Lightning vs Rivian - new truck buyer…

[astrand1]

My son interned at Rivian for 8 months - great vehicle and well-thought out. I think the main issue with them will be service availability and will they still be around for your 10-year ownership.

This was my thought as well. My biggest concern is will they be around and being able to get parts etc. we all know ford will be around and the fact that so much of the lightning is shared with a reg. F150 to me it just made sense to get the lightning.

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[Robocop]

The Lighting is the better bet for long-term ownership, which actually means owning this beast off warranty.

Read up on the number / percentage of interchangeable parts with the ICE trucks. F-150s are a dime-a-dozen and that is a great thing if you intend to keep it, drive it and use it because stuff is going to break and you are going to have to fix said broken stuff. Aftermarket support for random accessories/modifications/upgrades is another factor you could consider for your use case.

Does having the option of sourcing new versus "good used" or even recycled or salvaged parts appeal to you? What about your ability/desire to work on your truck yourself? what sort of stomach do you have for off warranty new parts costs? what about hunting for this or that random part? what about paying a premium "because Rivian?" The alternative is sourcing specialized parts for a low volume, "high end" niche manufacturer with comparatively limited supply and limited suppliers....

All of this is aside from the cost just to get into each truck. The cost of a second-hand Lightning is very competitive at any trim level with many deals to be had and (I'm biased) the Platinum specifically is an excellent second-hand buy. Rivians are just very expensive to buy new or second hand due to low production volume, very high price point.

In my opinion none of the other players can compete with the awesomeness of the Lightning's frunk. The Rivian's is a puny joke comparatively.

Repair/service support is the final factor that swayed me. I have a choice of about 4 Ford dealers nearby where I live so I have the liberty of taking my business elsewhere as a customer/owner and not being stuck to endure a crappy experience from the 'only guy around.'

If you are making it rain the Rivian may be right for you but otherwise I would say the smart money is on the Ford.

 

[Artificial Intelligence]

I’m sure others here have debated between the Rivian and a higher trim Lightning - for background, I will be a first time truck owner (waited 59 years… well, at least 30 of the 59 years)

I took a lighting out for a test drive a couple of days ago and was absolutely smitten! Absolutely nothing I didn’t love about it. Hard to imagine anything I will like better in an EV pickup.

But am still doing my diligence since I expect to have this bad boy for a long time - usual tenure with me is 10 years

We’re on a Lightning forum so clearly the bias here is to the Ford - but still, I would find value in hearing your take and reason why the Lightning is the better choice than the Rivian.

I am in the Boston area, don’t expect to tow much and plan to pimp my ride a hit to help promote my side hustle business… vintage baseball cards. See my new logo below

love to hear your thoughts -

thx

Jeff

If i was still in boston I won't get an EV... period. I hope you have shorter commute. Sub zero temps range drops significantly.

Lightning vs. R1T is no comparison TBH. Rivian is small and tight. I've young kids... and they absolutely love the large back seat. My 7 yr old (44" tall) can stand without hitting his head. This thing is enormous.

what I hate about lightning is also what I love the most... its size!!!

GL

 

[electricpig]

I love my Lightning, but would have bought a Rivian had it been a real option all other things beitequal. Just because I like the way it looks. Problem is, they aren't equal. Much harder to get any kind of service or repairs on the Rivian. My Lightning was backed into a fewonths ago. Actual repairs took about 10 days total and I had multiple options for repairs. Not so for a Rivian, prob would still be waiting.

Also of note, the Lightning is also supposedly one of the least expensive EVs to insure. That may or may not be a significant factor to you.

Lastly, you might consider a lightly used truck. There is wicked depresciation on all EVs and trucks in particular. Just make sure you use CarFax or similar to make sure you don't get a bit back or lemon lawed truck.

Edit: Corrected Google's AI "corrections"

 

[jobofly79]

If i was still in boston I won't get an EV... period. I hope you have shorter commute. Sub zero temps range drops significantly.

Lightning vs. R1T is no comparison TBH. Rivian is small and tight. I've young kids... and they absolutely love the large back seat. My 7 yr old (44" tall) can stand without hitting his head. This thing is enormous.

what I hate about lightning is also what I love the most... its size!!!

GL

I live in the northeast and have a lightning flash. Yes the range does drop in the dead of winter but I still get 240 miles to a full charge. Which is fine for my situation.

 

[MrLoganRoss]

I like both. If it were my only car and I mostly commuted with it, I might have picked the Rivian. However, I wanted the truck to do active, outdoors, and truck stuff. Bikes and kayaks and such. I didn’t want to feel guilty about it getting dirty and the Rivian is just so darn luxurious feeling inside. I also didn’t want to pay a premium for accessories (lighting uses standard F150 accessories). I went with the ‘24 Lightning and I am happy with that decision.

 

[Maquis]

I’m sure others here have debated between the Rivian and a higher trim Lightning - for background, I will be a first time truck owner (waited 59 years… well, at least 30 of the 59 years)

I took a lighting out for a test drive a couple of days ago and was absolutely smitten! Absolutely nothing I didn’t love about it. Hard to imagine anything I will like better in an EV pickup.

But am still doing my diligence since I expect to have this bad boy for a long time - usual tenure with me is 10 years

We’re on a Lightning forum so clearly the bias here is to the Ford - but still, I would find value in hearing your take and reason why the Lightning is the better choice than the Rivian.

