Ford Lightning EV pickup

[actaeon277]

Ford is definitely saying you can power your house from your F-150, and not just the Lightning version, both in the video I originally posted and on their own website. It's been in the marketing for they hybrid as well. They are really selling the versatility of being able to power a work site, house, etc with both versions.

https://media.ford.com/content/fordmedia/fna/us/en/news/2021/05/19/all-electric-ford-f-150-lightning.html

Apparently a lot of folks in Texas with the hybrids did use them to power their houses during the huge blackouts. The Lightning is supposed to provide roughly 3 days of whole home power for "the average house", whatever that is.

But do they state differently in the warranty?

Tesla voids your warranty if you try to power your home with your electric car battery pack

Tesla is voiding your warranty if you try to power your home with your electric car battery pack – something...

electrek.co

Although it looks like they've changed their position

Tesla's switch on vehicle-to-grid technology is big news for clean energy shift

Potential for electric vehicles in clean energy transition is more than just zero emissions transport, and Tesla is now building vehicle-to-grid tech into its EVs.

thedriven.io

 

[rooster]

It looks like it’s gonna be a better vehicle than the Tesla truck.

but the most important feature of an EV is how easy it is to charge on a road trip. There is a serious lack of non Tesla fast chargers in the Midwest.

I just did 6 hour trip west a couple weeks ago in my model 3. Charging was barely an inconvenience. Worth it to save the money vs taking my truck. With this that trip would take a day or more each way.

 

[two70]

Possibly the most aptly named Ford ever. Given Ford's track record on newly released models, the Lightning will probably BBQ itself at a high rate until they get the bugs worked out.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

It looks like it’s gonna be a better vehicle than the Tesla truck.

but the most important feature of an EV is how easy it is to charge on a road trip. There is a serious lack of non Tesla fast chargers in the Midwest.

I just did 6 hour trip west a couple weeks ago in my model 3. Charging was barely an inconvenience. Worth it to save the money vs taking my truck. With this that trip would take a day or more each way.

I'd be much more hesitant to have one as an only vehicle. Logically, I know I could just rent a car for long distance trips cheaper than keeping one around for the times I do want to drive 500+ miles a day. It just doesn't appeal to me as much, though, despite the finances of it.

Off topic, but if you are renting cars with any regularity, Budget FastBreak is phenomenal. Bypass the counter at the airport, just go get your car. Some airports have a lot where you just pick any vehicle in your assigned area and give them your ID and hangtag on the way out, others have your name on the hangtag and you just look for it. It's a huge time/hassle saver and is free to sign up for.

 

[Thor]

Look at all the vehicles on the road and all the energy they burn. Imagine that energy being drawn from the electrical grid. Imagine your home being dark and your car/truck not charging because it can't handle the draw.

The green energy and electrical vehicle future is dark and stupid. And in the summer it is hot because no A/C and in the winter cold because no energy to run your heat.

 

[rooster]

Since most haven’t experienced a EV road trip let me share my recent experience. We took the Tesla so we could use the autopilot and autosteer. Makes road trips so much more enjoyable especially on mostly empty Illinois/I80. Next time we do one I’ll do some video and make something to share.

stop 1: about 15 minutes meijer at Lafayette. Superchargers in the back. Park plug in, walk into the store use restroom, buy monster, and walk back to car. Went from ~40% to ~ 80%. Unplug hit the road.

stop 2: ~ 20 minutes Gilman Illinois
Roughly 20% to 85%. Did our business at the gas station and then waited an additional 5 minutes to get state of charge I wanted.

stop 3: Peru Illinois
20%- 81% in about 20 minutes


stop 4: Davenport Iowa
Don’t remember state of charge but it was in a meijer type store parking lot. Walked in used facilities bought snacks and hit the road.

stop: undisclosed destination roughly 120 miles from Davenport. Ended trip at friends place and had more than enough charge to get back to Iowa city charging station. That is until our friends wanted to check out the Tesla and do some 0-60 pulls for fun. That friend (who has drag raced sportsman class) described the acceleration as “unsettling”. Anyway so plugged into their house and charged a couple KWH just to make sure we could get to the next supercharger.

trip home went a little faster since I learned how to best balance speed vs efficiency.

