PickupTrucks.com, Cars.com Name the 2021 Ford F-150 Our Best of 2021

Cars.com photo by Christian Lantry

By Joe Bruzek

The 2021 Ford F-150 not only impressed the editors of PickupTrucks.com and parent site Cars.com enough to earn the Best Pickup Truck of 2021, but the F-150 made the unprecedented leap to earn Cars.com’s Best of 2021, the top award given to any eligible new or redesigned vehicle. This marks the first time a truck has earned the award, succeeding a long line of SUVs, sedans and a minivan since the award’s inception in 2009. 

Related: Owning the 2021 Ford F-150

Criteria for Best Of are quality, innovation and value, and the F-150 showcased exceeding innovation for 2021 with a host of new available features, including a new PowerBoost hybrid powertrain that not only makes it the most powerful F-150, but also the most fuel-efficient — and it tows pretty well, too. The Pro Power Onboard generator can power a whole work site, and inside the cab there’s an available retracting gear selector, table work surface and sleeper seats. The bed can be optioned with an integrated workbench in the tailgate with ruler, pencil holders and cutouts for clamps.

As part of the award, we bought a 2021 F-150 Limited with the PowerBoost powertrain we plan to own for a year, a $78,000 pickup. We’ve actually owned it for a few months ahead of announcing the award, and we quickly passed the honeymoon phase after picking up a few issues along the way. Some of the problems impacted drivability and required a dealer visit, while others were annoying or just odd for something costing nearly $80,000. You can catch up with our experience so far in the links below, and follow along our ownership journey as we test the 2021 F-150 over the next year.

More From PickupTrucks.com:

• Cars.com Best of 2021
• Best Pickup Truck of 2021
• Our 2021 F-150 Had Problems After 9 Days, 242 Miles
• We Bought A 2021 Ford F-150, See How Much We Paid
• See the Rust Under Our Brand-New 2021 Ford F-150
• Owning the 2021 Ford F-150

Related Video:

PickupTrucks.com's Editorial department is your source for automotive news and reviews. In line with PickupTrucks.com's long-standing ethics policy, editors and reviewers don't accept gifts or free trips from automakers. The Editorial department is independent of PickupTrucks.com's advertising, sales and sponsored content departments.

in Awards, Ford, Ford F-150, Full-Size, Half-Ton Pickups, Light-Duty, New Trucks