Ford F-150 Lightning Popular With ICE F-150 And Tesla Owners

That's according to a Lightning Owners forum poll of some 500 reservation holders.

By: Dan Mihalascu

Nov 15, 2021 at 6:19am ET

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Ford appears to have hit a home run with the F-150 Lightning, with the company recently reporting it has surpassed 160,000 pre-orders for the electric pickup truck.

But what kind of customers does the F-150 Lightning attract and, more importantly, what type of vehicles are they trading in? Well, according to a poll from Lightning Owners, it looks as though one in four reservation holders is upgrading from an ICE-powered Ford F-150 truck.

The forum has polled some 500 members who have reserved a Lightning and their responses reveal trends that are worth sharing. The fact that a full 25% of the orders on the Lightning Reservation Tracker come from owners of F-150s with internal combustion engines is a good sign for the successful transition of Ford’s existing customers to an electric future.

That said, it will be interesting to see what impact this will have on the company’s bottom line if the highly profitable ICE-powered F-150 is eventually replaced by the more expensive EV.

Gallery: 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning

Now, while it was expected that many F-150 Lightning reservation holders would upgrade from an ICE F-150, chances are you’ll be surprised to learn that 11% of orders list a Tesla vehicle being traded in against a Lightning.

We don't know whether this percentage can extrapolate to all 160,000 pre-orders, but this is remarkable and a big win for Ford. If the Blue Oval can attract Tesla buyers into a pickup truck, it suggests the carmaker can remain relevant among consumers attracted to future-focused car companies.

Another takeaway from this survey is the fact that 40% of F-150 Lightning reservation holders have owned an EV in the past, which is flattering for the electric F-150 when you think about it. This seems to tie in with Ford's customer survey that says 56% of reservation holders are new to the Ford brand and to battery-electric vehicles.

What do you think?

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The electric F-150 doesn’t seem to attract many GM and Ram truck customers, though, suggesting that brand loyalty for pickups counts, regardless of the powertrain type.

There’s one non-Ford pickup truck that stands out as the most traded-in competitor’s truck, and that is the Toyota Tacoma. Approximately 5% of respondents said they would be trading one in against their Lightning.