A new way to do a truck, from two very different philosophies
If you want an electric truck right now, the obvious choices are the Rivian R1T and the Ford F-150 Lightning. The Hummer EV pickup is slowly making its way to customers but it won’t go mainstream for a while, and the Chevrolet Silverado EV and GMC Sierra EV are still a ways off.
So that leaves Rivian and the company that invested millions into it, Ford, to duke it out for EV truck supremacy right now. As a result, both the R1T and Lightning are finalists for the Edmunds Top Rated Electric Truck award for 2023. Only one will take home the gold, but here’s the rundown on why both are excellent contenders.
2023 Ford F-150 Lightning
The F-150 Lightning is one of the most important trucks to come out in the last 50 years — it is Ford’s Tesla Model S moment. It doesn’t look too different from the F-150, but it’s a completely new take on an old formula. That gives Lightning a certain appeal for most truck guys and gals — it’s not making any pretenses about “the future” and is simply concerned with being a good truck that happens to be electric. But it’s better than good. Frankly, it’s excellent. The Lightning takes the F-150 platform to new levels of refinement. It’s better to drive, better to live with, far quieter, and still has features like Pro Power Onboard and all the utility that comes with being, well, an F-150. In sum, it’s fabulous inside and out, and we aren’t surprised people will be waiting years to get them.
2023 Rivian R1T
The Rivian R1T was the first electric pickup to make it to market, beating Ford, Chevy and Tesla. It looks like nothing else, and for eco-conscious buyers it’s a near perfect adventure vehicle. Plus, its four electric motors mean it makes more than 800 horsepower. It’s fast, lavishly appointed inside, and every bit as usable as the Lightning. Its only drawback is that it’s pricey, and more attainable models are still just over the horizon. That said, the R1T is a fantastic first attempt at a car from a startup that most people had never heard of before this year. If it does walk away with the Edmunds Top Rated award, it will be a more than deserving winner.
