A couple of buying questions...

[pullinggs]

Any thoughts or experiences would be very much appreciated.

I'm about 60 miles up the hill from Sac, and I have both an SR and an ER in the driveway. If I lived somewhere in the upper Midwest where distances are longer and charge stations fewer, I might have a different opinion, but:

After multiple 200-400 mile trips around California in both vehicles, the only meaningful difference is... nothing. If you plan on very long hauls and have a very big bladder, the ER is the better choice. On the other hand, if you like to get out of the car every few hours for a stretch and a bathroom break, it's a wash.

Your trip from Sac to Elko is doable in either vehicle. You'll need to plan ahead, you will definitely want a NACS adapter, and you won't like how fast the battery drains going up to Donner, but I think that you'll find it works with the SR.

I've come to prefer the smaller touch screen. (More accurately, physical buttons for climate control are a better choice.)

Our ER has the heat pump, the SR does not. You won't notice any meaningful difference living in Sacramento.

You will love the truck.

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[Adventureboy]

I have proven that SR vs ER is not a thing - it's all in your mind.

This is very subjective. It really comes down to what you need to do with the truck on a weekly basis. I do a weekly 400-mile highway round trip, and a weekly 200-mile highway round trip. The ER makes a big difference in charge times. SR would have to stop twice on the 400-mile run because of the charger location vs once with the ER. The ER doesn't have to stop on the 200-mile trip, while the SR does. Time is money.

 

[Highpi]

This is absolutely true. As long as you can charge at home and power your frig, freezer, TV and internet; you're good. It would be nice to have the additional range and power but it's mainly in your head. The same goes for a lot of the bells and whistles. I bought a minimal Flash. Smaller battery, no tailgate step or power tailgate; no spare etc. It's white. My heart wants a red Platinum but actually I'm quite happy with what I have and I saved a boat load of money.

I'm not really worried about power outages. I've lived in our city since '89 and the number of hours we have lost power is about 4. Not to say it couldn't happen, but most of the lines are underground, except for the older parts of town.
It's just one of those nice to have in your back pocket kind of thing.

 

[chl]

why not go with a brand new $7,500 tax credit refund PRO SR with all the bells and whistles, have plenty of juice for ANY trip you want to make, and enjoy a MUCH lower cost...

for what I paid for my PRO SR, I could have bought TWO for the price of a single Platinum.

I would much rather have two trucks.

I have proven that SR vs ER is not a thing - it's all in your mind.

Yes.
Pro's were hard to find for a while, but then a lot showed up with big price drops in late 2023 ( I got a 2023 Pro) and early 2024, loaded with what I wanted ProPower OnBoard 9.6kW, tow and max tow packages, way under $50k which was my limit.

An SR battery works for my needs, and the extra $10k for the 100 miles more "range" (the guesstimate) just didn't seem worth it to me.

The only reason I might have gone for an ER was the HIS, but that turned out to me full of bugaboos from all the forum posts, so no go on that.

Now if I regularly went on long sojournes (sp?) pulling a trailer for example, I would have opted for the larger battery version and I can see why other people do that.

I'd be wary of a higher level trim with a sunroof, seems a number of leaks reported and Ford issued a recall/customer service program bulletin on them recently to replace the "trough" that is supposed to carry rain and melt water away.

People also have trouble with the bluetooth carplay/android auto music streaming, as well as other annoying little software bugs.

Be sure to ask them to give you a Ford Charge Station Pro with the truck whether you buy it new or used - esp with an ER battery you will want it for faster charging at 80A.

Good luck!

 

[chl]

This is very subjective. It really comes down to what you need to do with the truck on a weekly basis. I do a weekly 400-mile highway round trip, and a weekly 200-mile highway round trip. The ER makes a big difference in charge times. SR would have to stop twice on the 400-mile run because of the charger location vs once with the ER. The ER doesn't have to stop on the 200-mile trip, while the SR does. Time is money.

True.
Charging at home you'll have to use 80A to get it done in a reasonable amount of time depending on how full you want it, right?

 

[chl]

I'm not really worried about power outages. I've lived in our city since '89 and the number of hours we have lost power is about 4. Not to say it couldn't happen, but most of the lines are underground, except for the older parts of town.
It's just one of those nice to have in your back pocket kind of thing.

We rarely get outages either... but when we do, OMG!

For example, when a hurricane remnant comes up the coast to N Va knocking down tree limbs, or when a "derecho" (straight line wind) comes through, we have had outages that lasted days.

Then there are winter ice storms when it's 10F outside, nice to have a backup generator to keep the furnace fan running and the coffee pot going!

The PPOB is much nicer than a gasoline backup generator chugging along for hours on end!

So I wasn't going to buy a Lightning without that feature - 9.6kW PPOB for the 7.2kW from the bed outlet.!

 

[chl]

Not really.

We bought an EV in 2021, 2022, and 2023. Each year I had to generate income, via converting IRAs to Roth, to use the tax credit. Then, they made the tax credit a time of sale option, and that option did NOT require that you had the ability to take the full tax credit at time of filing.

Right only caveat was there is still a MAX income test...I should say "was" because the &*(&%$% in congress have nixed it as of Sept. 30...

