Introductions & Welcome Thread 👋

[ChesterCounty]

Thanks for the add. New 2025 XLT w Power Pro. Looking forward to learning and sharing. Not my first or 5th EV but certainly the first "truck" and very happy far (Day 4 in )

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[Shark150]

Hello everyone. Finally got around to joining. Had my 24 Flash since February. Everyday since I said I’m going to join today, finally sat down and did it .

 

[Indra]

Hello All,

Two weeks in with our 2025 Lightning - glad to have found this forum!

 

[nerdondo]

Hi all:

Just joined this forum a week ago, even though I don't own a Lighting quite yet. Here's my story:

1. I drive a 2022 Honda Ridgeline RTL, only 34 months old w/ only 25K miles on it. I love my current truck & it's still like new. But I'm seriously considering swapping it now for a Lightning...and this Forum is very helpful in educating myself all about the Lightening, from actual owners. I'm leaning heavily towards making the change, and I discuss my thought process why below. I'd love any feedback anyone can provide re: my thinking on this!

BTW, I currently get ~ 26 mpg highway, 19.5 mpg city, and ~ 22 mpg overal in my Honda, which isn't terrible for an ICE truck, and it happily accepts regular pump gas...which only currently averages ~ $3.15 a gallon currently where I live (Provo, UT). Based on my avg mix of city/ hwy driving, my current fuel cost runs slightly under $0.15/ mile. Also, I only drive ~ 11K miles a year since I recently retired, and electricity here is very reasonable, only ~ $0.13/ kWH.

2. I built a custom spreadsheet to compare the cost of driving my (still fairly newer) Ridgeline for the next 5 years vs replacing it now w/ a new or low mileage Lighting, & quickly realized I could not justify - well, RATIONALIZE making the change (OK, I'm a car guy and a big part of me just WANTS one!) based on the math alone. Under any reasonable assumptions, and If I limit myself to a F150L that cost $65K or less (this figure is B4 sales taxes & DMV regis fees, & also B4 the $7,500 EV Tax Credit, but after all currently available Ford promos like "employee pricing" & "retail cash", which are currently worth ~ $7K combined as of May 2025 ), here is the Net-Net conclusion of my spreadsheet. It will still cost me ~ $7,500 MORE over the next 5 years to drive a new F150L, vs just keeping my Ridgeline.

After a bit of online shopping the past week, with a budget of ~ $65K (as defined above) I believe can either get:
- a new 2025 Flash w/ the Pro Power Onboard 9.6KW option, a must-have feature for me;
- a used 2024 Lariat w/ well < 10K miles, & the ProPower option; or
- a used 2023 Platinum w/ < 25K miles, & the Pro Power

My "ideal" scenario would is actually none of the 3 above: it would be to find a 2024 Flash w/ the Pro Power option (so I still get the 131 KW battery, vs only 122 KW in the 2025 & newer Flash) w/ <10K miles, for only $58K or so before taxes & DMV fees. To find such a specific configuration I'll probably have to pay CarMax or Carvana (etc) at least $1,000 or so to ship such a truck to me from Kansas or wherever, but that way I'd get the slightly bigger ext range battery vs a 2025 Flash...plus one or 2 other small "goodies" they previously included in the '24 Flash trim but removed/ made an option in '25, to make the 2025 MSRP more competitive...I forget what those items were. And also save myself $5K - $6K over what I will be faced with under the 1st 3 vehicle scenarios listed above.

3. The ~ $1,500 avg annual extra cost to me of the new EV (as noted above: = $7,500 more over 5 yrs) over my existing Honda is significant, despite the > $700 projected annual fuel savings w/ the EV, & another $390 in est. favorable annual maintenance savings with the new EV, with no oil changes, tune-ups & brake jobs for the next 5 years, unlike my Honda.

At the end of the day, however, those EV related savings amount to only ~ $0.10/ mile combined, & would be DWARFED by the much higher increases in 3 other ownership costs, as a direct result of making the change from my Honda:
- Depreciation (a true cash cost to me at the end of the 60 months, when I sell or trade in whichever vehicle I have then) increases by ~ $0.44/ mile with the new EV;
- Interest costs go up ~ $0.17/ mile by getting a new, and much larger loan (note: I have a 2.9% rate Honda-subsidized car loan today, which will paid off in another 14 months!); and
- Insurance/ DMV regis costs will go up ~ $0.045/ mile with the new EV. Turns out it simply costs more to insure & register a $65,000 value vehicle vs one with a current value of $33K, or only about half the value of the F150L.

Add it all up, including factoring in the F150L's much higher residual resale (equity) value it would have 5 years from now over the Honda (as a partial offset to the higher payments for longer), and "NET-NET", I reckon it will cost me ~ an incremental $7,500 over the next 5 years (or ~ an avg of an extra ~ $125/ month) to own & drive a F150L over that time frame, compared to just keeping my Honda.

I can certainly afford another $125/ month (else I would cancel all my cable TV subscriptions! Heck, just my Starlink Satellite service is $120/mo alone!).

As you can see I'm on a slippery slope here to indulgence...
I'll let you all know what I get, if I take the plunge shortly!

I very recently bought a 2025 Flash, which was manufactured early this year and still has the ER battery. My wife and I were dithering over whether to get the new truck or a 2023 Lariat with all the bells and whistles. In the end we decided: the heat pump on the new model is a big plus; we don't really need a moon roof, which might have future leaks or mechanical issues; we wanted the heated back seats, but thought our adult kids are tough enough without them; we wanted a brand new battery; we decided we could live without folding mirrors.

As for your choice between your Ridgeline and the F150 -- you need to drive the Lightning to see how it feels for you. The F150 probably has a bigger bed -- so you can haul more stuff if you want. If you're interested in towing, maybe neither is the right choice. F150 doesn't have a huge payload and towing range is limited - but these were non-factors for me.

Another consideration you may not have calculated in is the cost of maintenance. I expect a new or newer Lightning will have much lower maintenance costs than an older ICE.

 

[Ted23Lightning]

I very recently bought a 2025 Flash, which was manufactured early this year and still has the ER battery. My wife and I were dithering over whether to get the new truck or a 2023 Lariat with all the bells and whistles. In the end we decided: the heat pump on the new model is a big plus; we don't really need a moon roof, which might have future leaks or mechanical issues; we wanted the heated back seats, but thought our adult kids are tough enough without them; we wanted a brand new battery; we decided we could live without folding mirrors.

As for your choice between your Ridgeline and the F150 -- you need to drive the Lightning to see how it feels for you. The F150 probably has a bigger bed -- so you can haul more stuff if you want. If you're interested in towing, maybe neither is the right choice. F150 doesn't have a huge payload and towing range is limited - but these were non-factors for me.

Another consideration you may not have calculated in is the cost of maintenance. I expect a new or newer Lightning will have much lower maintenance costs than an older ICE.

Congrats!

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