Important Update: Ford EV Roadmap & Future of F-150 Lightning (EREV Next Gen Model) - ⛔️ ADMIN WARNING: NO POLITICS

[Effonefiddy Lightning]

I've had a long day and just got caught up on this news and looked at my stock holdings. Was this also what gave TSLA another $16 jump today - they may have just hit a new all time high. I don't own any Ford, but I'm sure theirs took the same jump after a $19.5 B write off.

I have Ford stock. It sank a bit. Ford -$1.10

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[CJLightning]

While I am excited that this version will
Be made available, will there be trade-in incentives with Lightning l’s? This was my deciding point between the Lightning and whether RAM would’ve released their EREV. The Lightning had been fantastic for me but an EREV is the preferred version, and 700mi range is insane.

 

[MichaelCA]

I think what also swayed corporate was the positive press about Ram's frankenstein REV truck with buzz words like "alleviating range anxiety" so corporate thought the REV Lightning would be an easy win. They get to cut cost with cheaper, less dense LFP batteries AND attract the on the fence customers who have "range anxiety." However, they neglect the fact that they totally just back stabbed us, the early adopters of the Lightning.

 

[ChippewaBarr]

Am I crazy or can someone correct me if I'm wrong...?​

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As far as I understand EREVs, the generator charging the battery is literally only used to charge the battery - as in it cannot be used to move the vehicle or provide any other traditional engine functions... right?​

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If this is the case, why are so many hung up on maintenance?​

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From my possibly related experience with an actual generator used to power my house in an outage - the only maintenance has been changing the oil, filters and new spark plugs...and this thing is almost 30 years old...and has seen zero professional servicing lol.​

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I get not being pure BEV is a bummer (I'm disappointed too) but I don't think an EREV will be the stealership maintenance monster people are making it out to be...​

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Ford has made a ton of unforced errors with the Lightning for sure, but I'm interested in seeing where this goes. I just hope they've taken ALL the feedback from the Lightning to heart​

 

[krusherVA]

At least I can now go back to not owning a Ford like I was fine with for 32 years. When this bricks (maybe from the general ridicule of those saying “I told ya so!”, Lol) I’ll move on to another brand.

 

[Dimitri]

Having owned BMW i3 with range extender, I believe that is NOT the answer. One of the beautiful things about EV is the very clean no maintenance technology. I hate maintaining a generator, am thrilled to have my Lightning as a backup power source. I have always owned Ryobi battery powered outdoor tools in order to avoid dealing with gas mowers blowers trimmers chainsaws etc. Ii would not want my Lightning to have a range extender. I would want Ford and the Federal government to invest more in reliable, cheap coast to coast charging network.. There lies the answer.
When Ford sold the Model T, retailers saw the opportunity to sell gasoline and built the gas stations to support the new drivers. Horse breeders did not buy off our government to stop them, nor did hay bailers spew anti- ICE propaganda on social media. Today those same gas companies that made the model T a success, along with oil exporting oligarchs are sabotaging the marketability of superior technology of the Lightning to save their profit margins through their political influence. Luckily this is not the case in Europe and Asia to the same degree so Ford will continue to build EVs to satisfy those markets and we will enjoy some of those benefits.

 

[LUXMAN]

I'll offer you $25 a piece now for them. I'll probably need the extra battery modules, and I can only imagine the price from Ford if they are available at all. I'm wondering how long these things (battery modules) will store on a shelf and how many they get built to supply us all with over the coming years?

Truly as good as the trucks drive, in 10 years they will start to fall by the way side, there will be a lot residual value in the batteries to supply those that still have drivable trucks or hell buy 2 to 3 old truck just for the batteries. You'd have the capacity for your house for a month, living off the grid. You just need a few panels to get them charged with.

HA! I know you are good for the $50 so I will hold onto that offer.

I am not worried about parts availability for the next few years. I've got 4.5 years left on the warranties and my mileage usage wont beat those time limits, so I and most others have time to evaluate the market and decide if we can bail with at least part of the shirt we lost on residual value we lost already.

That said, you @GDN know how much I and @TexasGardeningGirl love ours trucks and will continue to drive them. I would not even worry about it if @Ford Motor Company had announced the same thing yesterday but with a new BEV to replace it.

The only thing I am concerned with is availability of the Batteries and to a lesser extent the chargers (past experience) and specific Lightning modules.
The aftermarket repair and parts has not really developed outside of a few specialty shops and Hobbyists. And with none around here really in Oil Country, one has to look at really so you don't end up with a brick in your garage. I guess worse case you could make a bunch of money by slowly parting it out on eBay.

 

[WXman]

Why did you buy a lightning in the first place if this is how you feel?

