Blue Oval Says Next Gen Ford F-150 Lightning Customers Will Be Long Distance Drivers

[JayF]

I'm a big guy. I have owned 4 F-150s because they are large and comfortable. If Ford thinks they need something for long-distance towing, they screwed up building a Mini Cooper-sized truck. I would love to know how many people actually tow long distance vs how many people will purchase another brand BEV for their next truck.

I don't tow. I'll buy a regular car before I buy an ICE or erev truck after seeing how awesome electric is.

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[gregoryhcain]

I only have my own experience to report, along with a few other Lightning owners I’ve met since buying mine in 2022. Compared to my previous and one other current ICE truck this Lightning is marvelous. I tow my 17 foot Boston Whaler for two destination trips a year and with the Tesla charging system there is no problem whatsoever. I take my Lightning on about five road trips up to 750 miles distance to my Worldmark condos and again absolutely no range issues with the current charging infrastructure. Occasionally I tow a 10,000 pound capacity dump trailer with rock or firewood and again, no issues with range. As a daily driver, I’ve put on 65,000 miles in just under four years. I charge at one of two homes; one at 7.65 cents per kilowatt hour and the other at $.11 per kilowatt hour. This works out to about three cents to a nickel per mile from home charging which is 95% of the driving I do. With gas over five dollars a gallon my ICE pickup has mostly sat idle next to my house except to get started to keep the battery from going dead, or letting family members borrow it instead of lending them my Lightning.
The experience of other Lightning owners in the last 3 to 4 years I have met is about the same as mine. Almost none of them do long distance, towing, and the majority as a daily driver for work. Not one of us, including myself, would even consider buying an EREV after the experience we’ve had with our BEV Lightnings.
My personal plan is to continue driving my Lightning as long as it remains reliable. If Ford decides not to resurrect the BEV Lightning and it comes time for a new pick up truck I will strongly consider the Scout in BEV form, the Rivian, Silverado or a Cybertruck if they ever decide to produce it in a non butt ugly version. I have zero interest in an EREV, period.

 

[jobofly79]

Because some of us are considering it.

I understand the challenges of towing with my lightning flash. If i was towing my 7700lb travel trailer more than 5-6 times a year for long distance I don't think I would have bought it. But genuinely curious, how many F150 owners actually tow heavy for long distances and how often do they do it? The reason I ask is that every full size truck owner I know tows less than I do.

 

[Warp Asylum]

Still don't tow, still not interested.

 

[Aminorjourney]

Does Ford have shares in Cath Bags or something?

Or do they think that only men drive long distances?

I'm joking, obviously, but I fail to see how *any human* can be safe on the road without taking regular breaks every few hours. And that break time is perfect for a recharging stop.

When I drive from Oregon to SoCal (which I do a fair bit) I usually cover 600-700 miles in a day. That's more than enough for safety. Ok, if you're towing, you may end up doing less (the last time I towed cross country from Oregon to Colorado I did about 500 miles a day I think) but seriously.

WHAT... IS... THE... OBSESSION... WITH... DISTANCE?

 

[JayF]

Does Ford have shares in Cath Bags or something?

Or do they think that only men drive long distances?

I'm joking, obviously, but I fail to see how *any human* can be safe on the road without taking regular breaks every few hours. And that break time is perfect for a recharging stop.

When I drive from Oregon to SoCal (which I do a fair bit) I usually cover 600-700 miles in a day. That's more than enough for safety. Ok, if you're towing, you may end up doing less (the last time I towed cross country from Oregon to Colorado I did about 500 miles a day I think) but seriously.

WHAT... IS... THE... OBSESSION... WITH... DISTANCE?

I'll note my first ever "road trip with charging", I stopped for a walk/bio/snack break at about 50% and charged up, a good hour before I had to. Gotta exercise the bad knee once every 90-120 minutes or else it forgets it's a movable joint for the rest of the day .

 

[Baja Lightning]

Does Ford have shares in Cath Bags or something?

Or do they think that only men drive long distances?

I'm joking, obviously, but I fail to see how *any human* can be safe on the road without taking regular breaks every few hours. And that break time is perfect for a recharging stop.

When I drive from Oregon to SoCal (which I do a fair bit) I usually cover 600-700 miles in a day. That's more than enough for safety. Ok, if you're towing, you may end up doing less (the last time I towed cross country from Oregon to Colorado I did about 500 miles a day I think) but seriously.

