Ford F150 Lightning

[gwells]

Looks pretty good to me.

============================

Ford’s first electric pickup truck has a dual-motor, four-wheel drivetrain that makes either 426 hp or 563 hp and 775 lb-ft. of torque, with a range of 230 or 300 miles. It has a large front storage space in place of the engine and can be equipped with a 2.4kW or 9.6kW Pro Power system for powering AC tools, lights, and more.

https://www.ford.com/trucks/f150/f150-lightning/2022/

[r.palace]

Call me a purist (I am) but this thing is no Lightning. Name it anything else but if it’s not a single cab with a supercharged V8 it’s not a Lightning.

/rant

[Torrid]

I want one.

Call me a purist (I am) but this thing is no Lightning. Name it anything else but if it’s not a single cab with a supercharged V8 it’s not a Lightning.

/rant

It's the fastest vehicle to ever wear the Lightning badge.

[r.palace]

I want one.

Call me a purist (I am) but this thing is no Lightning. Name it anything else but if it’s not a single cab with a supercharged V8 it’s not a Lightning.

/rant

It's the fastest vehicle to ever wear the Lightning badge.

That’s right; but it’s not about that. Lightning enthusiasts have been waiting over 15 years for a Gen 3 Lightning and this definitely wasn’t what they had in mind

[dnslater]

Electric gigantic trucks are stupid*, but this one is soo cool.
RIP cybertruck


*they’re worse for the environment than a gas powered normal size car

Yes, a large heavy truck is worse than a normal sized sedan maybe, but apples to apples with a truck of similar capacity and the EV should be far better... especially if charged with renewable energy... of course this varies around the country but as a nation we are down to like 30% coal for our energy in the U.S. Batteries are really heavy, but so is a V8 + transmission + 26 gallons of gas + oil + transfer case. I'm guessing in the end it will be +/-500 lbs heavier than a similarly equipped gas F150. A base Porsche Taycan is 300 lbs heavier than a base Porsche Panamera.

Given the F150's popularity, this car may be a game changer for normalizing EV use. I'm not ready to make the jump yet, but given the improvement rates on battery efficiency and charging, in 10 years the range and charge time will be competitive with gas vehicles. This truck could be really good for a contractor who drives 30-40 miles to a job site and then can use it to power his tools all day and then return home to charge it in his garage at night.

Frunk is pretty cool too.

[JP Chestnut]

I want one.

Call me a purist (I am) but this thing is no Lightning. Name it anything else but if it’s not a single cab with a supercharged V8 it’s not a Lightning.

/rant

It's the fastest vehicle to ever wear the Lightning badge.

It’s also the most silent and least fun to drive.

[BlueSky]

I don't keep up with trucks or EVs, but a quick glance shows the gas XLT at 35K vs this one, also with XLT trim, at 52K. Correct me if those are bad numbers. Cost parity arguments, even with tax credits, costs to operate and such are already tiresome and are falling on deaf ears.

[Ryeguy]

I would actually be pretty into this rig as I drive (typically) only about 20 miles per day. Weekends in the winter I'll go 100 mile round trips to the MT for skiing, but we have new Honda Pilot for longer road trips.

This truck, in XLT trim, is only about $5 more expensive than a new Tacoma SR5 Off Road.

Heck, I could see it being a really fun rig for beach parties or camping trips where you could run a power line from your truck to run a string of lights or something. (I can do this with my Tacoma today, but it would mean idling the truck for hours)

The real challenge I see is our power supply is still highly fossil fuel reliant. I guess someone could convince me that scrubbers on power plant smoke stacks are better than catalytic converters on car tail pipes, but I think the real impact would be changing to renewable or nuclear power.

[Ryeguy]

Another thought is most pickup truck owners live with the realization that "everything I have is either wet or stolen". Securing expensive items in the bed is a challenge that is usually met with some type of cap or bed cover (which add weight and can be a nuisance).

The under hood area on this thing looks pretty big and certainly secure enough to store expensive power equipment.

I do wonder, however, about crash tests. Today, engine mounts are designed to shear in predictable ways so you don't end up with an engine taking out your legs in a front end collision. I hope they have designed the firewall and hood with enough strength to prevent your circular saw from taking you out in the event of a collision.

[Torrid]

I want one.

Call me a purist (I am) but this thing is no Lightning. Name it anything else but if it’s not a single cab with a supercharged V8 it’s not a Lightning.

/rant

It's the fastest vehicle to ever wear the Lightning badge.

It’s also the most silent and least fun to drive.

I get both ends of the spectrum for sure. I have a 2017 5.0 F-150 now and the engine is excellent. It makes all the right noises and it seems Ford went to a lot of trouble to make sure it sounded good unlike every other stock V8 regular production modern truck I’ve driven, but the interesting experience of a truly silent vehicle is great. I’ve driven Teslas and I get the appeal but I’d rather have a truck. I guess that’s why this appeals to me and I’ve really only been a Ford fan for the last 5-8 years so while I understand the heritage of the Lightning name, I felt it was a good engine in a mediocre quality vehicle. Ford really got everything else right in these trucks too and I think in their minds Lightning was a good name for an electric vehicle.

I know a lot aren’t happy with name usage from Ford, obviously the Mustang Mach-E is a big issue for some, but it’s got everyone talking and I don’t see Ford not selling the hell out of both of them. We plan to get a Mach-E and a Lightning, but as far as the F-150 goes I might not need a new truck for another 10-15 years and I’ve gotten sick of trading every 5 years anyway. If I do at this point, that is the truck for me.

[Torrid]

I don't keep up with trucks or EVs, but a quick glance shows the gas XLT at 35K vs this one, also with XLT trim, at 52K. Correct me if those are bad numbers. Cost parity arguments, even with tax credits, costs to operate and such are already tiresome and are falling on deaf ears.

The problem is that there’s such a wide range of options in an F-150, so likely that gas XLT $35k is base and I’m not sure on the option level of the electric one. The price goes up exponentially by power plant. You have everything from a standard V6, the couple of turbo options, the 5.0 V8, and the diesel is around a $10k option I believe, not sure if the small diesel can be had in the XLT though, Lariat may be the lowest. I know even with my XLT $35k base does sound right, but mine is fully loaded and the window sticker was $51k when I bought it new in 2017 with the 5.0. The amount of available option packages is mind blowing.

[JP Chestnut]

I want one.

Call me a purist (I am) but this thing is no Lightning. Name it anything else but if it’s not a single cab with a supercharged V8 it’s not a Lightning.

/rant

It's the fastest vehicle to ever wear the Lightning badge.

It’s also the most silent and least fun to drive.

I get both ends of the spectrum for sure. I have a 2017 5.0 F-150 now and the engine is excellent. It makes all the right noises and it seems Ford went to a lot of trouble to make sure it sounded good unlike every other stock V8 regular production modern truck I’ve driven, but the interesting experience of a truly silent vehicle is great. I’ve driven Teslas and I get the appeal but I’d rather have a truck. I guess that’s why this appeals to me and I’ve really only been a Ford fan for the last 5-8 years so while I understand the heritage of the Lightning name, I felt it was a good engine in a mediocre quality vehicle. Ford really got everything else right in these trucks too and I think in their minds Lightning was a good name for an electric vehicle.

I know a lot aren’t happy with name usage from Ford, obviously the Mustang Mach-E is a big issue for some, but it’s got everyone talking and I don’t see Ford not selling the hell out of both of them. We plan to get a Mach-E and a Lightning, but as far as the F-150 goes I might not need a new truck for another 10-15 years and I’ve gotten sick of trading every 5 years anyway. If I do at this point, that is the truck for me.

I've been a "Ford guy" since before I could drive. This is the Lightning, to me:


Things change, of course, but I'm not interesting in beta testing an EV. The name clearly fits an EV though, excepting history.

[dnslater]

I don't keep up with trucks or EVs, but a quick glance shows the gas XLT at 35K vs this one, also with XLT trim, at 52K. Correct me if those are bad numbers. Cost parity arguments, even with tax credits, costs to operate and such are already tiresome and are falling on deaf ears.

The problem is that there’s such a wide range of options in an F-150, so likely that gas XLT $35k is base and I’m not sure on the option level of the electric one. The price goes up exponentially by power plant. You have everything from a standard V6, the couple of turbo options, the 5.0 V8, and the diesel is around a $10k option I believe, not sure if the small diesel can be had in the XLT though, Lariat may be the lowest. I know even with my XLT $35k base does sound right, but mine is fully loaded and the window sticker was $51k when I bought it new in 2017 with the 5.0. The amount of available option packages is mind blowing.

The base F150 EV is AWD and has a super crew configuration and over 400 hp. Configure an XLT to have super crew, the big V6 and AWD and you are at $50k with zero additional options. Hardly anyone buys base model pickup trucks today except maybe fleets, so there would be no reason for them to have cost parity with a base work truck. The average pickup sale price today is well over $50k which is where they positioned the options on the Lighting.

[BlueSky]

Nick...told you I didn't keep up with trucks. Thanks for clearing that up for me. Makes a lot more sense, although that just seems outrageous for a truck.