All in all it was a little bit of an inconvenience to bring the EV because of lost time. That said the additional stops and walking from the back of the parking lots into the stores made me feel a heck of a lot better than I normally do after a 6 hour drive where I only stop once.

I did learn that since you once you charge and start driving to your next charging stop you might just as well kick in high gear and forget efficiency. Run as fast as you can to barely make it to the next stop since the time it takes to go from 2%-20% is only like 4 minutes.

 

[bwframe]

Thank you for the detailed rundown of charging your EV.

Can you elaborate on how much these recharges cost and how it's calculated?

 

[rooster]

Thank you for the detailed rundown of charging your EV.

Can you elaborate on how much these recharges cost and how it's calculated?

So in indiana the charging cost is 4 cents per minute. That works out to roughly 7 dollars for 20%-85% when my wife charges during her lunch sometimes.

Illinois and Iowa charge by the KWH and I think it was 14 cents in Iowa and 24 in Illinois. So the battery pack is 77kw but you don’t typically fill from 0-100% so those charges cost 8-16 dollars.

the whole trip cost approximately 75 dollars according to my Tesla account (note I wasn’t going for efficiency, I ran with the speed of traffic on I80, speed limits seem to be a suggestion over there to put it mildly). The route planner IOS app I use says the trip should only cost 50 dollars if you drive posted speed limits.

To put that in comparison in my 18 Silverado that trip would have cost over 140.

 

[rooster]

The reason I bring this up in the Ford lightning topic is because these type of chargers are not yet widely available for Ford or other manufacturers so I don’t think a trip like this is even feasible without an overnight stop at a hotel with a 220 plug in for EV both ways.

the cost is still an unknown as well. Tesla doesn’t seem to be adding much markup to the supercharging rates while other charging networks exist entirely to make a profit because their entire business model is charging.

I have a reservation in for the Ford lightning and will get one, if I keep it or trade it in on a cyber truck is dependent on the charging infrastructure improving vastly in the next 2-3 years.

 

[bwframe]

Would you treat EV's like a lot of seasoned gas vehicle buyers have learned to do in not buying the first year of any model/generation?

 

[rooster]

Would you treat EV's like a lot of seasoned gas vehicle buyers have learned to do in not buying the first year of any model/generation?

There are a lot less moving parts. Ford is most likely using the same system they developed for the Mach E so I don’t have any worries other than the cooling system. One of the guys on YouTube I follow who is an engineer went into detail about the Mach E’s cooling system not being adequate.lack of battery conditioning is what caused mission leafs to lose range so quickly.

Ford and many automaker dealers make most of their money off service which i what I think is driving them to under engineer their systems instead of going overboard like Tesla. Tesla (read Elon musk)treats service like it’s an inconvenience not a vital business unit.

Long story short I’m gonna buy the Lightning and see what happens. I think most bugs are getting worked out with the mustang. The Tesla truck will probably be more reliable but I like the traditional look and feel of the lightning.

the big turn off for the cyber truck for me is that Elon is insisting that it not have door handles at all. One failure to open when I walk up out of a thousand is far too much of an inconvenience for my taste.

 

[rooster]

If your really worried about range the Tesla semi is supposed to do 500 miles loaded. How many miles is it gonna get bobtail ? Production is due to start Q4

 

[DadSmith]

I think I'll stay with gasoline and diesel. With democrats in charge we may have major blackouts all across the United States electric prices will soar so we can save the earth and China gains all the profits.

 

[printcraft]

Why does it have a grill?

 

[BehindBlueI's]

Why does it have a grill?

To appeal to traditionalists. This is the most "normal" EV truck by far. I still don't think I'm a customer yet, largely as I'm not in the market period. I think it looks like a lot of truck for the money, though, EV or not.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

Look at all the vehicles on the road and all the energy they burn. Imagine that energy being drawn from the electrical grid. Imagine your home being dark and your car/truck not charging because it can't handle the draw.

The green energy and electrical vehicle future is dark and stupid. And in the summer it is hot because no A/C and in the winter cold because no energy to run your heat.