WHAT... IS... THE... OBSESSION... WITH... DISTANCE?

Same as:
WHAT … IS … THe… OBSESSION… WITH… SIZE?

 

[Aland12345]

Ford had it close the first time. Do the Ford truck redesign Simplified electrical archtecture a with 48 volt electrics. Scoop out area under rear seat, delete spare and add LFP or newer sodium battery's boom 350 to 400 mile range. If somebody thinks they can go 12 hours with out having to pee delete rear most battery and add 1.6 liter EREV option for $12k and lower towing rating aka Scout.

 

[22legit2quit]

I effectively have an erev with my modified insight and I’ll say that it does have a lot of utility. Not sure how they can make this profitable and affordable at same time. Having the option to extend range with something that is a removable utility for some folks, like a generator is much more reasonable that having to deal with two power trains simultaneously. If you got a big enough generator you could have an all in one camping machine and you’d just need a few larger flexible solar panels and you could be mobile and off grid.

I have zero confidence that ford or any big business will be making the practice of customer care and satisfaction more important than their own profit margins.

 

[bryce]

For those that need long-distance towing, an EREV/PHEV/HEV will give them more range between fill-ups, which they want/need. There will be a market for that until we get true rapid charging and high-density batteries. For most drivers whom don't regularly tow/haul and can charge at home, the current BEV technology works very well. Just need to get more people to sit behind the wheel and their minds change.

 

[Altivec]

For those that need long-distance towing, an EREV/PHEV/HEV will give them more range between fill-ups, which they want/need. There will be a market for that until we get true rapid charging and high-density batteries. For most drivers whom don't regularly tow/haul and can charge at home, the current BEV technology works very well. Just need to get more people to sit behind the wheel and their minds change.

If you drive/tow long distances enough that driving a BEV is an issue, then a solution already exists, it's called an ICE F150. What do you gain by getting an EREV? The additional initial cost of having two power trains, along with maintenance and complex problems will far exceed any saving you get using an inefficient EV mode that needs to haul around dead weight (engine/fuel/exhaust/cooling etc) for the few times you are not towing uphill both ways. EREV's are costly problematic training wheels for BEV's. Been out for over a decade now and the facts are out there if you do your research (I was foolish enough to buy into the marketing and learned my lesson). They will sell well to the uninformed but after people experience they are the worst of both worlds, they will go to BEV or back to ICE the next time around. Expensive lesson but for some people (including myself) we need to experience it for ourselves to learn.

 

[Lightningwaiter]

Yes, charger availability is becoming a non issue. HOWEVER, time is still an issue. If you are having to charge for 45 minutes every 2 hours, that is a huge time drain. Granted, newer (and higher voltage) batteries will mitigate a lot of that, but at least the current Lightnings don't have that. I don't know what the EREV Lightning will have.
And no, I don't tow a trailer, but I grew up doing so. I remember at about 100 miles since a fillup, start looking for gas.

Mixing the two types of power I think is a bad idea. Ford is needing a long range truck and has to add gas only because they don’t have the technology for better batteries and are not trying to develop them like the Chinese.

 

[Astrotrain00]

Why can't they just have a BEV version for those of us that want it? Throw a motor in, lose the frunk and have an EREV powertrain for those that need it.

 

[sfbabdi]

A lot of people here see the EREV as a downgraded BEV lightning, I see it as an upgraded powerboost, with potentially simpler architecture and larger EV range.

If the execution and price is right, why wouldn't I want it for the expanded capability over my BEV lighting? Most people care about value and utility, and care little about making an environmental statement.

From a simplicity point of view, I prefer BEV with removable secondary power source, much like Zach's EverDrive, but more refined. Sadly that would never be viable as a consumer production for the masses.

 

[Mach Turtle]

Why can't they just have a BEV version for those of us that want it? Throw a motor in, lose the frunk and have an EREV powertrain for those that need it.

Politics, mostly, plus short sighted management from Wall Street and a dash of FUD to make customers afraid of change. There's also a cost issue, as large batteries cost a lot, while small ones in EREVs with their very short electric range are cheap.

Perhaps the EREV version is a clever way to keep manufacturing an electric drivetrain (gotta love those motors), gaining experience and paying off the tooling, until Federal policies can be brought back into the 21st Century or even the 20th. Then having both BEV and EREV versions should be practical...and eventually even profitable.

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