The verdict: Ford’s all-electric pickup truck, the 2022 F-150 Lightning, can do many of the same things the gas-powered F-150 can — without the gas. The electric truck delivers impressive power, great estimated all-electric range of up to 320 miles, solid utility and a host of useful innovations. And as with its gas-powered sibling, the F-150 Lightning easily accommodated three car seats across its backseat.
Does it fit three car seats? Yes.
Take a look at how the Latch system and each car seat scored below in our Car Seat Check of the 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning.
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A Grade
- Latch: The Lightning’s two sets of lower anchors are exposed for easy access and connection. The truck’s backseat has three top tether loops behind the head restraints; they were easy to use once we looked up their location in the owner’s manual.
- Infant: This seat was easy to install, and our 5-foot-6-inch front passenger had plenty of legroom with the seat installed behind them.
- Rear-facing convertible: Again, this seat went in without any problems, and the front passenger again had ample legroom with the seat installed behind.
- Booster: After removing the head restraint, the booster fit well on the flat seat bottom and back cushions. The buckles are rigid and sit high enough for kids to grasp and use independently.
2022 Ford F-150 Lightning | Cars.com photo by Jennifer Geiger
B Grade
- Forward-facing convertible: After removing the head restraint, the forward-facing convertible fit well. We had no issue using the lower anchors for installation, but we needed to check the owner’s manual to figure out the truck’s setup for top tether anchors. There are three tether straps, one behind each head restraint; to connect, the car seat’s tether strap must be routed through the tether-anchor loop closest to the car seat, then connected to the tether-anchor loop for the seating position next to it. This wasn’t complicated to do once we read about it in the owner’s manual, but caregivers installing car seats are unlikely to figure it out on their own, as the loops hidden behind the head restraints are unlabeled.
2022 Ford F-150 Lightning | Cars.com photo by Jennifer Geiger
C Grade
- None
Grading Scale
A: Plenty of room for the car seat and the child; doesn’t impact driver or front-passenger legroom. Easy to find and connect to Latch and tether anchors. No fit issues involving head restraint or seat contouring. Easy access to the third row.
B: One room, fit or connection issue. Some problems accessing the third row when available.
C: Marginal room plus one fit or connection issue. Difficult to access the third row when available.
D: Insufficient room, plus multiple fit or connection issues.
F: Does not fit or is unsafe.
About Cars.com’s Car Seat Checks
Editors Jennifer Geiger and Jennifer Newman are certified child safety seat installation technicians.
For the Car Seat Check, we use a Chicco KeyFit 30 infant-safety seat, a Graco Contender 65 convertible seat and Graco TurboBooster seat. The front seats are adjusted for a 6-foot driver and a shorter passenger. The three child seats are installed in the second row. The booster seat sits behind the driver’s seat, and the infant and convertible seats are installed behind the front passenger seat.
We also install the forward-facing convertible in the second row’s middle seat with the booster and infant seat in the outboard seats to see if three car seats will fit; a child sitting in the booster seat must be able to reach the seat belt buckle. If there’s a third row, we install the booster seat and a forward-facing convertible. Learn more about how we conduct our Car Seat Checks.
Parents should also remember that they can use the Latch system or a seat belt to install a car seat, and that Latch anchors have a weight limit of 65 pounds, including the weight of the child and the weight of the seat itself.
Keyword: How Do Car Seats Fit in a 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning?