F150 Lightning First Test Results

[jcl]

The first tests are out, from Ford’s press event.

This builds on the announcement thread by Bcc75, here:

https://www.airforums.com/forums/f46...ck-223009.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbRHl4wrIjU

Full article here from Inside EVs is here. They were pretty impressed, calling this the best F150 ever built. 400 lb capacity in the front trunk is good news. So is the onboard 9.6 kw power to either a home or a trailer. The vehicle to vehicle recharging will become a standard feature for others IMO. Lots to like.

https://insideevs.com/reviews/585014...-drive-review/

[jcl]

Elektrek were similarly impressed.

Full article here, complete with obligatory Airstream towing photo.

Ford will sell every one of these that they can produce, until the next generation Ford EV platform debuts in 2025. The article gets into what traditional F150 buyers will have to consider when they come to purchasing another ICE vehicle in the interim.

https://electrek.co/2022/05/11/ford-...lightning-big/

[jcl]

Motor Trend joined the chorus. They termed it "A Monumental Electric Pickup Truck"

Read the Motor Trend First Drive Review

No joke: The Lightning is one of the most important pickup trucks—vehicles, really—in history. Forget early adopters, environmentalists, and technophiles. This truck has to convince construction workers, farmers, ranchers, surveyors, and everyday truck fans that electric pickups aren't just viable but desirable. That an EV truck not only can do the work but also do it better. It does that.

To get to brass tacks, the Lightning is the best-driving, best-riding, and best-handling F-150 you can buy. The only reasons not to buy one over a gas- or diesel-powered F-150 are that you have nowhere to charge at home, you actually tow hundreds of miles at a time on a regular basis, or you simply don't like—or won't let yourself like—electric vehicles. All other reasons are invalid.

Note the qualifier on towing longer distances. That isn't just about range, it is about the rate at which charge stations are built out over the coming years. And the frequency with which one tows longer distances. For camping within 150 miles from home, or longer trips only a few times per year, this works. For frequent several hundred mile days while towing, not so much. Yet.

[Mollysdad]

Originally Posted by jcl

Motor Trend joined the chorus. They termed it "A Monumental Electric Pickup Truck"

I remember when Motor Trend told me how great the Fiat 124 Spyder was too! Mine stayed clean since it was at the dealer 8 months of the one and only year I owned it.
I suspect MT's reviews are based more on advertising dollars and less on real world testing.
But, no question, EV's are the future, even though no one is building a new power plant.

[AppFan]

I'm excited to see how this technology continues to develop over the next 5-10 years. Combining this with the E-Stream platform could enable long-haul (300-400 miles per day) with purely electric vehicles.

[JJTX]

Technology is nowhere even remotely close to an alternative to Lithium. Not that anyone can afford or get mass produced.

The world cant even produce the lithium for all but barely 10 percent of electrics, now.

In 5-10 years, it will still be lithium. As it has been for decades. See the trend?

( psst gas is not going anywhere in anyone's lifetime on here but in your gas tank )

These electric vehicles sell because it makes people feel good about themselves and is a nitch market at best. Theres simply not much demand. Ford just lost its keester on electric vehicle gamble with some goofy SUV car that failed big time.

The trucks will sell because, its a truck.

[JJTX]

..........and we wont even mention the cost of these cars/trucks that makes it more expensive to drive than its gas predecessor.

[Wayne&Sam]

Originally Posted by JJTX

..........and we wont even mention the cost of these cars/trucks that makes it more expensive to drive than its gas predecessor.

If it was all about cost, you wouldn't have an Airstream.

[hairyclive]

Originally Posted by Mollysdad

I remember when Motor Trend told me how great the Fiat 124 Spyder was too! Mine stayed clean since it was at the dealer 8 months of the one and only year I owned it.
I suspect MT's reviews are based more on advertising dollars and less on real world testing.
But, no question, EV's are the future, even though no one is building a new power plant.

That is one of the reasons I mostly stopped using print media. The AD$$ was causing the unbiased reports to be not unbiased. Even Consumer Reports were caught doing some tests where the tests were designed to provide skewed results.

The same thing is happening to the net now that word placements are sold, bump-ups on search sites can be bought, and a herd of inexperienced surfers will post based on pretty colours or some obscure feature that rarely gets used.

There are some great online review sites like user forums and people who buy and test items themselves. Popularity seems more important that truth on a lot of these sites.

User forums are not always reliable especially with collector items or other products that have a high number of aficionados or sentimental collectors.

These are a few of the best I found:

https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/

https://www.youtube.com/c/ProjectFarm/videos

here is a list

https://blog.hubspot.com/service/customer-review-sites

YMMV

[Daquenzer]

I wouldn't be able to drive 2 hours towing the Airstream without recharging. And then what about when you get to the destination? You hope there is a charger? I did a search in NW Wisconsin where we go camping. Not one EV charging station within 50 miles.

I can see someone using this for local driving, that has EV charging, but won't use it for camping.

No thanks. EV's aren't there yet for many many areas.

[WellSaid11]

I agree with Daquenzer. Until the charging grid is built out to where it makes sense, this is novelty territory for now as to travel trailers.

