i need serious help on this decision

[RickLightning]

Yea I gotta make mind up today for sure. See y nobody speaks of 80-85. I’m never just riding going 70. My Mach e always 80 with blue cruise at a minimum

This reinforces you shouldn't do this. When you drive the truck at 80mph, you will use power so fast your head will spin.

You should also not so this because you have a lot of learning to do. You don't need to wonder what a trip would be like since ABRP shows you.

In an earlier thread you said you weren't doing it, now you are teetering. Painful to watch.

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[Henry Ford]

That’s the part so so many people miss. Use other people’s money, especially when it is free to use. My purchase price of the Lightning is sitting in a high yield account making me interest. So I am ahead by financing then paying cash. Glad to see you are doing that too! ?

You are ahead relative to paying cash but you aren't ahead relative to not buying a vehicle.

 

[nolavet504]

This reinforces you shouldn't do this. When you drive the truck at 80mph, you will use power so fast your head will spin.

You should also not so this because you have a lot of learning to do. You don't need to wonder what a trip would be like since ABRP shows you.

In an earlier thread you said you weren't doing it, now you are teetering. Painful to watch.

lol love you for this man. I’m fine truck off my mind. If I go truck I do need gas. I can’t drive no 70 mph

 

[nolavet504]

This reinforces you shouldn't do this. When you drive the truck at 80mph, you will use power so fast your head will spin.

You should also not so this because you have a lot of learning to do. You don't need to wonder what a trip would be like since ABRP shows you.

In an earlier thread you said you weren't doing it, now you are teetering. Painful to watch.

Yea I’ll loose my mind to realize I’m charging more at home and now highway speeds make me stop more. I love ev but not that much yet. Almost even if I was carrying nothing over it may not still be a good fit

 

[flyct]

Yea I’ll loose my mind to realize I’m charging more at home and now highway speeds make me stop more. I love ev but not that much yet. Almost even if I was carrying nothing over it may not still be a good fit

Sounds like you need a better aerodynamic vehicle with a big battery. That vehicle would also need to have the ability to take in a constant 250+ kw at a fast charger or 19 kw at home, if you plan on driving 80+ MPH. Driving an aerodynamic brick like the Lightning with high parasitic drag will never get you the range you desire.

Buy a Tesla.

 

[nolavet504]

Sounds like you need a better aerodynamic vehicle with a big battery. That vehicle would also need to have the ability to take in a constant 250+ kw at a fast charger or 19 kw at home, if you plan on driving 80+ MPH. Driving an aerodynamic brick like the Lightning with high parasitic drag will never get you the range you desire.

Buy a Tesla.

I fully agree. I’m already n a 150 charging car. It makes no sense to transfer over to the same charging speed but more car debt and receive lower efficiency. Took a few days but that’s y I been stalling. It was something in my heart I felt I would be very unhappy with and that’s exactly it. I’ll be paying more money to charge at same what’s becoming slow speeds. Soon the Mach e and lightning will be the new bolts of the ev world. The car that you see when you pull up and leave the charger.

 

[flyct]

Soon the Mach e and lightning will be the new bolts of the ev world. The car that you see when you pull up and leave the charger.

NOW THAT IS FUNNY!

BTW, Thank you for your service (from one veteran to another)

For us the Lightning works well. In 12 years of EV ownership we’ve only “needed” to charge at a fast charger maybe 5 times tops. All other times we have charged either at home or our cabin.

 

[nolavet504]

NOW THAT IS FUNNY!

BTW, Thank you for your service (from one veteran to another)

For us the Lightning works well. In 12 years of EV ownership we’ve only “needed” to charge at a fast charger maybe 5 times tops. All other times we have charged either at home or our cabin.

I just did some ABRP routes and to be real the ranges seem the same. My New Orleans to Atlanta route is a 5 minute difference it’s showing with ether car.

 

[RickLightning]

I just did some ABRP routes and to be real the ranges seem the same. My New Orleans to Atlanta route is a 5 minute difference it’s showing with ether car.

Correct. Why?

1) Truck is 40% less efficient. Battery is 131/91 = 44% bigger. Therefore, no difference in range.

