President Biden takes the F150 Lightning for a spin.

[Voyageurs]

The reveal is apparently tomorrow night. The video was fun to watch.

Watch Ford F150 Lightning electric pickup's rocket acceleration with President Biden behind the wheel - Electrek

 

[Voyageurs]

Preferably the discussion will be about the truck and not the president. I just found it interesting that one of the most popular tow vehicles on the road now has an electric version. I am interested in seeing the specs and watch it evolve.

Cheers.

 

[Jim]

Electric vehicles have an enormous amount of torque. I have a 996 Porsche, twin turbo with plenty of upgrades. 730 ft lb's of torque, a real barn burner. My friend up the street has a late model Tesla. Same kind of torque. Well, almost.

 

[Voyageurs]

Electric vehicles have an enormous amount of torque. I have a 996 Porsche, twin turbo with plenty of upgrades. 730 ft lb's of torque, a real barn burner. My friend up the street has a late model Tesla. Same kind of torque. Well, almost.

Yah. My wife’s car is nuts. She has a model 3 all wheel drive with AB. It’s one of the slower Tesla’s with a zero to sixty time of around 3.7 seconds. Those model S plaids with sub 2 second zero to sixty times are beasts. Ugh. .

 

[MemoriesByTheMile]

Looking forward to learning more about this truck over the next day.

 

[FL-JOE]

Ford probably hit a home run with this model. The whole front hood area is actually a trunk since there is no engine up there. When you think about it probably more than half the F150's out there are being driven by younger family guys who really don't need a truck but just like having one, so towing range and other issues concerning an RVer probably won't hold sales back on these.

The problem for the future if electric vehicles start flooding the market is funding for our roadways. Currently gas and diesel taxes go toward building and maintaining roadways. What happens when we get half of Americans driving around in electric vehicles and not buying fuel anymore?

 

[Voyageurs]

The two things that stood out for me is

1. Adapting the new ISO plug and charge standard so no credits cards or RFID or membership cards needed to charge. Just plug and charge, just like Tesla.
2. Available (optional) 19.2 KW home (or shop) charging. (Standard is 8 KW). Handy for fleet vehicles or contractors at home.

The only big flop I see is the max 150 KW DCFC charging. Ugh. That is so 2017. My 4 door sedan charges at 250 KW. I think they will have to fix that...and probably will.

 

[redbaron]

Ford probably hit a home run with this model. The whole front hood area is actually a trunk since there is no engine up there. When you think about it probably more than half the F150's out there are being driven by younger family guys who really don't need a truck but just like having one, so towing range and other issues concerning an RVer probably won't hold sales back on these.

The problem for the future if electric vehicles start flooding the market is funding for our roadways. Currently gas and diesel taxes go toward building and maintaining roadways. What happens when we get half of Americans driving around in electric vehicles and not buying fuel anymore?

Fuel gets cheaper temporarily then becomes astronomically higher. Diesel will be the only fuel available long term

 

[sheridany]

I have a Tesla and their network of superchargers is fairly well developed but I don't see a lot of other EV network providers with charging points (especially with fast charge) equal to Tesla. When you go on a road trip, this becomes really apparent really fast and makes me thankful I chose a Tesla at least for now.

 

[redbaron]

I have a Tesla and their network of superchargers is fairly well developed but I don't see a lot of other EV network providers with charging points (especially with fast charge) equal to Tesla. When you go on a road trip, this becomes really apparent really fast and makes me thankful I chose a Tesla at least for now.

Using a fast charge station, and trying to do 600 miles a day, how much time is spent recharging?

Follow up question:

One way drive to Florida for me is 1300 miles. I usually do this in 2 days, stopping in Alabama along the highway. This is roughly 600 miles and 10 hours of driving. I don't see many hotels with charging stations so that could be a problem logistically...but only because I have no idea how the whole process works. I like the idea of stopping for fuel before I pull into hotel, so that I can wake early and get on the road.

My impression of Tesla driving is this will add another "day" to my trip.

