New to EV. Trying to decide between SR and ER to keep 200k+ miles with 100 mile daily commute.

[Throne]

The answer is simple if you got range anxiety ER is a no brainer if you can afford it!!!

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[Newton]

Just for some real life info:

I left a town near Bellingham with 94% range and drove I-5 to Vancouver, WA in temperatures ranging from 72 to 83 degrees. One stop at a Tesla station for 21 minutes to get to 82% ( 38.4kW ). with a visit to the nearby REI for a quick talk about bicycles. Now in Vancouver showing 31% with 74 miles of range (but I think it is really about 90). Total efficiency was 2.7 mi/kWh, total trip was 257 miles.

It wasn’t a great freeway test (maybe it was…) because there were a lot of backups, at one point I was getting 4mi/kWh.

The total trip was 6 hours of drive time (longer with other stops). I would have stopped anyway, in fact I stopped several times.

 

[derelict]

Get an ER, level lift, bigger/wider AT tires/wheels and viola you have an SR+!

 

[NW Ontario Ford Lightning]

Advice for the OP - A Few points:
If you don't need ER, you can spend less on the SR and still do what you want, keeps the truck a bit lighter, less weight seemed barely noticeable when I test drove both trucks, but I figured no sense to carry extra weight on the tires if not needed.

Model year - I picked the 2024 (I purchased in Jan 2025) to get the rear locking diff, heat-pump cooling/heating, pro-power available while truck is off, a few other features that have been discontinued in 2025 MY. Shop around, and be picky, I was able to get a new XLT with a lot of nice options included (keypad entry, Ford Lightning mud flaps and running boards, 360 cameras etc) that were not part of the standard XLT package.

Members complain that resale prices are too low for the Lightning = should mean you can get a good deal on used.

Welcome to the Lightning Forum - a lot of great members and helpful comments will be found here.

 

[Tabasco2]

Thank you for everyone that weighed in. I ended up getting a new 2025 flash with the pro power option. So far its an outstanding truck. Plenty of power, no transmission hunting for gears for best mpg. Just have to get the 240 plug set up over the weekend. I needed something to do anyways for the holiday weekend.

 

[K6CCC]

Don't forget to update your profile to show your new truck. Include trim level and battery (ER vs SR).

 

[Newfoundland]

I don’t know about the cost for lariats but if you’re looking for a one year-old Ford used 2024 XLT, there’s some amazing prices for the standard range battery. I think there were some substantial upgrades for 2024 and so I would not look at older than that. My experience on 100% charge is that it shows 220+ miles but I easily get over 250 by limiting my speed to 60 mph. By your way of driving from what you said, you should easily have enough with the standard range battery. These batteries are known to maintain their capacity for a very long time and come with the eight year 100,000 mile warranty so you should have no problem if you wanted the standard range. I was fortunate to find a very gently used 2024, which was put into service in 2025 by Ford corporate and only used for 3000 miles. This was a 2024 XLT with very basic features but everything I needed and I got it for 42,000 from the dealer after they advertised it for 44,000. There is quite a difference between lariat and the models below it so I don’t know about the price level for the lariat. If you absolutely don’t need that high level range, it may not be worth it to pay for it. On the very few occasions, you do want to do a longer road trip, I have found in my first week of use that the Tesla chargers work fantastic and you just need to bring the adapter with you.

 

[Newfoundland]

Hi new to everything. New to forums, looking to be new to EV’s. Currently have a 2025 Ram1500 bighorn hurricane. Came from a 2016 ram1500 eco diesel that got 202k miles in 8 years.
I am considering 2024 or 2023 XLT SR or Lariat ER. I drive 100 miles a day for work mostly highway. 50 miles at 70 mph, 40 miles at 60 mph and then 10 miles of 35-40 mph. I plan on keeping the truck for 10 years hopefully and usually put 22k-25k miles on it a year. I prefer the non large screen of the XLT over the massive vertical one but also want rear sliding window so that leaves me with the large screen lariat from my research.
My internal debate with the SR vs ER is battery degradation over the 10 years but also some what range anxiety being new to EV. SR look to be $10K -$12k cheaper but really with going from my current Ram ( 22mpg) i will make that price back in a couple years. I also live in south florida and FPL has 30 month unlimited charging off peak so electric is almost free. Has anyone had experience with the fpl program. Has anyone gotten the ER and said man I wish I just got the SR?
Im looking at a couple different options but for the most part 2023-2024 Lariat ER gold certifed 10-15k miles there around $56-$58k is that about right? Is one year better or more sought after than the other? They also show as commercial vehicle use on carfax from Michigan any concerns with that?
Thank you for any help
Sean

I’m one month in to my one year-old XLT with standard battery. Easily mix up to 200 miles round-trip each day. Consider buying one year-old used which still has lots of bumper-to-bumper warranty and getting a great price around $40,000. I even saw some on Carmax as little as $38,000 for 2024 model. Why pay lots more for unnecessary range in a new truck and destination charge of $2000 on top of that! I’ve already done one road trip and easily used Tesla superchargers along the way with optional adapter. Rarely actually need the range above 200 miles.

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