[Trowbridge]

Would seem logical for the EV truck sellers to make sure their vehicles could charge at a 50 amp station in RV parks. Maybe a converter is coming? :-) [later edit, Tesla already has a 50 amp converter available - - so much for my get rich scheme - but that won't work for 30 amp plugs]

I'm also concerned about the reality that lithium for batteries will be the limiting factor in EV deployment. With regards to the global lithium supply, China appears to be playing chess while everyone else is playing checkers and increasing their dependence on lithium.

Too bad that hydrogen technology isn't being exploited by companies other than Toyota (which is still dedicating a large portion of their efforts). For us in California suffering from drought conditions as huge portions of state are covered by heat-emitting asphalt and concrete, having 20 Million hydrogen powered vehicles whose only exhaust product is H20 might be quite intriguing.

Well until these things are thoroughly solved, I'm quite content with good ol' fashioned 3/4 Ton diesel power for our long-distance and remote mountain terrain trailering needs.

[HoffmanP]

May as well buy a covered wagon and a team of oxen because the daily range will be similar and you can always find grass for your oxen.

[andyherman]

Originally Posted by Mollysdad

I remember when Motor Trend told me how great the Fiat 124 Spyder was too! Mine stayed clean since it was at the dealer 8 months of the one and only year I owned it.
I suspect MT's reviews are based more on advertising dollars and less on real world testing.
But, no question, EV's are the future, even though no one is building a new power plant.

Motor Trend is to car magazines (and vehicle reviews) what the Kardashians are to American culture - pretty much worthless.

[foobar]

Originally Posted by HoffmanP

May as well buy a covered wagon and a team of oxen because the daily range will be similar and you can always find grass for your oxen.

Good point HoffmanP, but the oxen only work until you reach the desert Southwest part of the good old USA

[WellSaid11]

but the 20 and 40 mule teams transported borax out of Death Valley for many years.

I’ve been there many times, not much grass [emoji6]

[Sophiehaus]

Originally Posted by jcl

The first tests are out, from Ford’s press event.

This builds on the announcement thread by Bcc75, here:

https://www.airforums.com/forums/f46...ck-223009.html

Full article here from Inside EVs is here. They were pretty impressed, calling this the best F150 ever built. 400 lb capacity in the front trunk is good news. So is the onboard 9.6 kw power to either a home or a trailer. The vehicle to vehicle recharging will become a standard feature for others IMO. Lots to like.

https://insideevs.com/reviews/585014...-drive-review/

Wait till you have to replace the batteries in a few years. I know Tesla batteries costs over $20,000. A well maintained gas or diesel truck can last 10+ years and go 300,000 miles before an engine replacement. I think electric trucks are cool, but it is too soon to destroy the fossil fuel industry and to abandon gas vehicles.

[dznf0g]

Originally Posted by Sophiehaus

Wait till you have to replace the batteries in a few years. I know Tesla batteries costs over $20,000. A well maintained gas or diesel truck can last 10+ years and go 300,000 miles before an engine replacement. I think electric trucks are cool, but it is too soon to destroy the fossil fuel industry and to abandon gas vehicles.

Well, My Son's Volt is a 2013. 180k miles, and the original batts are still at 75% of range capacity. He is around 75% electric usage. And, those are first generation batteries.

My Volt is a 2018 with 45k on it, 54% electric and is still at 100% of capacity.

[OrangeCrush]

Originally Posted by JJTX

The world cant even produce the lithium for all but barely 10 percent of electrics, now.

In 5-10 years, it will still be lithium. As it has been for decades. See the trend?

Yes, and no.

You are correct the current lithium batteries are the limitation. Not only are LiFePO4 batteries made with some rare elements, they are also very nasty. Cobalt and Nickel used in the electrodes is such a filthy business that even Musk does not want to engage. The liquid Lithium electrolyte is so flammable and toxic that fire response teams have special procedures to deal with it. In the recent Louisville Colorado fire fighters were forced to protect the Tesla dealership while homes burned because the toxic fallout would have been devastating.

You are not correct that current LiFePO4 is all the future has in store. There is nothing challenging about EV technology other than the power source. That is why GM invested in Nikola then dropped them like a bad habit when they discovered they were lying about having Fuel Cell technology. That is also why Ford is dumping Rivian as fast as they can but doubling down on investing in Solid Power (a solid state battery technology company). Solid state batteries are very promising as they do not use Cobalt nickel for electrodes but instead use Pyrite which is abundant. They also replace the highly flammable liquid Lithium electrolyte with a temperature stable electrolyte that an be made from waste hydrogen sulfide, some of which is a byproduct from the oil and gas industry!

I guess my point is we are not stuck with current battery technology forever. EV penetration will continue to grow slowly as infrastructure and battery technology and availability improves. I personally feel our infatuation with pure electric is causing more harm to the environment than a more practical interim solution such as high mileage plug in hybrid. We could all be driving these today and reducing vehicle emissions significantly but auto manufacturers don't want to invest in the complexity and would much rather build simple all electric.

[WellSaid11]

Originally Posted by dznf0g

Well, My Son's Volt is a 2013. 180k miles, and the original batts are still at 75% of range capacity. He is around 75% electric usage. And, those are first generation batteries.

My Volt is a 2018 with 45k on it, 54% electric and is still at 100% of capacity.

Yes but those Volts are not all electric but are hybrids, are not pulling 4,000 to 12,000 lbs and do not have the weight of a truck frame and associated payload.

Not at all the same with regard to battery load and lifespan.