(By Tom Lohnes) – Well, it’s out. The new Ford F-150 Lightning is here, and it is definitely a controversial one.
Starting with some cool things: The “mega power frunk” in the new Lightning takes where your V6 or V8 would usually be in an F-150 and replaces it with a rather large storage area that has a bunch of electrical outlets that contribute to the 21 power points throughout the truck. Adding on to the power aspect, this thing can power your house. If you have a lightning with the extended-range battery option, it will be able to power your entire house up to 3 whole days depending on usage. Impressive stuff.
Now, although those are cool, and the entire truck is as well, the Lightning falls short on paper compared to some other competitors coming out later this year, namely the GMC Hummer EV. Now, the Lightning is a LOT lighter than the hummer, so chances are it handles batter, but that’s where the advantages stop. In terms of range, the Lightning has 300 miles with the optional extended-range battery (225 base), and the hummer has 350 standard. In terms of power and 0-60 times, the Lightning impresses with 563 horses and a 4.4-second 0-60 time, but those stats don’t even touch the Hummer’s 1,000 horsepower and 3-second 0-60.
Now, you’re probably saying that the lightning is cheaper, and it most definitely is. But, the base model costing $39,470 is fleet-only, and the next cheapest one is the XLT with almost none of the advertised items that costs $52,000. Move up to the Lariat, and you find yourself paying over $70,000 for a base truck. And the top-range Platinum? $92,000 base. The Platinum, which has all the equipment standard, is actually about $2,500 more expensive than the Hummer, so it’s fair play.
So, what do you think of the new Lightning? Personally, I’m not a huge fan, but I’m excited to see how it is in the real world, especially compared to its GM rival.
Not a fan of electric trucks because of towing. I read a report that said the F150 can tow UP TO 10,000lbs but the range would be cut by at least 50%.
So in perfect lab conditions you go 150 miles before a recharge.
That’s a non-starter for me. be lucky to make it one way to a car show I like to frequent.
What about folks with their 17000lb fifth wheel homes on wheels?
Will there be special chargers so you don’t have to unhook your trailer and pull up to the “pump”.
How long will it take to charge?
Think the kids are cranky on a trip now, wait until you have to pull over to charge every 100 miles or so.
All the EV manufacturers are blowing smoke and none will answer the tough questions. By the ads they push you would think nobody goes anywhere or tows anything.
This first iteration is targeting two heavy demographic groups: the “contractor” and the casual truck user. Neither of these groups exceed more than 100-150 miles per day of usage which is how the battery size (er, range) was derived. Sure, Ford could have further equipped the F-150 with more and more cells to get the range wider (and towing/hauling range competitive with the standard distance). But that brings along two other symptoms of an unneeded fix – weight and cost. The former has a point of diminishing returns. The latter has economic impacts that will keep the vehicle from selling.
Battery technology is improving daily. Soon the energy density and pack weight will no longer be of concern. When those improvements are ready to deploy we’ll see the light duty truck segment have electric options that rival or beat their gas counterparts. Until then, ET (electric truck) buyers will be satisfied by these entry-level offerings that have been carefully crafted to satisfy the market rather than an EPA compliance criteria.
For the record, I am a self-declared fan of electric motivation and formed Tesla employee. For what we use a truck for (towing race car trailers and associated trips to events) the Lightning won’t do the trick for us…yet. Maybe a future version?
This also looks like it would be perfect for a short range delivery fleet – local auto parts stores, for example.
There are some pictures floating around of a Ford patent for a possible solution for the long distance towing problem, too. They’ve drawn up an add on, gas powered genset that makes the truck into a hybrid. The drawing shows it sitting in the bed and looking like a toolbox – although I think they missed an opportunity to put the genset under the hood.
I’ve been driving my 17 Chevy Volt for the past year. Avg 67mpg on my 268mile commute up to the mountains and back. And I’m still left with a 1/2 tank of gas (340mi range combined) I need a truck that does that! I need a hybrid kit for my 2001 ram 2500 5.9!
Good luck finding a fast charge station outside an urban area. I guess you could use a regular 110 outlet, if you have 10 hours to kill to go from 15% to 100%.
This is a $44k city/suburb homeowner truck, suitable for getting pine straw or azaleas at Home Depot
Visually between this, the GM, and the Tesla Cybertuck at least it’s normal looking and functional. It’ll still be 10-15 years before I consider one.
Call me when one can go…
400 miles towing 10k, with the air conditioner, lights, and entertainment system…and will go from, minimum operational charge, to full in under 10 minutes.
I won’t be holding my breath
Electric going to save the planet . Just substitute mining for fracking . States that have brown outs just add charging all these vehicles to the grid . We have along ways to go before this is a real viable option
Look back, say 10 years ago. There was plenty of resistance to hybrids to say nothing of all electric. We heard the same rationale from the “internal combustion forever” crowd and the same rhetorical comments regarding range, where you gonna charge it, etc. I WAS one of those. I never thought electric vehicles would ever be popular. Yet, here we are.
Almost 1.5 million all electric vehicles on American roads. Over 5 million hybrids. And…….the biggest selling vehicle in the USA for 45 tears is offering an all electric version. I believe the EV is here to stay. I don’t see me ever buying one, but I’m old and crotchety. I think if the new Lightning gets good marks from the contractor crowd in real life usage, Ford will have a winner on its hands.
As stated above. Show some info about hauling and normal work longevity none of them want to seem to discuss. Still a hard sell for me and a long way out.
And so great to see another huge GD iPad in the dash. It’s bad enough for everyday jackass’s on their phones trying to stay in one lane and pay attention. Eh, let’s see how much bigger of a screen we can do next.
Our government could force the whole country to use electric vehicles but it’s important to remember this one thing. Electricity doesn’t come from the ground, you produce electricity by converting fossil fuels! So we are still going to be using fossil fuels whether we like it or not. And the conversion process uses MORE fossil fuel to produce the electricity than if you were to simply burn the fossil fuel outright. Hydrogen might be a valid alternative but my guess is those in power will never allow it simply because there is not enough profit in it. Don’t believe what I’m saying about the profit motive and the illusion of green energy? Look at wind energy, the only reason wind energy is even being pursued is because the wind energy act was renewed by Congress in the last few years and it guarantees a profitable return on investment for those who invest. If wind energy had to live on its own, with no government backing or subsidies (by using YOUR tax dollars to guarantee SOMEONE ELSE a profit), it would die in less than one week. Think wind energy is green? Look at the foundations for all those wind mills out there, 600 cubic meters of concrete for each one that will never be removed from the ground, even if the wind mill is someday torn down. Think fossil fuel is used to produce and transport all that concrete? Oh yeah. How about the fact that they are burying huge numbers of blades in the ground in Wyoming? There is no money in recycling them so those who are in power just decided to allow these green energy producers to dispose of the blades in the ground. Problem solved until they start to deteriorate and leech all their chemicals into the ground. Do you suppose that if they were required to recycle the blades and remove the concrete when the wind mill is torn down that they would still be doing this? Not a chance. Being green isn’t the driving force on green energy, greed is. Am I against protecting the environment and trying to be more efficient? No, what I am against are those who would p1ss down my back for a profit and tell me its raining and doing me good in the process.
Its comical how some people are pushing for EV but have no idea what demand and strain its going to put on our current grid system.
Just look at Texas this past winter.