1st half Cybertruck and Silverado EV sales

[Schupbach]

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[Altivec]

I agree with both of your posts @Altivec . The only thing I differ on is that I would be open to the Chevy/GMC EV truck option if the worst came upon my Lightning. I haven't driven one, but for me there is nothing in the specs that puts me off. I'm an Android guy so the no Carplay thing doesn't really spin me like it seems to for lots of other people. I'm still not a "GM guy", but if Ford doesn't have something to replace the Lightning, I'd be open to trying out the GM.

We got a 2020 Bolt for our "kid car" recently as they come of driving age, and I've been using it for my work commute and any trips where I can save putting on miles on the Lightning. I'm pretty impressed with some of the choices GM put into that little car, almost 7 years ago. I would think their modern EV lineup, including the EV trucks, would have some of the good choices in them, but I'm only making assumptions. I could try driving a modern GM EV and not like it too, don't know until I try, and I don't want to be put in a sport where I actually have to try.

Well you are talking to the right guy then... Just bought my wife a Cadillac Optiq. About 1 month old now and her previous car was a 2014 Cadillac ELR, an EREV based on the volt system. So I have a good understanding of GM's old and new EV platforms.

There is definitely some things GM does better and some things that are worse. The worst thing is their software. The removal of CarPlay and Android Auto is the dumbest thing they did. We are Apple people so I can't speak from an android perspective (but I am assuming the experience would be similar). It's like going back in time at least 5 to 10 years. Imagine taking android auto out of the Lightning. You have to use the maps they give you, and be ready to pay for a subscription when your trial is over. I am not sure if they even update the maps in time. To connect to your phones music, you connect through blue tooth and get folders that you need to drill through. Like really? no iMessage integration, no apps like car scanner. etc... Unfortunately we were dumb and listened to sales girl who down played the exclusion of CarPlay by saying it gives GM the freedom. Its even better then CarPlay. Well, its not.. Only after you buy the car, and connect your phone and play with it do you feel duped. IT SUCKS... So bad, that my wife would not have chosen that car if she would have known. Don't get me wrong though, if you removed CarPlay/AA from both vehicles (lightning and Optiq) the GM software is far superior. Ford's saving grace is CarPlay/AA. Each user has their own profile (just like the lightning) but in the GM it actually works... Everything returns to how each user left the vehicle (ie. if I am in sport, I return in sport...no dumb prompts asking me if I want to stay in sport...OF COURSE I DO. THAT"S WHY I CHOSE IT!!!!).

I also looked at the Silverado EV while I was there. Where the lightning is superior is in the actual build of the truck... It's a real truck. The Silverado is built like a car with truck elements. That's fine for a huge segment of people that don't actually need a truck but that's not me. I need and want a truck. Ford did an awesome job with rerouting things to get a nice frunk. Most other OEM's are lazy. They have no frunk. they use the engine bay to sparsely spread out the EV guts. Our Optiq has no frunk. If the Lightning didn't have such a prominent frunk, I don't think the Silverado EV would even get one. You can tell they were forced to come up with something but definitely not even close to the Lightnings. Interior of the Silverado is just cheap looking. But now that I know what not having CarPlay is like, no way in hell will I get another vehicle without it.

For many, maybe the Silverado EV would be a good choice for a Lightning replacement but in my opinion, they are two different categories. One is a truck and one is truck like. With the lightning out of the picture, you would assume that GM would pick up those extra sales but I completely understand why their sales are flat. I have zero interest. As I said, if my truck got totalled or something. I would rather find a used lightning then get a Silverado EV.

 

[B177y]

I never hear people worry about the range anxiety of a motorcycle, isn't it something near a Lightning?

Depends on the motorcycle... If I remember correctly, my old V-Strom carried about 4+ gallons and got 40-50 MPG depending on how sporty I rode it, so 160-200 mile range approximately. I sold it a while ago so I don't remember the exact numbers but that should be close enough.

Difference between a gas motorcycle and EV is that even low range gas bikes can find a gas station pretty much anywhere without needing to plan a route on an app. Adventure riders and dirt bikers can go off grid on dirt roads and trails for days without too much difficulty as carrying extra fuel is relatively easy. They can also ride back into civilization, fuel up, and head back on the trail quickly.