I didn't buy it. I leased it. Because I'm wise.

 

[WXman]

It sounds like you were never the target market for EV trucks. Why did you get it if you are towing a camper so often?

Have you ever heard the old saying, "Live and learn!" ?

 

[BlakeGJ]

No thanks. I don't want a hybrid. I bought a new Lightning in '93 and then this one in '23. This will likely be my last Ford truck.

 

[WXman]

What is interesting is that roughly two weeks prior to yesterday’s announcement, I got a survey about the F-150 Lightning that I assume most owners also received and it came from a third party who was clearly contracted by Ford to gather data on owners’ opinions of the truck. The survey asked specific questions about how the truck was being used, and about which things needed to be improved. I remember towing being a topic that came up frequently during that survey.

It does make me curious if Ford had that done because they wanted to use the data in the decisions that ultimately were made yesterday. The survey was all Web based and so the statistics and data from it would have been available real-time to compile into a report to quickly give to shareholders and upper management.

I heard Farley say that from now on EV tech will be pushed to smaller vehicles used primarily for commuting while full size trucks will be given powertrains that can tow more efficiently and for longer distances. I just have to believe that all the survey data coming in from owners of Lightning trucks pushed that decision.

 

[Chillguy]

ABSOLUTELY SHAMEFUL!.. I decided to splurge almost $100K on my Lightning which I absolutely love just to hear this ABSURDITY!... It's as if homo sapiens reverted to Neanderthals!!... I've been driving EVs for the past 13 years and I always had ice F-150 for family trips and I CHOSE my Lightning between Hummer EV and Cybertruck (only VERY small fraction of Lightning owners tow long distance for work! I personally don't have a problem with making an additional charging stop when traveling/towing twice a year!) Ford is a despicable company by just dropping us like our money does not matter.. I was really looking forward to a new model in a couple of years... The ONLY problem is Ford never invested $1 in a meaningful advertisement! I never saw a TV ad boasting about how great this truck is! Ppl walk up to me almost daily asking about the truck BECAUSE no one out there realizes Lightnings EXIST!!.... But THIS will be a goodbye to Ford FOREVER from me.. I'm BURNT!... Fudging HATE IT!

 

[sotek2345]

What kills me the most is that plenty of data shows that the vast majority of people who get plug in hybrids never actually charge them and they get horrible efficiency toting around a heavy battery that is effectively never used. I suspect that will be the case for many of these EREV "Lightnings" and folks will see sub-par performance and sub-20mpg real world economy. Might as well just get a powerboost.

 

[fhteagle]

If this is the case, why are so many hung up on maintenance?

13 year Volt owner, so I can speak from firsthand experience about EREV maintenance. Engines do not like to sit unused. So the Volt required you to run the engine up to a minimum temperature every 40 something days. So you were burning maybe a tenth of a gallon that you didn't actually need to burn. And if you only let it run that maintenance cycle and no more (no real load), there'd be issues with carbon build up near the EGR, oil didn't truly get all the water out of it, plugs didn't get really cleaned up, etc. Stale gas even with a pressurized and no vent gasoline tank, which means every start in cold conditions means you car reeks of paint thinner type smells until the cat is good and hot.

In the last year I had it (and also a MYLR), I had to think _more_ about maintenance with that car that with any pure ICE. Sure, oil changes were still 2 years apart, but I did more mental gymnastics about when to run the engine to accomplish real heating/loading of all the components.

EREVs are the best of both worlds and the worst of both worlds. We don't need the "best" in terms of longer range any more. For the costs Ford is putting into pivoting back to an EREV they should have had a decade ago, we could fill in the gaps in the charging network how many times over? And the tiny percentage of people who do need high towing capacity _and_ range simultaneously are better off with a diesel F250 or higher anyway.

This, combined with the timing of Farley headed to kneel before Conalld Rump, absolutely stinks of fossil fuel market manipulation / corruption. Guess I know how many Fords I will own in my lifetime (1).

 

[JustLookingThanks]

Feel free to ignore my post - I just needed to vent.

I've owned at least one F-series pickup every year for the past 27 years, and my 23 Lightning Platinum is hands down the best truck I've ever had. Despite buying it at near the price peak during the dire days of the post-covid supply chain issues, I've never had a moment of buyer's remorse.

But this will be the last Ford vehicle I ever buy. Ford's announcement that they are abandoning BEV in their next-gen Lightning feels like an utter betrayal and my trust has been undermined. In a single post I went from Ford "superfan" to "never-again".

I'm not a particularly hot-headed person, so when I first read this news I decided to sleep on it. But when I woke up this morning, I was still angry. This company can go to hell.

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