F-150 Lightning returns

As an electric truck. Standard 426hp / 775lbft, optional 563hp / 775lbft

https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2021/05/electric-ford-lightning-finally-strikes/

Fact

775ft/lb is incredible, what's not to like about this? Aside from not making noise, if these things can pull a trailer and have decent range, leave the noise and smell to the car on the trailer.

My only gripe is F150 Lightnings weren't 4 doors. Sorta like when Ram slapped a few stickers on a standard 1500 and called it a Warlock.

It won't have range. And charging at home will require special electrical that will suck a lot of amps & be expensive. If your power goes out, you are dead in the water.

Up with oil.................................

Two too many doors.

That's one Lightning that won't get a second glance like the original does. If I owned a real Lightning I'd be pissed.

"Over-the-air updates will keep the Lightning’s software current". Right on, Programmed to Fail worse than things already are now. That'll come in handy when you are in the middle of nowhere and the timer inside it decides to shut down until an "update" is done.

Props to Ford for beating Tesla to market with an electric truck.

It is probably the most usefull electric vehicle yet. There is so many contractors that just drive to a jobsite each day and don't leave. They would also have all the power options to run tools etc. My Neighbor is a carpenter and he would buy one these tomorrow I am sure if he didn't just buy a gas F150.

They're claiming 20,000 reservations already

Like a rolling generator right?

Electric schmetric.

I gotta say I would rather NOT listen to a generator all day.

Don't get me wrong, I am not going to buy one lol but I could see where it would be useful.

I might get one when it is time to replace my existing truck. I don't do a lot of long road trips anymore so the range should work for me. I think I need around 300 miles of freeway range to feel comfortable and they don't have that quite yet but they might have that much range in the next version.

The article I read indicated 330 miles of range for the high capacity version. Not bad at all.

My only gripe is F150 Lightnings weren't 4 doors. Sorta like when Ram slapped a few stickers on a standard 1500 and called it a Warlock. [/quote]


Or a Daytona

I saw that but even without driving one I can guarantee that it won't go 330 miles on the freeway at freeway speeds. The mfgs over rate the range by assuming a "mix" of driving. I don't know if any of this stuff is standardized yet like it is with mileage ratings for gas powered cars but I'm sure it will be shortly. From what I can tell by driving electric cars, the quoted range is determined by driving the car at roughly 35 or 40 miles per hour on flat roads. As soon as you get over 65 mph, or start driving up hills, the actual range plummets. My guess is that the range is only good for about 200 miles at 70 mph.

And 50 miles actually using that 775 lb ft towing a trailer??

My Cummins and Cat in a medium duty would do pretty well empty, the Cummins ~ 20 MPG, the Cat in an FL Freightliner ~ 14 MPG, load 'em up heavy and it dropped to ~ 6.5, 6.8. Watts are watts, there's watt ratings on both those Diesels, I just don't know what they are, use more watts and the range drops badly. The Cummins loaded needed a fill up ~ 200 miles loaded w/ a 35 gallon tank. Kinda bizarre watching the gauge drop a 1/4 every 50 miles. I presume the electric motor range would suffer similarly. Guessing roughly 1/3 the unloaded range? Gonna make a long day towing anything.

edit: FWIW, the Cat had 660 torque, the Cummins dyno'd at 800 torque. Yes, the Dodge handily out pulled the Freightliner. But the FL was bulletproof, never broke the trans. I broke the trans and the GearVendors in the Dodge, twisted off the input shaft, broke the case in half on the GV in Kentucky. NOT fun hearing trans pieces skittering down the highway at midnight.

I think it is smart...people want 4 door pickups these days. The range is good for an EV, even if it isnt really optimal for towing. The 'lightning' moniker is more apropos in this application...just sayin'. Not a ford guy and if i was buying a 1/2 ton it would be the TRX.

My wife has a 2001 Lightning. The new version is nothing more than a badge on a modern vehicle. Kinda like a Charger, never made a 4 door til they brought the name back. Seems auto makers go back and see what names/models sold in the day and slap that badge on a new design hoping it help sales.

I dont think the new one is supposed to have anything to do with the old one, like a 2000's malibu. Just a name that fits the electric thing. Fords performance truck is the raptor these days

I also fully expect Dodge to do the same thing with the charger but they'll keep it a performance oriented electric with good styling

If you forget about the history of the name as associated with the models of the past, "LIghtning" is actually a great name for an electric vehicle.

It's being regulated for sure, same with how much the battery capacity and range can decline over full useful life, but I think CARB was just proposing that now so it won't be into effect for a few more years. Agree that the 330 mile range likely doesn't apply to driving at 75 mph on hills though.

I think they are abusing the Lightning name just like the Mustang Mach E. It gets people talking about it though which is what they want.

At least its still a truck, and a fast one - a lot faster than the 2004 Lightning. using the Mustang on an SUV while they still made the other Mustang was confusing at best.

................

anyone hear how the electric grid is being updated to handle the charging needs of all these electric vehicles ?
it seems like the common brown outs and rotating black outs may get worse without new power plants being built ?

Rich,

You need to check a little further about the cars abandoned in Paris, the meme had most if not all the facts wrong. I quit a four links, but there are many more.

If you found this on Facebook you should consider the source before sharing.