[demer03]

My Silverado has many years left in her. Talk to me about EV in 15 years.

[gwells]

Makes a lot more sense, although that just seems outrageous for a truck.

fwiw, pickups hold value like almost no other vehicles. my frontier was 65% of the cost of my wife's volvo 13 years ago, and it's worth almost double today. i considered buying a 2 yr old pickup at the time and letting someone else drive that value drop off the lot, but i found out that the value drop didn't exist and 2 yr old pickups cost 80-90% of new of they were in good shape.

[Torrid]

I don't keep up with trucks or EVs, but a quick glance shows the gas XLT at 35K vs this one, also with XLT trim, at 52K. Correct me if those are bad numbers. Cost parity arguments, even with tax credits, costs to operate and such are already tiresome and are falling on deaf ears.

The problem is that there’s such a wide range of options in an F-150, so likely that gas XLT $35k is base and I’m not sure on the option level of the electric one. The price goes up exponentially by power plant. You have everything from a standard V6, the couple of turbo options, the 5.0 V8, and the diesel is around a $10k option I believe, not sure if the small diesel can be had in the XLT though, Lariat may be the lowest. I know even with my XLT $35k base does sound right, but mine is fully loaded and the window sticker was $51k when I bought it new in 2017 with the 5.0. The amount of available option packages is mind blowing.

The base F150 EV is AWD and has a super crew configuration and over 400 hp. Configure an XLT to have super crew, the big V6 and AWD and you are at $50k with zero additional options. Hardly anyone buys base model pickup trucks today except maybe fleets, so there would be no reason for them to have cost parity with a base work truck. The average pickup sale price today is well over $50k which is where they positioned the options on the Lighting.

You explained it much better than I could and that’s very true. I’ve been in base F150s and they just feel plain. It doesn’t take much to make a base model feel dated and at least with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay the tech feels like it stays up to date longer. My truck’s redesign took place in 2015 and it sure doesn’t feel like it to me.

[Selym]

It’s also the most silent and least fun to drive.

...and the ICE-powered truck can be "recharged" in a few minutes.

[andrema]

My Silverado has many years left in her. Talk to me about EV in 15 years.

I’m so tempted to get a Mach-e…but with the new remote working, I think I drove my 4Runner 2000 miles in the last year and a half.

[r.palace]

Base 425 hp, 230 mile range and $39k. Up to 563 hp 775 ft/lbs 300 mile range and 10k lbs towing and 0-60 around 4 sec

That mile range is ridiculous.

[Ryeguy]

My Silverado has many years left in her. Talk to me about EV in 15 years.

I’m so tempted to get a Mach-e…but with the new remote working, I think I drove my 4Runner 2000 miles in the last year and a half.

I’m with you on this. My Tacoma does less than 10k per year normally and probably 2K last year.

If it wasn’t for potential frame rust I’d drive it for another dozen years.

I’ll do an ROI analysis with an EV truck versus a traditional ICE and I doubt I’ll be able to justify it financially. It is the functional aspects that intrigue me. It is a pickup with a trunk!

[demer03]

My Silverado has many years left in her. Talk to me about EV in 15 years.

I’m so tempted to get a Mach-e…but with the new remote working, I think I drove my 4Runner 2000 miles in the last year and a half.

Yep. I’ve spent more time flying than driving in the last year, and I’ll probably keep that up. That said, it’ll take forever for the Chevy to wear out now.

[59yukon01]

[Ryeguy]

There is an old Top Gear episode where the guys build a diesel/ electric hybrid. The diesel was purely used to run a generator which recharged the batteries for the drive motors. The mechanism is how some trains operate as well as some ships.

I think it makes a ton of sense if you could tune the diesel (probably just need a very small one) to run as efficiently and cleanly as possible. It would never really have to leave idle. All it does is spin the generator. If you could also add in some regenerative charging from braking (as some hybrids already offer) you could probably have a pretty clean burning vehicle with a fairly extensive mileage.

[dnslater]

There is an old Top Gear episode where the guys build a diesel/ electric hybrid. The diesel was purely used to run a generator which recharged the batteries for the drive motors. The mechanism is how some trains operate as well as some ships.

I think it makes a ton of sense if you could tune the diesel (probably just need a very small one) to run as efficiently and cleanly as possible. It would never really have to leave idle. All it does is spin the generator. If you could also add in some regenerative charging from braking (as some hybrids already offer) you could probably have a pretty clean burning vehicle with a fairly extensive mileage.

I believe this is essentially how the BMW i3 with the range extender operated. Small gas generator on board that could run at optimal rpm to charge the battery when needed.