2) Charging curves are NOT the same. Truck charges faster, holds higher speeds longer. BUT...

3) On a trip, you often seek out hotels with level 2 chargers. Most hotel chargers are in the 4 - 7kW range. Let's assume you pull in to a 7kW charger at 8PM, and leave at 8AM. Battery is 20%, you want 100% in the morning.

Mach-E: 91 x 80% charge = 73kWh / 7 = 10.4 hours. Fully charge by morning
Lightning: 131 x 80% charge = 105kWh / 7 = 15 hours. Charged to 84% by morning. Driving from 100% vs. 80% is roughly 45 minutes of driving. Therefore, to get 100% by morning you need to plan on charging at a fast charger to 36% (in this example), so that you're at 100% by morning. But if the hotel is only 4%, you're even more SOL.

 

[StevenC56]

There is an updated order guide, came out a couple weeks ago (1/8/25). The Flash trim level goes from a 131 kWh to a 122 kWh battery. Also loses power lift gate, interior work surface, onboard scales (I think all 2025 lost this), spare tire (I think). Added is active x seats.
https://www.f150lightningforum.com/...-pdf.94541/?force-system-browser=1&_appload=1

If you’re thinking of a flash trim and if Ford really puts a reduced battery in the 25 and range is an issue, you might want to get into a 24 before they switch over. Other than what was recently posted there isn’t much info on the 122kwh battery. If it’s true and it’s technology.

Life is short and it’s only money. You can always pay a little extra to help offset the trade balance on the loan.

Also although the color "Avalanche" has been discontinued for 2025, the Color "Space White" has been added.

 

[nolavet504]

This individual did just the opposite…

Let me go read upon this.

 

[chl]

I really appreciate your response. I’ll wait it out unless the dealer drops the price even more so I can take advantage of additional savings. At this point, I'm ready to walk unless we can get closer to $65k out the door with GAP coverage. I do love the Mach-E, and the Lightning has the same interface, but my concern is the extra charging requirements and the increased daily kWh consumption. I’m also worried it’ll take longer to charge on road trips and potentially require more frequent stops. It might be best to wait for a really great deal, especially as the current Lightning models clear out before the 2025 refresh. I do fear that the 2025 refresh could include a better charging port location or improved charging speed, and I’d regret not waiting.

Yes longer trips can be an issue depending on where you are headed. There are threads here about traveling, towing etc. and most posters seem to manage with only minor issues. It can be nerve racking when the guess-o-meter tells you its range estimate and it looks like you won't make it to the next charger station. Some places charge a lot for charging as well.

However, people find having multiple charge locating / trip planning apps helps a lot. Maybe you already have experience with that?

In a few years, I hope, charging stations will be as plentiful as gas stations (optimistic I know), batteries will have more capacity, we won't need the long-over-due-to-arrive Ford-to-Tesla fast charging adapters to use the other guys charge network.

If you can wait it out, it usually pays off, in my experience.
And hopefully, Ford will improve the Lightning, esp. the software, in future model years.

 

[StevenC56]

Don't plan on EV charger infrastructure to do anything positive for at least the next 4 years.

 

[Riverant]

I traded in a Mach e premium for a used Lariat Lightning with about the same amount of negative equity on my E. However I was able to pay cash for the truck and was OTD at 64K.

For me, the mustang wasn’t working for my family and while the 9K was painful, it wasn’t a deal breaker. If you can afford it, the economic decision considers the 9K a sunk cost and shouldn’t factor into your next decision.

Know that the Lightning depreciates too (though a scrapped tax credit should help). However the tech will be obsolete at the end of the decade so won’t be worth much at all.

 

[RickLightning]

Don't plan on EV charger infrastructure to do anything positive for at least the next 4 years.

Spoken by someone who has no perspective on the EV charging infrastructure or how it's changed since 2021, nor the pipeline of new chargers.

We've driven through 26 states and 1 province. 2021 was awful. 2022 got better, 2023 was at times worse. In 2024, with the inclusion of Tesla, plus networks like Pilot / Flying J coming online, in much of the country it's noticeably better. No, not everywhere. No, not all the time. But noticeably better.

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