Bill

https://www.politifact.com/factchec...-cars-werent-abandoned-because-batterie/

https://www.driving.co.uk/news/fiel...d-car-sharing-scheme-not-battery-faults/

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/electric-cars-abandoned-france/

https://www.reuters.com/article/fac...mination-not-battery-fault-idUSL2N2N60XA

Yeah I would expect the EPA or someone along those lines to create a road course that all vehicles have to be scored on so everyone is working from the same play book. I don't know if that exists today or not. I do know that my Leaf is rated at 80 miles of range and it will do that if you drive it around town. But if you get on the freeway at 70 mph the range is somewhere in the 30 or 40 mile range. If you go up a steep hill the range drops like a rock. Of course, if you turn around and go down a hill then the range increases since it regens and sends power back to the battery. So range is a very tricky thing in an EV.

plus remote areas , i been through towns where the center of the town is a 4 way stop sign

Electric cars are only going to work for a segment of the population at the moment. Over time that segment will grow but it is going to be a long time before they take over. Might never happen depending on what else comes along. I like having one electric vehicle since they are great for running short errands around town but life would be difficult if your only car is electric. All of your trips would have to be figured out in advance and there would be times where you just couldn't do things because you didn't have enough range left. Ten years from now it will most likely be easier to own electric but it isn't very convenient right now.

Too good to be true right?

FACT.
As the news was reporting about anticipated blackouts and such, the commercial break came on with an ad for THIS truck......
Perfect! Add more demand just as they are shutting down the power!

Yeah during the recent pipeline issues on the east coast some politicians were saying that those with electric cars weren't having problems. But all you have to do is think back to when CA had wildfire weather and the electricity was shut off to prevent fires. If you lived in an area with a wildfire but couldn't charge your truck due to the power being shut off you would be a sitting duck.

These things WILL need their batteries and motors replaced, and replacements aren't cheap.

The following links are Tesla related, but give an idea of what it costs to replace major drivetrain components:
https://www.currentautomotive.com/how-much-does-a-tesla-model-3-battery-replacement-cost/
https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1093713_tesla-model-s-drive-unit-replacements-how-big-a-problem

I’m not yet a fan of electric vehicles however the introduction of the lightning was pretty darn cool! I actually do have a couple of the original first generation Lightnings. Pretty low production numbers which I know we all like. The red one is one of 695 and the white one is one of 761.
KID

Ford put out a bulletin this week about being careful to avoid exposing their EVs and hybrids to excessive heat, which is causing concerns about the paint process in the collision repair industry. It will be interesting to see what's done to ensure proper refinishing if shops can't use the bake cycle on their booths at the temps they normally would.

I saw somewhere that the new electric truck can tell you how much wieght you are hauling. So that means it can also tell the dealer to void your warranty when you overload it.

if you ask me this is total BS.
when i bake a car it's at 145 for 40 min. in all reality the temps of the non exterior sheetmetal doesn't get that high.in my opinion they barely hit 100. the sheetmetal gets to 140 for about 15 min at most.
cars in the south regularly hit those temps and higher when they sit out in the sun all day.

I'm glad you replied. I thought it was interesting that, in the day and age of OEM repair procedures being emphasized (and rightfully so), that Ford would put out this statement. The statement itself is somewhat vague, and is likely a CYA move, as opposed to a "You must/must not fix the vehicle this way."

usually, truck adds brag about how tough the torture tests are, like heat and cold, plus off road and towing, or any combination thereof.

Not an ad. A bulletin about refinishing them after a repair.

You can easily multiply TQ with gear ratios, not like it can do anything a gas engine can't. 400# Tq at the flywheel with 2.00 rear gear ratio would give you 800# TQ, 3.55s like most trucks have makes that 400# into 1420# not to mention transmission gear multiplication and converter multiplication. On the other hand you can not multiply HP, it is what it is and a truck with 500+HP is fun. I am curious at what percentage of discharge does it no longer make the rated HP number? Will it only make that HP at 100% charge? Will it still do that at 10% charge?

for the most part it's just CYA.

another angle i have heard in PPG paint school training some really high volume production shops bake at much higher temps with shorter baking times. this allows them to paint more cars in a shorter amount of time.
i have heard they bake at 175* for 10 min to heat up the metal then drop it down to 150 for 20 min. i have heard from others they start out at 160 for 5 min. then crank up the heat to 190 for 10 min. then drop down to 140 for another 5 min and they are done baking.
i have tried the 175-150 method and didn't care for it. it seems to solvent pop easier. and the clear isn't cured like i like it before buffing. it seems like the top is cured but the under coat still seems soft unless you let it sit for a couple of hours before buffing. in my situation this delay is counter productive. the 10 min shorter bake is wasted sitting around for 2 hours before buffing. i like to bake for 40 min, cool off for 5 min then start buffing. i can have the car buffed and 1/4-1/2 of assembly done before they start buffing.
at those higher temps i can see damaging the electronics and other things. i could see myself baking a EV at 120 for 50 min. this is how i bake CNG cars that aren't supposed to be baked.

i guess time will tell.

I believe they are like your cell phone. It works like normal then it turns off when the battery dies. Kinda of like a gas vehicle, its fine...until its not.

Interesting, the 300 mile range is from the EPA which includes 1000lbs of cargo on board. The truck with just you in it is 367 miles

Watched that earlier. LOVE that guy's videos.

That was an excellent video. Yeah, I'm sold.

Right? That truck looks pretty darn good.

300 miles with 1k of cargo is a pleasant surprise.

The frunk is pretty impressive too - very handy!