LIKES
- Myriad configurations
- Excellent powertrains
- Smooth 10-speed
- A safety leader in trucks
- Dizzying choice among features
DISLIKES
- Non-adaptive ride is jouncy
- Turbodiesel has limited upside
- Limited trim nears $80,000
BUYING TIP
The 2022 Ford F-150 hits all its utility marks, while it ushers in the era of electrification with a swell Hybrid version.
What kind of vehicle is the 2022 Ford F-150? What does it compare to?
If the 2022 F-150 is unfamiliar to you, welcome to America. It’s the bestselling vehicle in the U.S., a perennial fixture in driveways and at work sites, and an unbelievably flexible vehicle that will soon join the electric-truck era with a Lightning edition. The F-150’s latter-day rivals include the Ram 1500, Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra, Toyota Tundra and Nissan Titan, and now, the Rivian R1T.
Is the 2022 Ford F-150 a good truck?
It’s startlingly good in some versions, adept and useful in all editions. We give it a TCC Rating of 7.2 out of 10.
What's new for the 2022 Ford F-150?
Not much. Last year’s additions of onboard scales, a smart hitch, and adaptive damping are met this year with wider availability of black-trim packages and bed-utility packages. The F-150 makes no attempt to hide its truck identity—and why should it? It’s capable above and beyond what its bluff front end and tall body sides imply. It blows past expectations inside, where high-spec versions wrap leather and wood around easy-to-use controls and a big touchscreen, not to mention functional wins like a console workstation and under-seat storage.
Ford sells the F-150 with three different body styles and three bed lengths. Most people choose the four-door crew cab with its 6.5-foot bed; it’s the comfort king, with 43.6 inches of rear-seat leg room and lofty head room too. Extended cabs sacrifice some rear-seat comfort, while regular cabs give up the back seat entirely. Let the bed dictate the buying here: Ford sells everything from hitches that can measure tow weight, to a fold-out step embedded in the tailgate, not to mention all kinds of tie-downs, clamps, bed liners, even a built-in bottle opener.
How much does the 2022 Ford F-150 cost?
Prices haven’t yet been confirmed for the 2022 F-150 or for the new Lightning edition. Last year’s XL checked in at just about $31,000, while our pick, the Lariat, cost about $50,000 with a crew cab and four-wheel drive. All F-150s have automatic emergency braking and an 8.0-inch touchscreen with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. Lariats have 18-inch wheels, a 12.0-inch touchscreen, power features, leather upholstery, and the 2.7-liter turbo V-6. It’s possible to spend $80,000 on an F-150 Hybrid, but it’ll be easier to spend more than that on the upcoming Lightning.
Where is the 2022 Ford F-150 made?
In Dearborn, Michigan, and in Kansas City, Missouri.
Styling
The F-150 doesn’t hide its utilitarian nature.
Is the Ford F-150 a good-looking truck?
It’s a 7 to our eyes, with a point each for its exterior and interior. It’s familiar without being stale, angular without looking too blocky, and tough without appearing cartoonish.
Those highlight the basics, but the F-150 is anything but basic. With 15 wheel and color choices and 11 different grilles, the F-150 can be personalized in ways old F-100 drivers never would have imagined.
Inside the F-150 can wear rubber flooring and durable cloth upholstery, or open-pore wood trim and soft leather. It’s as functional as it is fine, with big buttons and dials and a center console that practically walls off passenger from driver. An 8.0-inch touchscreen can be upgraded to a 12.0-inch unit. Ford tucks myriad details into the cabin to remind drivers of the F-150’s American heritage, as if it were possible to forget.
Performance
From turbos to hybrids, the F-150 runs the performance gamut.
The F-150 family spans across six drivetrains to offer mediocre V-6 acceleration or blistering twin-turbo thrust—and that’s before the electric Lightning rolls out. We give the F-150 two extra points for the popular and powerful turbo V-6, and one for its off-road and towing capacity, but deduct one for its inertia-governed ride and handling. It’s a 7.
How fast is the Ford F-150?
Not fast with the 290-hp 3.3-liter V-6, but it’s only offered in XL and XLT trucks. It still has its upsides, namely a payload rating of up to 1,985 lb and a max tow rating of 8,200 lb.
The pluralist choice is the 2.7-liter turbo V-6, standard on Lariats and capable to the tune of 325 hp and 400 lb-ft of torque. Payload and towing check in at 2,480 and 10,100 lb, respectively, and the engine goes about its business swiftly and effectively, thanks to the well-programmed 10-speed automatic that comes with every F-150.
For the power-hungry, the 400-hp 5.0-liter V-8 sounds like a NASCAR infield and twists out 410 lb-ft of torque, which boosts towing ratings to 13,000 lb and payload to a 3,325-lb max. But we prefer the astonishingly quick 400-hp 3.5-liter twin-turbo V-6, with its 500 lb-ft of torque—and its lineup-topping 14,000-lb tow rating.
For efficiency fans, there’s always Ford’s well-executed Hybrid. It pairs the 3.5-liter twin-turbo V-6 with a 47-hp electric motor and a 1.5-kwh lithium-ion battery. Electric-only driving is possible at speeds of up to about 10 mph, and the Hybrid’s net 430 hp and 570 lb-ft conserves some fuel though it sheds a thousand pounds in towing ability due to its heavier weight. The killer app is the Hybrid’s on-board generator, which can run four 120-volt and one 240-volt outlets for up to 32 hours. It shifts with some lag when it accelerates hard, but that improves when it’s dialed into a Sport drive mode.