Check out the "Long way 'Round" series on Apple TV. The first two motorcycle trips were around the world (lateral across Europe, Asia, N, America and the second trip from Europe to S. Africa) on gas bikes. Pretty easy to do fuel wise except for the most remote locations. The third trip, "Long Way Up" was on electric bikes from Ushuaia, S. America travelling north up to the US. They did it but it took a lot of extra planning and difficulty. Granted it was in 2019 and on short range electric motorcycles, but you can see the difference.

 

[Wendy]

Depends on the motorcycle... If I remember correctly, my old V-Strom carried about 4+ gallons and got 40-50 MPG depending on how sporty I rode it, so 160-200 mile range approximately. I sold it a while ago so I don't remember the exact numbers but that should be close enough.

Difference between a gas motorcycle and EV is that even low range gas bikes can find a gas station pretty much anywhere without needing to plan a route on an app. Adventure riders and dirt bikers can go off grid on dirt roads and trails for days without too much difficulty as carrying extra fuel is relatively easy. They can also ride back into civilization, fuel up, and head back on the trail quickly.

Check out the "Long way 'Round" series on Apple TV. The first two motorcycle trips were around the world (lateral across Europe, Asia, N, America and the second trip from Europe to S. Africa) on gas bikes. Pretty easy to do fuel wise except for the most remote locations. The third trip, "Long Way Up" was on electric bikes from Ushuaia, S. America travelling north up to the US. They did it but it took a lot of extra planning and difficulty. Granted it was in 2019 and on short range electric motorcycles, but you can see the difference.

Thanks for your reply.
EV charging reminds me of when my brother had a Diesel Mercedes back in the 70s. He had a drum of diesel in his garage and a list of the few gas stations that carried diesel back then!

 

[jefrank]

Based on my email inbox, you'd think Ford was still producing the Lightning. Crazy how they're out here trying to sell me on getting another Lightning while not even building them. When thh EREV ads start coming, I'll probably have to set up a filter to send them straight to the trash.

 

[Newton]

Have you tried the EVplay dongle to get CarPlay onto a HM car?

 

[chl]

Range anxiety:
The average miles driven per day in the US was somewhere around 25 back in 2011 when I bought my 2012 Nissan Leaf with a range of 100 miles (if you drove carefully - 80 is more realistic) on a 100% charge - an advertised 24 kWh battery but usable was really only about 21 kWh because of the buffers.

Sure not convenient for long trips with the DC charge station infrastructure around here back then - on the west coast not a problem. But we have a Prius gas sipping hybrid, gets about the mpg of a motorcycle but a bit more comfortable to use on a long trip, in the winter, in snow and rain and hail and sleet, especially...been there done that!

Gets me an average of 4.4 miles per kWh though and I love it, quiet, lots of pep, heated seat and steering wheel standard, a nice local driving / commuting hatch back - I even stuck some 8ft 2 x 4's in it a time or two.

But still needed the 4.0L Ranger for big stuff, boat towing, etc. I could have been fine with a smaller EV PU though, Ranger sized with enough towing power, like the Ford UEV coming "soon."

I might have bought a Silverado EV if it had been first to market, but it was delayed and the Lightning won.
I put a deposit on a Silverado, and on a Cybertruck the day after it was announced, but it too was delayed, and I would have backed out of that one too anyway. I did have to wait a while for the price of the Lightnings to come down to earth - around here there were dealers jacking the price up with $10k and more "market adjustments."

Haven't had any serious problems with the 2023 Pro yet, just the usual software annoyances, the 12v battery is on a maintainer so that's not an issue, the rodents are leaving it alone thanks to regular spraying of Critter Ridder.

I think Ford could have improved the Lightning if they had not abandoned it.

But the UEV platform truck will likely be a winner in the PU truck market if they follow through with it well.
The Maverick has been a good seller, the Toyota Tacoma and Hyundai Santa Cruz are about their only competition in the small to medium sized PU.

The Slate will be the UEV's biggest rival I suspect, a few thousand cheaper, fairly bare-bones though.

I'm liking most of what I've heard about the UEV so far...we'll see.

 

[Effonefiddy Lightning]

I never hear people worry about the range anxiety of a motorcycle, isn't it something near a Lightning?

Riding a bike is a whole different animal. Unless you have an iron butt, your're going to want that break.

 

[Effonefiddy Lightning]

just and FYI for those (including me) disappointed in the discontinuation of our great Lightning, I note that Silverado EV and Cybertruck sales have completely cratered in the 1st half of 2026. The cybertruck crash didn't surprise me, only so many people want an ugly spaceship with a ton of problems, but the Silverado EV poor showing surprised me.