Technology isn't static. Remember the grid expanded to incorporate that residential AC, all the big televisions, high powered PCs, etc. that a modern home has. It'll expand to incorporate this as well. Simply charging during off peak hours, battery capacity in the grid, etc. will address short term needs. Eventually you'll likely need more generation capacity, but that's true regardless unless you expect a large population die off or the Amish to have a huge recruitment drive.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

I think I'll stay with gasoline and diesel. With democrats in charge we may have major blackouts all across the United States electric prices will soar so we can save the earth and China gains all the profits.

So the argument is electric will be unreliable and expensive but gas and diesel will somehow not be affected?

Allow me to make a counterargument: ULSD
Second counterargument: Kerosene

I'm a big fan of the ICE and, right now, wouldn't want an EV as my only vehicle regardless, but if the energy sector gets screwed, it's going to be screwed across more than just electric.

 

[Bugzilla]

So in indiana the charging cost is 4 cents per minute. That works out to roughly 7 dollars for 20%-85% when my wife charges during her lunch sometimes.

Illinois and Iowa charge by the KWH and I think it was 14 cents in Iowa and 24 in Illinois. So the battery pack is 77kw but you don’t typically fill from 0-100% so those charges cost 8-16 dollars.

the whole trip cost approximately 75 dollars according to my Tesla account (note I wasn’t going for efficiency, I ran with the speed of traffic on I80, speed limits seem to be a suggestion over there to put it mildly). The route planner IOS app I use says the trip should only cost 50 dollars if you drive posted speed limits.

To put that in comparison in my 18 Silverado that trip would have cost over 140.

Just wait until a tipping point with ev quantity on the road and the good old fed will begin to add all the road taxes to the charging fee and you will be paying way more than what gas will cost.

 

[jwamplerusa]

The green energy and electrical vehicle future is dark and stupid. And in the summer it is hot because no A/C and in the winter cold because no energy to run your heat.

I have been trying to convey this to my children and others for a while. There just seems to be no ability to think critically regarding where the energy comes from. The fact that it's not coming from an internal combustion engine and wafting from an exhaust pipe, but rather from a coal or natural gas or oil fueled electrical power plant spewing a similar amount of exhaust gases seems to be lost on many. I am not saying it's one to one ratio, or that wind and solar cannot help but moving pollutant and CO2 production from a tailpipe to something far away from where you're driving doesn't make it go away.

At the end of the day however it is all about base load. Outside of some limited areas you need electricity when it's dark and cold outside the most, think hypothermia if you can't keep yourself warm. You also need enough for adequate lighting in the dark when the sun's not shining for your solar. You cannot count on the wind to be there when you need it. Therefore while current environmental electrical sources such as solar and wind are useful, without enormous amounts of efficient and effective storage that can be no more than a additional additive perk to your base load capability.

The lefts electrically enabled fantasy future seems to discount the needed base load, the needed load distribution infrastructure, and basic market imperatives. What they are driving toward is creating infrastructure at public expense, and using the The government's billy club to force a change which the market is better capable of addressing.

This nation was already moving toward an electrical future. And it was getting better under a president who was first focused on energy independence and technology innovation and growth. We need to be energy independent first for our security and independence.

I believe we will get to cost effective fusion power. And there is a good possibility that it will be developed and commercialized by US entity. Once fusion power is available the base load problem will be solved with an actual true clean power source (especially so depending upon the cycle used). Allowed to continue under basic market principles things would progress nicely. Base load capability would be created, it would be built out, infrastructure would be upgraded to support distribution including to the homes. With cheap enough electricity electric vehicles would become increasingly economically viable. Eventually reducing internal combustion engine volumes and increasing electrical vehicle volumes would cross the curves making electrical vehicles far more cost effective to produce and operate. Those things however would take decades and should.

 

[Sylvain]

To appeal to traditionalists. This is the most "normal" EV truck by far. I still don't think I'm a customer yet, largely as I'm not in the market period. I think it looks like a lot of truck for the money, though, EV or not.

Have you seen the new GMC Electric Hummer?

Not sure if it's considered a truck but it sure looks better than the Tesla truck.