Is the Ford F-150 4WD?
Most versions have rear-wheel drive, but four-wheel drive can be fitted to just about any versions. The basic 4WD setup is a part-time, shift-on-the-fly system; on the Lariat and more expensive versions, a 2-speed torque-on-demand system mimics a part-time all-wheel-drive system to move torque to the front wheels when the rears slip. It also has a manual override with 4H and 4L settings.
The F-150 varies widely in ride and handling, due to bed weight, vehicle weight, wheelbase, and the presence of newly available adaptive dampers. On the popular versions with electronic steering, a solid rear axle, and rear leaf springs, the F-150 has some bounce in its step; when it’s not laden with road-smothering payload, it can bound over bumps and quiver over pavement seams though it has precise steering that makes it feel more maneuverable than its size would indicate. An independent front suspension helps it feel more like a passenger vehicle, but make no mistake: this is a truck, and it handles like one.
Comfort & Quality
Choose your cab, choose your bed—choose your adventure.
The F-150 can be configured with a regular, an extended, or with a crew cab. Each of those offers at least two if not three bed lengths. Mix and match and you have more potential looks than a rack of Garanimals. We give it a 7 for comfort and utility, based on its ability to seat five people in the most common version, and on its marvelously adaptable bed.
It would merit a 6 if the regular- or extended-cab F-150 sold more than the four-door crew cab. Those versions can have skimpy rear-seat leg room and less polished interiors, while the crew cab’s standard on the high-end versions; it has 43.6 inches of rear-seat leg room, more than some big SUVs.
Base versions with the regular cab come with a split bench seat with cloth upholstery, while XLTs add a locking center console in the fold-down middle portion. There’s no back seat. Extended cabs get a choice of bucket seats and a front console, along with rear-hinged rear doors and a straight-backed rear bench seat that’s not spacious or comfortable for more than a cross-town trip. Crew cabs have spread-out space in all directions, and can be upfitted with leather upholstery, power-adjustable heated and cooled front seats, and a lie-flat feature for in-truck napping.
The pickup bed follows suit, in three sizes: bed measure 5-foot-6 or 6-foot-6 on many models, while crew cabs get an 8-foot option. Spray-in or drop-in bedliners are just the start: the tailgate can be power-operated and fitted with a slide-away step, while corner and side steps boost access. Ingenious tricks like a bed-mounted generator, power outlets, C-clamps, cupholders, built-in rulers and bottle openers make the usual bed tie-downs and power-sliding rear window seem pedestrian. It’s better than a toolbox; the F-150’s its own toolkit.
Safety
The F-150 has topped crash tests while it plots the road to the future.
How safe is the Ford F-150?
It’s fared very well in crash tests, has a smart set of active safety features, and now can be fitted with advanced driver assistance that allows brief intervals of hands-free driving. It’s a 9.
The NHTSA scores many F-150s at five stars overall. It doesn’t test every cab style, but crew cabs earn the top score with a four-star rollover resistance rating, while extended cabs dip to four stars for front-passenger protection. The IIHS dubs it a Top Safety Pick when equipped with LED headlights, which are standard or available on most trims from the XLT on up.
Ford now sells the F-150 with Bluecruise, a driver-assist system which uses cameras and radar to keep the vehicle in its lane and following at a safe distance. A $600 charge beyond the $995 hardware cost keeps the system in play for three years; after that, it moves to a subscription charge.
Features
Mini has nothing on the F-150’s millions of feature combinations.
The Ford-150 order sheet might bring up memories of AP exams; there’s a lot going on and it requires some background knowledge when it comes time to fill in the bubbles. No matter how you do, every F-150 has great standard features, a dizzying array of options, good infotainment, and at least in preferred versions, great value. It’s a 9 here.
For about $31,000, the F-150 XL comes with manual windows, rubber floor liners, and no back seat—but it does come with automatic emergency braking. It’s the outlier and mostly sold to fleets. For about $37,000, the F-150 XLT has everything you expect in a base vehicle, with power locks and windows, cruise control, and blind-spot monitors.
Which Ford F-150 should I buy?
How much is a fully loaded Ford F-150?
The F-150 Limited costs more than $77,000 and comes with heated rear seats, a panoramic sunroof, power running boards, and integrated C-clamps and a bottle opener in its tailgate.
The options offered on F-150s range from 18-speaker B&O sound, lie-flat front seats, a center-console work table, adaptive dampers, an on-board scale to weigh payload, and a hitch that can gauge tongue weight to let you know if you’re towing too much. Ford will also offer its Bluecruise driver-assistance system as an over-the-air update on the F-150.
Fuel Economy
Hybrid F-150s are the most efficient—until the Lightning strikes.
Is the Ford F-150 good on gas?
It is, but it’s about to swear off gas entirely as a Lightning. Until then the wide range of powertrains offers some interesting choices; based on the most common 2.7-liter turbo-6’s ratings of 20 city, 26 highway, 22 combined mpg with rear-wheel drive, we give it a 4 here.
Add four-wheel drive to that version and the EPA clocks it at 19/24/21 mpg.
For now, the efficiency leaders are the Hybrid, with EPA ratings of 24/24/24 mpg with four-wheel drive, and the turbodiesel with 22/30/25-mpg rear-drive scores, or 20/25/22 mpg figures with four-wheel drive.
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