 

[sheridany]

each stop is about 20-30 minutes give or take and Tesla plans your stops accordingly.

Here is a trip I took recently and it required 3 stops so it added an hour to the trip. The pro is it forces you to get out of the car and stretch your legs. The con is you want to get there and having to stop more than we are used to as fuel consumers can wear on you. For instance, the third stop was at a parking garage for a mall. Finding it and getting up to the top level where the chargers were located was a PITA and then there was a line waiting for chargers. Ugh no. I was there probably 50 minutes. I have to say the self driving is a real benefit in terms of reducing driver fatigue. I definitely felt the difference.

 

[Voyageurs]

Using a fast charge station, and trying to do 600 miles a day, how much time is spent recharging?

Hmm. We occasionally have to do a 950 ish kilometre route in our Tesla. It’s actually a return trip so about 474 in each direction. We stop at a Supercharger for a bio break at about the halfway point for about 10 or 15 minutes plus another twenty at our destination for a meal and some business and then head home. The halfway point Superchargers are V2’s and the turnaround Supercharger is a V3. I suppose one could cut that down somewhat but my bladder says otherwise. . Generally it’s a charge while your stopped thing and not stop to charge thing. We have good infrastructure along the routes we travel.

 

[redbaron]

Wow...thats very impressive. Much better than what non-tesla can do.

 

[Voyageurs]

Wow...thats very impressive. Much better than what non-tesla can do.

Yah. The supercharger network is a big asset for Tesla drivers. You wouldn’t have to add a day for your trip. Maybe 1/2 an hour each day depending how often you pee... .

Theres an app for hotels with charging. Most business hotels have L2 overnight charging for free.

 

[DHudson]

If you watch closely, there are 2 steering wheels in this truck. Other guy is steering it, it looks like.

 

[MemoriesByTheMile]

I didn’t see a second steering wheel but what looked like a horizontal grab bar in front of the passenger.

 

[Voyageurs]

I didn’t see a second steering wheel but what looked like a horizontal grab bar in front of the passenger.

A grab bar would make sense. Wish my car had one.

 

[MapNerd]

I don’t know if anyone else saw the post reveal specs but it was a bit of a let down for me.

• 230-300 miles of range
• 6,100lb curb weight
• No substantive style changes to improve aerodynamics and thus increase efficiency/range
• 10k# tow capacity but no mention of range when towing, meaning it probably ain’t good!

But the real kicker to me is how Ford envisions the truck being used:

I’m sorry how often does Ford expect me to check the range of this thing? Basically every time I even consider using it because the range is going to be that bad when using it for even the lightest truck work styles? The graphic is telling is all I am saying.

to top it all off, she starts at $40k for a stripped commercial version. The XLT will cost you $53k! Yowza! That’s not far at all from Lariat territory on an ICE.

to me, it is a feat of engineering of the same level as a machine that can perfectly glaze a corn dog in 24k gold in 12 seconds. Technically impressive, but utterly useless (for the work styles expected of a truck)

And I am a Ford man!

 

[Voyageurs]

All EV’s have Apps like that. I think they are just trying to show the facility of the truck. I’m also disappointed in the range but I suspect they will ease people into better aerodynamics and better range. In the meantime the Cybertruck is projected to have a 500 mile range.

Like I said before, the big disappointment is that 150 KW max charge rate. Ugh. What are they thinking?

Still, I’m sure it will work well for many customers.

 

[MapNerd]

All EV’s have Apps like that. I think they are just trying to show the facility of the truck. I’m also disappointed in the range but I suspect they will ease people into better aerodynamics and better range. In the meantime the Cybertruck is projected to have a 500 mile range.

Like I said before, the big disappointment is that 150 KW max charge rate. Ugh. What are they thinking?

Still, I’m sure it will work well for many customers.

Yeah, it’s gonna take forever to charge that thing. You may be right about the styling but I think they could have been a bit more aggressive.

Unfortunately I’m no fan of Tesla, though I do like Musk’s SpaceX ventures.