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I've had my XLT for about a month and love it. Last weekend, I crawled under the truck to oil it up with Lanox as a preventative measure against corrosion and rust. I live in the northeast where salted roads are a factor and I drive on the beach a lot. Btw, the Lightning is excellent in the sand as long as you're mindful of the ground clearance. Instant torque and a locking rear "differential" are wonderful.
While I was under there, I took note of the battery support structure and just how many horizontal surfaces and crevices exist therein to trap debris: dirt, sand, dust, etc. Debris inhibits drying and promotes corrosion over time. That's certainly the case with every truck on the road, but I would contend that there are relatively more places to trap debris in our EV than a comparable ICE truck because of both the battery and the battery's support structure frame, which is full of little crevices and only 8" off the ground.
I expect we'll also accumulate debris on top of the battery itself overtime because of the gap between the cab and bed. I parked under a choke cherry tree for a few days and the bed filled up with little cherries. Certainly a number of cherries fell between the truck bed and cab, landed on top of the flat battery and will remain there forever unless I actively remove them with a leaf blower or something like that. The same will happen with leaves in the fall. I wonder if years from now we'll see battery packs failing from corrosion from above. I may just wedge a little black foam pipe insulation into that gap.
No vehicle is perfect and they all rust, but I wonder if perhaps the battery skateboard will engender more EV trucks to be designed as unibodies in the future to eliminate the gap between the body and bed.
While I was under there, I took note of the battery support structure and just how many horizontal surfaces and crevices exist therein to trap debris: dirt, sand, dust, etc. Debris inhibits drying and promotes corrosion over time. That's certainly the case with every truck on the road, but I would contend that there are relatively more places to trap debris in our EV than a comparable ICE truck because of both the battery and the battery's support structure frame, which is full of little crevices and only 8" off the ground.
I expect we'll also accumulate debris on top of the battery itself overtime because of the gap between the cab and bed. I parked under a choke cherry tree for a few days and the bed filled up with little cherries. Certainly a number of cherries fell between the truck bed and cab, landed on top of the flat battery and will remain there forever unless I actively remove them with a leaf blower or something like that. The same will happen with leaves in the fall. I wonder if years from now we'll see battery packs failing from corrosion from above. I may just wedge a little black foam pipe insulation into that gap.
No vehicle is perfect and they all rust, but I wonder if perhaps the battery skateboard will engender more EV trucks to be designed as unibodies in the future to eliminate the gap between the body and bed.
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