Testing the 2025 Ford F-150’s DCFC performance

While many owners of EVs charge either at home or at work, once in a while, you might need to plug your electric vehicle into a fast charger for some more juice. That’s why we test the charging performance when connected to a fast charger. Our goal is to also normalize the reporting of data, so you can compare results across multiple brands and multiple charging types.

Our testing methodology

Our testing procedure is pretty straightforward. We drive the vehicle until there is a state of charge (SoC) of 5% or less, with an emphasis on getting as low as possible without needing a tow truck. We then plug into a DC fast charger capable of delivering juice at a rate that is higher than the peak rate of the vehicle. We compile that data into a spreadsheet and chart it out. We then break out the 10%-80% number in time.

We break out the 10%-80% number, as that’s where the meat of the charging occurs. Most cars don’t charge at their peak below 10%, and most cars slow down charging once they pass 80%. We want to start as empty as possible, but most people are going to find a charger before their vehicle drops below 10%.

2025 Ford F-150 Lightning claims

The Monroney, or window sticker, of our test truck says this Flash model has a 123 kWh usable battery pack. As for peak DC fast charging speeds, the company merely says 150+ kW. The company also quotes a 15%-80% charge time of 38 minutes on the bigger battery, but that’s based on the 131 kWh pack and not the 123 kWh pack our truck has. The results shouldn’t be significantly different, however.

Results

Starting at 0 miles indicated on the range, and 0% SoC, the 2025 F-150 Lightning Flash sat on a DC fast charger for 139 minutes and clicked off as being completely charged at a 98% SoC.

The peak DC fast charging rate was 166 kW, and this all occurred on a charger capable of delivering 349 kW of performance. It was a hot day, with an ambient air temperature of 93° Fahrenheit.

Connected to this charger, the Lightning Flash took 58 minutes to go from a 10% SoC to an 80% SoC. Below is an interactive chart of our charging test and the truck’s performance.

Compared to previous tests

We have charge test data from the 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning Lariat model, which had a 131 kWh battery pack and was tested in the summer under similar conditions.

That truck sat on a charger for 138 minutes and clicked off at a 100% SoC. That would appear to indicate that both trucks had the same amount of usable battery capacity. Interestingly, the charging curve looks a lot different, as this truck didn’t have the spike at around the hour mark that the newer truck did.

Regardless, the older Lightning performed the 10%-80% charging portion in 46 minutes, which is a full 12 minutes quicker than the newer one.

One additional note regarding the newer test. The charging test occurred at a known-good station, and nobody else was charging, so there should not be any irregularities as a result of shared charging or load balancing.

Conclusions

The F-150 Lightning might be the best-driving half-ton, full-size electric pickup truck you can buy today. But its 400-volt architecture holds it back when it’s connected to a fast charger. While most people do charge at home, if you’re towing, you’re likely going to need to fast charge, and you wouldn’t have to wait as long in other vehicles.

As always, your mileage may vary. Click here to view all of our DCFC testing results.