2022 Ford F-150

The F-150 pickup is Ford’s three-ton, aluminum-bodied cash cow. The best-selling vehicle in America for four decades running, the big half-ton Ford finds roughly 900,000 customers in a good year, and for good reason. The F-150 is awfully good at what trucks are supposed to do: Hauling, towing, working, playing. 

Freshly redesigned just last year, it’s also now good at things you wouldn’t expect a truck to do: Accelerating like a sport sedan. Or offering a hybrid powertrain and mobile generator that can power a construction crew, campers or tailgaters. Spend more, and an owner can have a hands-free rear liftgate —it powers up or down—powered running boards, or a penumbra of LED task lighting around the truck, controlled via smartphone or from the cab. 

Spend even more and the F-150 can feel a whole lot like a Lincoln inside; but spend carefully. Like its domestic rivals, the Ford offers a basic work truck for barely $30,000, but the price soars as the option boxes are ticked, running up to nearly $80,000. King Ranch, Platinum and Limited models, with optional 4×4 traction, start from a respective $61,450, $64,230 and $75,945. 2022 also marks the debut of the all-electric F-150 Lightning, but that model isn’t out yet, and when it arrives we’ll review it separately, as we do the high-performance F-150 Raptor.

Ford claims that 92 percent of this new generation F-150’s components are new. That includes every aluminum body panel, the weight-saving innovation that remains a Ford-pickup exclusive. Despite its lightweight and complex construction, the F-150 still offers the widest array of configurations and the highest payload and towing capacities in the half-ton class, with three cabs, three beds, five engines and more than 130 possible permutations of bodies, axle ratios and engines.

The F-150’s interior doesn’t quite rise to Ram 1500 levels of luxury, even in top-shelf models. But the gap has been closed. Good stuff includes the posh “Max Recline” seats;  lockable storage below rear seats; and a shift lever that powers flat into the center console, allowing a fold-out table for laptops or lunches. Its onboard tech is also impressive. Ford’s SYNC 4 system with over-the-air updates for not just infotainment, but the truck’s powertrains and other internal systems, potentially saving customers trips to their dealership for service. 

Ford bundles lots of active-safety features into the F-150 as well, but most cost extra as on other domestic full-size pickups, though getting the fanciest gear requires upgrading to the higher trims.

Another key option—the PowerBoost Hybrid powertrain—is itself expensive, ranging from $1,900 (on the Limited) to as much as $4,495 on the XL and XLT. The PowerBoost’s 430 horsepower and 570 pound-feet of torque top every F-150 version. It combines a burly 12,700-pound towing capacity, and 2,120 pounds of max payload, with a 5.3-second rip from 0-60 mph. If this isn’t the right powertrain for you, the F-150 offers four others, though the former Powerstroke Diesel has been dropped for 2022.

While the F-150 offers plenty of clever truck features, one that really stands out is the Pro Power Onboard system, a groundbreaking mobile generator with outlets both inside the truck and in the cargo bed. Three available strengths include a robust unit (on the PowerBoost hybrid only, for $750) that can deliver 7,200 watts of continuous power. That’s enough to power a modest construction site or mobile metal shop, an RV, tailgate party or campsite, or even a home in case of a power outage. The F-150 really is about doing every possible pickup job.

Performance: 14/15

The Ford steers better and rides more smoothly than its previous generation, with more towing and payload capacity, in both cases class-leading. There are now five engines, with the diesel deleted, ranging from the standard 3.3-liter V6, returning 290 horsepower and 265 pound-feet of torque, up to the 3.5-liter twin-turbocharged, full hybrid PowerBoost V6 squeezing 430 horsepower and 570 pound-feet of torque. The largest engine, the 5.0-liter V8, is not actually the most powerful, with 400 horsepower and 410 pound-feet, but it is there for traditionalists. All F-150s are rear or four-wheel drive (4WD) and transmit power via a smooth-shifting and responsive ten-speed automatic.

The 3.5-liter EcoBoost V6, delivering 400 horsepower and 500 pound-feet, offers the highest towing capacity, ranging from a minimum of 11,200 pounds all the way up to a class-leading 14,000 when properly equipped. It’s also available in all body styles, unlike the hybrid (which offers up to 12,700 pounds of towing capacity). Across all the different configurations, the F-150 line’s average max towing capacity is over 10,500 pounds, also class-leading. Several variations also offer more than 3,000 pounds of payload capacity, peaking at a class-leading 3,325 pounds in the 5.0-liter, regular cab model. 

The Ford drives better than before, with a smoother, quieter ride—not as luxury-car creamy as the Ram, with its uniquely independent rear suspension, but better than Silverado, or the jouncy (outgoing model) Toyota Tundra or Nissan Titan. All told, the F-150 proves a chill companion over hours behind the wheel, including in dense urban traffic. The F-150 Tremor package adds a little bit of off-road ability beyond the standard trucks, but serious adventurers will want to check out the Raptor.

Fuel economy: 13/15

We never quite reached the EPA’s original 24-mpg combined rating in the hybrid F-150, which tops every gasoline-powered full-size pickup on the market. But with a gentle right foot, we did see 22-23 mpg in city or highway driving, and for 2022 the EPA has rated the 4WD hybrid at 23 mpg combined. Unladen or not, that’s impressive economy in a 4×4 rig that weighs about 5,850 pounds and is superior to Toyota’s new hybrid Tundra, though it can’t match the fuel economy of diesel options offered by Chevy, GMC and Ram.