!st half Cybertruck sales: 7700 units Cybertruck Called the Biggest Flop in Automotive History, as Tesla Shares Plummet
1st half Silverado EV sales: 4824 units (CA &USA) Chevrolet Silverado EV Sales Numbers

Tesla is having issues with a part supplier who's holding some tooling hostage. That may have something to do with it.

 

[Rayden]

Riding a bike is a whole different animal. Unless you have an iron butt, your're going to want that break.

That's for sure. I can get about 150 miles before I need to fill up and I'm damn sure ready to stop by then.

 

[Wendy]

Riding a bike is a whole different animal. Unless you have an iron butt, your're going to want that break.

Back in ‘86 I drove with my brother up the ‘red center’ from Adelaide to Darwin. One day we kept leapfrogging a motorcycle on the humped red dirt “highway”. He had no mirrors and had his little dog sitting over the handlebars. So we had to be careful getting around him.
Then he would catch up in the next ‘town’ ( a gas station, bottle shop and motel) which were about 2 hours apart. He would gas up and take off. We would then pass him again.
Quite the trip. When the Road Trains (64 wheeled 3 trailer trucks) would appear with dust on the horizon you get off the road as far as you can and they barrel right down the middle throwing rocks (or cows) as they passed.
other than that we saw kangaroos, abandoned cars (no way to fix or retrieve), flat cows, buzzards, and ant hills. Any (actually termite mounds) hills in the south are 1’ high, in the center 6’ high and in Darwin 20-30’ high!

how does this relate to this forum? Ha, we were driving a white Aussy made Ford. At the end of the trip it was pink with an extra spare strapped to the roof, and a bashed in rear fender.

 

[Altivec]

Have you tried the EVplay dongle to get CarPlay onto a HM car?

Thanks for asking that? As mentioned, just got the car a month ago and I don't really drive it (Wife does) so she's still learning the ins and outs of everything and I am not reminded daily about how sucky it is to not have CarPlay as I enjoy my lightning. LOL... Until you mentioned that, I wasn't aware that we might be able to add a dongle to get things going. Hopefully I can find a forum that is as good as this one to see if anyone tried EVPlay out on an Optiq. At least there is hope now. Thanks again.

 

[swajames]

According to this recent report, the point of which was to show that used EV prices are going up, it was noted that the Lightning was one of the fastest selling used EVs (median of 12. days on the lot for the 2023 models in the sample) and the outlier in terms of its high net transaction price relative to other fastest selling EVs on the list.

"With one exception, the fastest-turning cars are among the most affordable cars, and they're the same cars appreciating fastest. That combination means one thing: demand for affordable used EVs is outrunning supply.

The exception is the F-150 Lightning, and it reinforces a different takeaway.

"We all know Ford discontinued the Lightning truck. They probably wish they hadn't, given the circumstances the world economy is in right now. They're in high demand."

https://www.recurrentauto.com/research/used-electric-vehicle-buying-report

 

[mylightningbeetle]

My Toyota Sienna has a range about the same as my Lightning ER. When I realized that and that's what we've normally taken on road trips, I didn't feel bad about it at all. I just wish I could charge more than 85% on the road.

 

[mylightningbeetle]

For me, the lightning is the best designed truck. I placed reservations on the cybertruck and lightning. The Rivian I drooled over, but knew it was too rich for my pocket. Once the cybertruck came out, I sat in it and was disappointed and cancelled my reservation. Actually I had cancelled as soon as I realized I would have to pay $80k or more for one. I couldn't sit upright in the back seat and the legroom was about the same as a car, worse than my Forester in the back seat as my knee was jammed in between the door and the driver's seat. My boys are getting long in the leg as well as the torso and my oldest and I did not fit into the back seat of the cybertruck. Also, the sightingline or viewing angle out of the windshield was okay but I felt exposed with my head so close to the glass.
The Silverado windshield stopped so low I had to crane my neck and duck just to see straight out, not to mention the streetlights. I didn't even drive it. Had I driven it, fit into it, I probably would have purchased a smaller EV for my third car and bought the Silverado used in a couple of years when my daughter takes one of our vehicles.
The only EV truck my family fit into was the lightning, so that's what I bought right now. I couldn't afford an ICE truck. But I could afford this and it's not much more expensive than a Forester in terms of total cost over the course of 5-10 years, even considering my 70 miles per day I drive.

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