STUDENTS OF AMERICAN TRUCKS will know this is not the first time Ford has used the Lightning badge on an F-150. The first generation of 1992 had a 5.8-litre, 240hp V8, while the 1999 sequel came with a 5.4-litre V8, supercharged to 360 horsepower. With their single cabs and none-more-'90s body kits, they were pure and simple hot-rods, losing some of their trucky utility but vastly increasing their ability to lay elevens outside the local diner. This, the third-generation Lightning, is not like that. It comes with a practical double cab. There are no tacky 'sports' trimmings. And there's no V8 because, third time around, with the Lightning name co-opted into being a low-level pun, this is a pure EV.

There is one piece of common ground with its predecessors, mind you. In basic form it makes 452bhp, the extended-range model tested here has 580 horsepower, and both versions serve up the same mighty 775lb ft of torque. So this Lightning is still a hot-rod. In fact, it's the most powerful F-150 ever made, besting even the petrol-snorting faux-Baja Raptors.