Ford Finally Built An Off-Road F-150 Lightning STX
Ford’s cleanest truck is getting dirty. The automaker has announced a new F-150 Lightning STX trim that brings some off-road capability to the electric pickup.
The STX is replacing the XLT in the lineup at the same $63,345 starting price, not including shipping fees.
It swaps the XLT’s standard range battery pack for an extended range pack, which increases the range from 240 miles to 290 miles per charge.
Ford sells other F-150 Lightning models with the extended range pack that are rated up to 320 miles per charge, but the STX also comes from the factory with 18-inch wheels wrapped with all-terrain Goodyear Wrangler Territory AT tires that have a higher rolling resistance than all-seasons.
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The trade-off is that the STX is the first F-150 Lightning that comes from the factory with enhanced off-road chops. It doesn’t get an extreme suspension setup, but the additional traction and tall sidewall make it more suitable for rough unpaved roads. Ford also borrowed the metal running boards from the F-150 Tremor.
The STX features a horizontal blue stripe across its faux-grille and a graphics package with decals for the hood and bed sides, which is standard but can be deleted. The interior is upholstered in black cloth with blue STX logos and a heated steering wheel is standard. Ford is offering a full vinyl floor as an option.
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Back when the F-150 Lighting first launched in 2022, Ford expected to be selling 150,000 annually by now, but cut its production plans as the electric pickup market developed much slower than expected. However, it is the best-selling vehicle in the segment so far this year, with 19,077 delivered through August.
Ford has delayed the launch of its next-generation full-size electric pickup, which CEO Jim Farley has described as a “Millennium Falcon with a back porch attached,” and is instead focusing on the launch of a small electric pickup priced close to $30,000 that’s scheduled to go on sale in 2027.