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Ford F-150 Lightning Range Drops During Canadian Winter: Study

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It’s a well-known fact that all-electric vehicles tend to lose a significant amount of range when driving in cold temperatures, which is something that automakers have worked to combat in recent years. This is certainly true of the Ford F-150 Lightning, which gained a standard heat pump for the 2024 model year, a part that helps to mitigate range loss stemming from winter driving. Regardless, the Ford F-150 Lightning still loses a decent amount of range in cold temperatures, according to a new study.

Ford F-150 Lightning Winter Range Test
Model Rank Longest Range Total KM/Miles Driven On Single Charge Official NRCan Range (KM/Miles) Difference
Chevy Equinox EV 6 337 / 209 513 / 319 -34 percent
Chevy Silverado EV 1 456 / 283 724 / 450 -14 percent*
Ford F-150 Lightning 9 296 / 184 515 / 320 -35 percent*
Ford Mustang Mach-E 7 334 / 208 483 / 300 -31 percent
Honda Prologue 8 334 / 208 439 / 273 -24 percent
Hyundai Ioniq 5 11 262 / 163 410 / 255 -36 percent
Kia EV9 4 349 / 217 435 / 270 -20 percent
Kia Niro EV 10 285 / 177 407 / 253 -30 percent
Polestar 2 3 384 / 239 444 / 276 -14 percent*
Tesla Model 3 2 410 / 255 584 / 363 -30 percent
Toyota bZ4X 12 255 / 158 406 / 252 -37 percent
Volkswagen ID.4 5 338 / 210 468 / 291 -28 percent
Volvo XC40 Recharge 13 248 / 154 409 / 254 -39 percent
Note Due to a complication Kia EV6 did not participate in the range test, but did participate in the charge test.
*Calculation was adjusted to reflect that Chevy Silverado EV started at 73 percent state of range and that F-150 Lightning started at 89 percent state of range.

This new study comes to us from the Canadian Automobile Association (CAA), which rounded up 14 different all-electric vehicles and subjected them to range testing in temperatures ranging from -7 and -15 degrees Celsius, which represents the typical Canadian winter. Each vehicle was driven until it ran completely out of charge, after which the results were compared to the estimated driving range for each published by Natural Resources Canada (NRCan). CAA also performed a charging test using a DC fast-charger, too.

The study found that the Ford F-150 Lightning ranked ninth among this group in terms of range loss, as it was able to travel 296 kilometers (184 miles) on a single charge in these conditions, a 35 percent drop compared to its NRCan ratings of 515 kilometers (320 miles). It fared a bit better in terms of charging speed, however, adding 109 kilometers (68 miles) in 15 minutes and going from a 10-80 percent state of charge in 45 minutes at an average speed of 128 kW. As for the Ford Mustang Mach-E, it ranked seventh in terms of range loss in these conditions, and ninth in charging speeds.

Brett's lost track of all the Fords he's owned over the years and how much he's spent modifying them, but his current money pits include an S550 Mustang and 13th gen F-150.

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Brett Foote

Brett's lost track of all the Fords he's owned over the years and how much he's spent modifying them, but his current money pits include an S550 Mustang and 13th gen F-150.

View Comments

  • Screw the heat pumps. Ford should be the one to have enough balls to put kerosene heaters in their lowish-cost EVs. They need more cold range certainty and using LFP cells, not waste a bunch of cost & weight loading up.

  • These range studies are nothing more than misinformation…I love when they publish “average”…

    Wake up - average doesn’t matter, I want to see how these will perform in the worst of winter: -40F, strong head wind, heat on…average won’t do when you are in the middle of one of these storms and many of us in Canada and US have to deal with that….

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