Non-hybrid models are thirstier, as you’d expect in a beefy full-size truck, especially with the optional 5.0-liter, 400-hp V-8, but even that returns 19 mpg combined with 4WD, which is a bit better than Ram’s V8s and much better than GM’s. The F-150’s other engine options all return fairly decent fuel economy compared to similar trucks, though some lower-end models, like GM’s four-cylinder trucks, do a little better.

Safety and Driver Assistance Tech: 9/15

The F-150 has more standard active-safety gear than its domestic rivals, though Toyota and Nissan offer much more. Every model gets forward automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection, forward collision warning, a lane-keeping monitor and automated high beams, but everything else requires an option package or a trim upgrade from the base XL. Fortunately most trims bundle Ford’s CoPilot 360 system, which can include adaptive cruise control with road-sign recognition, active park assist and lane centering and a 360-degree camera system.

The big Ford gets a five-star overall rating from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and a Top Safety Pick rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), crashworthiness ratings topped only by the Ram 1500, which has less standard active-safety gear.

Comfort and Room: 14/15

SuperCrew versions bring the sprawling, luxury-sedan-sized back seat that has made these body styles so popular. And this Ford will massage achy backs and glutes with gusto, in nearly flat-folding, optional “Max Recline” leather thrones if you’re willing to foot the bill. A convenient, optional hands-free rear liftgate powers up or down, with powered running boards easing ingress and egress for this sky-high pickup. Phone-operated perimeter lighting brings added security and convenience. 

Upfront, the F-150 has fractionally less room than GM’s pickups, and fractionally more than Ram’s, but most drivers will be hard-pressed to tell the difference. The SuperCrew’s back seat has about two inches less legroom than the equivalent Ram 1500 but marginally more than Chevy or GMC. Despite those inches, even Kevin Durant isn’t going to feel cramped in the back of the F-150. If there’s a demerit, it’s that the SuperCab (“extended cab” to most truck people) has appreciably less backseat legroom than Ram or GM’s offerings.

Infotainment: 13/15

The F-150 uses Ford’s SYNC 4 system with over-the-air updates for not just infotainment, but also for powertrains and other internal systems, potentially saving customers trips to their dealership for service. SYNC offers a dramatic 12-inch center touchscreen (8-inches standard) and 12-inch digital gauge cluster with sharp animations for the voice-activated navigation, drive modes and other functions. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard, with wireless phone charging and Bang & Olufsen audio optional. 

The Ford’s thrifty, optional hybrid powertrain integrates a mobile generator that can power a construction crew, campers or tailgaters, something not offered by the competition.

Cargo space and Storage: 14/15

There are three cab options and three beds, but the traditional regular cab model, as on other trucks, is only available in the workhorse trims, XL and XLT. Similarly, the big 8-foot bed (actually 97.6 inches long) is only available on those two trims and the Lariat. The 5.5-foot bed isn’t available on the regular cab, but it and the 6.5-foot box are available on all the other configurations. 

The beds offer plenty of volume under any tonneau cover, 52.8 cubic-feet for the 5.5, 62.3 cubic-feet for the more common 6.5, and 77.4 cubic feet in the long bed. The F-150’s beds offer a configurable storage system, an integrated tailgate step and stowable loading ramps. Here’s a storage goodie: The shift lever for a smooth 10-speed automatic transmission powers flat into the center console, allowing a fold-out table for laptops or lunches.

Style and Design: 8/10

In the big three-way battle between Detroit trucks, the Ram 1500 remains more dramatic on the outside, more luxurious inside. But the Ford easily out-styles Chevy’s scowling, plasticky Silverado and doesn’t have to try as hard as the GMC Sierra or Toyota Tundra to advertise its brawn. This quietly handsome truck features headlamps framed in snazzy (optional) LEDs, a thick slab of grille, enlarged wheels and smart stuff like active grille shutters to reduce aero drag and save fuel.

Is the 2022 Ford F-150 Worth it? Which F-150 is the Best Value? 

One reason the F-150 is so popular is that it offers something for everyone, including three body styles, two bed lengths, five engines and seven trim levels. Within that huge range, and there are more than 130 mechanical combinations alone, even before you get into trims, there’s a truck for every purse and purpose. An XL model starts from an approachable $31,685. But like its rivals, the F-150’s price soars for upper-shelf versions like the $61,585 Platinum and the $76,030 Limited. 

The Lariat is the likely sweet spot for the lion’s share of buyers at $47,835, offering a smart blend of luxury features and performance, without breaking the bank. And for $2,500 to $4,495, depending on the model, Ford’s twin-turbo V-6 hybrid powertrain boosts fuel economy by 20 percent (or 4 mpg), with a stout 430 horsepower. 

How Much Does it Cost to Insure the Ford F-150?

The F-150 costs a little less to insure than most of its peers. According to our data, a typical 30-year-old female driver with a clean record can expect an average annual premium of $1,657, though this averages all 50 states. That compares to $1,906 for the Chevrolet Silverado, $1,980 for the Ram 1500, $1,785 for the Toyota Tundra and $2,013 for the Nissan Titan. To get a more accurate picture of your potential insurance expenses, visit our car insurance calculator.