Like you, I have no words for whatever it was that just happened this week in terms of global trade, stock markets or some sort of stable vision for the future. If you have any nerves (or cash) leftover and are looking to buy an American vehicle, here’s one suggestion I can actually make.

I had a chance to spend another week with a relatively fresh example of the impressive Ford F-150 Lightning electric pickup truck, this one the mid-level Lariat trim level, priced at $84,350.

The Lightning trucks are still all 2024 models, perhaps as a result of the production delays and issues experienced by Ford. In addition to being technically tariff-free (until, perhaps, you do an audit of where the truck’s thousands of components are actually sourced from), Ford has also instituted a national “employee price” promotion for these and other vehicles, though that has come at the cost of some other promotional financing and discounts. 

Nothing is free, anymore. Except, maybe, the emissions-free experience you’ll get cruising along in a genuinely full-sized pickup that loses almost nothing from its gas- or diesel-powered cousins.

That’s quite remarkable as you roll, largely silently, in a vehicle that pushes 6,600 pounds with the addition of its 20-inch dark alloy wheels and light all-terrain tires. Like the more expensive Platinum trim I drove exactly two years ago, this truck was outfitted with the 131-kilowatt-hour extended-range battery, a dual-motor drive system and full-time 4WD.

That produces what is still an EPA-claimed total range of 320 miles, though where that number comes from, I do not know. I set out on a big drive last Sunday with a 97% charge and the range was magically only 247 miles at start-up (I can send you a picture); the disappearance of nearly a quarter of the range, out of the gate, seemed worrisome.

But a strategy of at-or-under highway-speed driving and no 11,000-foot passes helped stretch that truncated range impressively, so maybe there will be utility for the right driver. Like the Mustang Mach-E, it’s a dense battery setup that here requires almost two hours to charge to 80% on the 50 kilowatt-hour Level-III chargers you’ll encounter in the real world or, more than a dozen hours on a lower-voltage charger. Keep that in mind.

If you’re up for the challenge, Lightning rewards you with some impressive stats: this configuration can haul 1,952 pounds of payload and tow up to 7,700 pounds of trailer, or 10,000 pounds with the trailer towing package, though that will very quickly eat into your range.

Driving can be simplified by going with the one-pedal setting, which will automatically slow and almost completely stop the truck when you let off the accelerator. The off-road mode defeats the one-pedal system, but does allow the 4-by-4 system to be more present on gravel and ruts.

Also, this vehicle’s price included three years of the BlueCruise semi-autonomous driving system, though Lightning’s size made me less comfortable relying on that tech.

As mentioned, it’s got all the regular, 233-inch-long F-150 SuperCrew’s physicality, with 52.8 cubic feet of cargo space in the box (no bedliner on an $84,000 truck is a shortcoming), plus an additional 14 cubic feet under the power-lifting front trunk space.

In the cabin, the 15.5-inch central touchscreen now offers karaoke for you and your passengers, and the fold-flat shifter I now realize allows the flop-forward center box cover to turn into a large in-vehicle working space. Lariat also included an interesting denim-look vinyl trim, some bronze-looking metal trim and the Bang and Olufsen audio system. 

Andy Stonehouse’s column “Mountain Wheels” publishes Saturdays in the Summit Daily News. Stonehouse has worked as an editor and writer in Colorado since 1998, focusing on automotive coverage since 2004. He lives in Golden. Contact him at summitmountainwheels@gmail.com.