Ford F-150 Lightning Platinum Black first look

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Ford F-150 Lightning Platinum Black first look

Video Transcript

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SAM RUTHERFORD: The Ford F-150 Lightning is one of the coolest EV trucks around. And ever since the car came out last year, the platinum edition has been the top level trim. But that's about to change sometime in early 2024 when Ford releases this, the Platinum Black edition.

Now the Platinum Black edition is largely an appearance pack, so it's based on the standard platinum model, which includes upgraded 580 horsepower motors, 775 foot pounds of torque, and it comes with that extended battery, which gives you 300 miles of range. Now obviously the most notable change about the Platinum Black is this new color scheme which features a matte black exterior wrap, which is the first time Ford has done this on any one of its production vehicles. That said, I really like how hard Ford is committing to that color scheme, but it's not just the exterior color we're talking about. It's a bunch of little tweaks and changes both outside and inside the vehicle.

So starting in front with the classic Ford badge, instead of your traditional blue background, they changed it to black for the Platinum Black edition. Makes a lot of sense, right. And then if we move over to the headlights, while it might be kind of hard to see, Ford even smoked out the housing, which adds a little bit of mystery to the Platinum Black edition.

Now moving over to the side, we have the charge port, and one kind of small tweak compared to the standard model is that Ford left the main door here and they got rid of the fake door on the other side that you get on the regular model. And that's kind of interesting. I like it because it not only is a little bit simpler, but, hey, who needs fake doors?

Now if we come over to the side you'll notice that Ford does deviate a little bit from that matte black color scheme for elements like the handles, the mirror, and the running board which are available in agga black, and that's to help hide stuff like fingerprints and smudges, which makes a lot of sense.

Moving around to the rear, you still get that big signature light bar in back, and then for the logo, they've blacked that out as well. And they even brought that down to the wheels, which you can see. You get 22-inch matte black wheels including matching color-coded lug nuts.

And then moving all the way to the back, you get the bed cover that comes as standard. Again, you get that black Ford emblem. And over here, in case ever you're ever wondering about, hey, if you have the Platinum Black edition, they even tweaked the little badge down at the bottom of the tailgate. And then on the inside, you still get that fancy nirvana leather, which includes heated and cooled seats, but, of course, it's available in black which is exclusive for the Platinum Black edition.

There's also a couple lightning logos on the back half of the moonroof. And then if we move up here, it's pretty much the same though you do get that upgraded 15-inch touchscreen. But, of course, the most exclusive thing about the Ford F-150 Platinum Black edition is this little plaque, which tells you which number out of 2,000 that you have. And because they're only making 2,000, it's going to be a pretty exclusive club to get into. So there's one badge right here on the driver's side door frame, and there's a bigger one underneath the frunk in case there was ever any doubt.

So we only had a short time with the vehicle, so now we're back outside. Now that I'm standing next to a regular Platinum Edition of the F-150 lightning, I gotta say I know it's only an appearance pack, but it looks so good. That said, as you can probably tell by my outfit, I am kind of a sucker for that black on black color scheme. The only real downside is that starting at just under $98,000, the Platinum Black edition definitely ain't cheap. Then again, it is the new top spec trim for the F-150 Lightning.

So if you wanna get your hands on one, better keep your eyes glued to the Ford website when pre-orders go live sometime later this year. After all, they're only making 2,000, and after that, that's it.

Now that's it from me for today. But as always for more from Engadget, don't forget to follow, comment, like, and subscribe for more news, reviews, and videos real soon.

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