 

[Adventureboy]

True.
Charging at home you'll have to use 80A to get it done in a reasonable amount of time depending on how full you want it, right?

48 amps for me. On rare occasions, the 48 amps doesn't quite do it if I come in at 11pm and need to leave at 7am but I don't usually need to do the trips back-to-back so it works out fine. I nearly always have 10 hours to top up using 48 amps if I drain the batteries low.
On my ER:

• 12 hours will add 96% SOC ( I never run down this low, so I never need 12 hours)
• 10 hours will add about 80%SOC
• 8 hours will add about 64% SOC

 

[Highpi]

Yes

I'm about 60 miles up the hill from Sac, and I have both an SR and an ER in the driveway. If I lived somewhere in the upper Midwest where distances are longer and charge stations fewer, I might have a different opinion, but:

After multiple 200-400 mile trips around California in both vehicles, the only meaningful difference is... nothing. If you plan on very long hauls and have a very big bladder, the ER is the better choice. On the other hand, if you like to get out of the car every few hours for a stretch and a bathroom break, it's a wash.

Your trip from Sac to Elko is doable in either vehicle. You'll need to plan ahead, you will definitely want a NACS adapter, and you won't like how fast the battery drains going up to Donner, but I think that you'll find it works with the SR.

I've come to prefer the smaller touch screen. (More accurately, physical buttons for climate control are a better choice.)

Our ER has the heat pump, the SR does not. You won't notice any meaningful difference living in Sacramento.

You will love the truck.

Yes, a little more planning would be needed for the SR. And I only do the Elko drive once a year, the rest of the time, it's mostly local.
But, you know all to well, it doesn't take much for I80 to come to a halt, especially in winter, and there's a little part of me envisioning being "that ev guy" running out of juice waiting for the traffic to clear.

Again, my brain says it's enough.

I think I5 has enough charging spots, so a trip south shouldn't be an issue, just a question of time.

 

[pullinggs]

But, you know all to well, it doesn't take much for I80 to come to a halt, especially in winter, and there's a little part of me envisioning being "that ev guy" running out of juice waiting for the traffic to clear.

Uh, think this through a bit. Even the SR w/o the heat pump could run the heater for days and DAYS when you're not moving. (I mean, you'd be in the Sierras, not the high plains; "cold" is a very different beast there.) You would be the last one to run out of juice.

That said, if your gut just wants the ER, go ahead and get it!

 

[chl]

48 amps for me. On rare occasions, the 48 amps doesn't quite do it if I come in at 11pm and need to leave at 7am but I don't usually need to do the trips back-to-back so it works out fine. I nearly always have 10 hours to top up using 48 amps if I drain the batteries low.
On my ER:

• 12 hours will add 96% SOC ( I never run down this low, so I never need 12 hours)
• 10 hours will add about 80%SOC
• 8 hours will add about 64% SOC

Yes, I can see how that works for you.
Here in N Va, our utility has off-peak time from 1:00am to 6:am, so only 5 hours.
It really depends on per day miles driven obv. and how much one is willing to pay Ford for the extra 100 miles or so range.
I could live with less range and more money in my pocket, but everyone has their own calculation to make, and may really need the extra range.
No judgement here.

 

[taraafico]

I was thinking the same way and ended up buying ER ‘24 lariat, I’m glad I did . 0 percent APR for 60 or 72 months, bumper to bumper warranty, new body and look, $7500 tax credit and more VS …….? Buy new and ER .

 

[Highpi]

Uh, think this through a bit. Even the SR w/o the heat pump could run the heater for days and DAYS when you're not moving. (I mean, you'd be in the Sierras, not the high plains; "cold" is a very different beast there.) You would be the last one to run out of juice.

That said, if your gut just wants the ER, go ahead and get it!

Yeah, good point(s). Just me overthinking it. For whatever reason, I feel the need to turn every rock over on this thing.

 

[fenix501]

I'm not sure that the additional range is "in your head." You either have it or you don't. If you need to drive 250 miles without stopping or charging, it becomes a real world issue very quickly.

I have an '24 ER Flash and it's been a terrific truck for our family. I had to say goodbye to the sliding rear window with the Flash. Oddly, that's the only option that I would have included if possible. I need to bring longer things home a couple of times a year and have gotten used to bundling things through the open slider!

I'd pass on the power steps. They are nice until they are not. I'm in a "long and snowy winter" part of the world and the power steps on my older Ram 1500 got very unhappy these last couple of years. Very slow and noisy. No grease zerks and no real way to clean and lube the pivots which get blasted all winter from the front wheels. I admit, however, that when I first got into the Ram 1500 Limited those power running boards were a "damn, check that out!" moment!

Best of luck on whatever you decide. All the Lightnings drive so nice.

 

[Mal106]

But, you know all to well, it doesn't take much for I80 to come to a halt, especially in winter, and there's a little part of me envisioning being "that ev guy" running out of juice waiting for the traffic to clear.

Again, my brain says it's enough.

If you trust google's AI, you are less likely than "that guy in the ICE vehicle" to be out of juice both because you are less likely to become stuck and given a descent charge level, the heat will last longer.

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