I am in the Boston area, don’t expect to tow much and plan to pimp my ride a hit to help promote my side hustle business… vintage baseball cards. See my new logo below

love to hear your thoughts -

thx

Jeff

If you want your vehicle to draw attention to your business, the Rivian wins that aspect. The Lightning looks just like another F150. My daughter has an R1S and is very happy with it. As long as you’re in a major metro area, getting service should be reasonable. At least that’s been her experience.

 

[NW Ontario Ford Lightning]

I looked at all the options, compared:
Price
Insurance costs
Repairability
Parts, service repairs long term
Aftermarket stuff - fit and price
Cab size/function.

Then I compared side by side two F-150's: the ICE vs EV, and looked at cost of ownership & operation for a ten year expected service life.

F-150 Lightning (with the discount off MSRP offered by Ford Jan 2025) won me over.
Time will tell, but so far the truck is very impressive, quiet, powerful, comfortable, thoughtful, lots of great features. I get up early just to be in it.

 

[peteratmsr]

I had a very hard time choosing between the Lightning (Platinum) and the Rivian. The biggest plus on the Rivian for me is its size. If you don't need a full-size truck, the Rivian felt easier to park, and it would consume less of my garage space.

There were two big pluses for me on the Lightning. First, it basically has every possible factory and/or after-market feature you could ever imagine or want, since they've been making F-150s forever. And second, as another poster said, it sticks out less. You are still very noticed because of the front lightbar, but it's more subtle. Here in the Seattle area, with tons of Microsoft, Amazon, and Boeing tech employees around, you end up seeing a Rivian at pretty much every intersection in some parts, and at least in my head, you go, "Oh there goes another tech worker..."

Ultimately, I went with the Lightning, and I would do it again if I had to.

As for how they drive, I thought both trucks were and are truly excellent on the road. Smooth, quiet, powerful, commanding view, etc. Really, both Ford and Rivian have, in my opinion, clearly made the very best EV pickups on the market today.

 

[jjupi91897]

I’m sure others here have debated between the Rivian and a higher trim Lightning - for background, I will be a first time truck owner (waited 59 years… well, at least 30 of the 59 years)

I took a lighting out for a test drive a couple of days ago and was absolutely smitten! Absolutely nothing I didn’t love about it. Hard to imagine anything I will like better in an EV pickup.

But am still doing my diligence since I expect to have this bad boy for a long time - usual tenure with me is 10 years

We’re on a Lightning forum so clearly the bias here is to the Ford - but still, I would find value in hearing your take and reason why the Lightning is the better choice than the Rivian.

I am in the Boston area, don’t expect to tow much and plan to pimp my ride a hit to help promote my side hustle business… vintage baseball cards. See my new logo below

love to hear your thoughts -

thx

Jeff

I have owned the Lariat ER for 1 year, and I absolutely love it. It is the ultimate road vehicle in terms of comfort and space. I have a bad-left knee, and I require stretch capability when driving long distances. The Lightning offers that and more. The Lightning also has great payload capacity, which I need as a property manager. Great all around truck.

 

[FirstF150InCasco]

I took delivery of (was told) the first Lightning delivered in the Boston area back in May 2022. First time truck buyer myself. LOVE this truck. I tell friends to not by ANY EV unless you have a charger at home (and at a frequent destination, if you have one. We put our CSP at our camp in Maine.)

I just purchased the 10 year warranty (from Granger) because I expect to keep this truck that long.

 

[DoyouLightning]

I echo my fellow Lightning owners I too evaluated both trucks and landed on a 23' ER Lariat as the value was better bang for the buck. But a few items to consider not brought up yet:

Rivian -
Gear tunnel - neat hidden storage but unless you have long gear like skis I'm not sure what you would use it for.
power tonneau cover - honestly wish our trucks had this included like rivian and cyber truck but assume it's not due to lack of bed space on an all ready small truck bed.
Air suspension - very neat how you can raise and lower the truck for different use cases. Especially high way driving where lightning range takes a hit.
Weight - believe it or not the rivian although smaller weighs more then the lightning.

F150 lightning -
Moon roof that actually opens! And we have a sun shade to block out the extra sun light when not wanted. This was a big factor for me.
Soft ware - it is very lack luster as others have mentioned BUT we do have apple car play or android auto the other trucks do not natively support.

Best of luck let us know which route you take.

 

[MotoGary]

I'll make this real easy for you Jeff. Your awesome vintage style baseball logo would simply look wrong on a Rivian. Ford trucks and baseball historically just go together .

All that remains is to select color and trim level. Be sure to post pics with the logo. (Here's an idea...incorporate your logo into a full wrap! )

 

[ScottC]

In Feb I bought my 24 Flash ExtRange w 9.2kW.

I also looked hard at the Rivian. I live in SF Bay Area and split my time in Grass Valley - about 360 miles around trip.

Since 2016 I had leased 2x Model S and an X since 2016. So I’ve seen all the tech. Rivian is a ground up purpose built EV and it’s def the lifestyle sell. I see maybe 20 R1Ts on I-80 and say 3 Lightnings every trip.

The Rivian IMO shares the stripped down interior of the Tesla. It’s all in the software. It’s also north of $100k and I must admit I have grown weary of that price point.

The F150 is def a bigger ride, but i also think it’s a better vision of the EV future at $64K which is about what I paid in Feb. I also think Ford has got the tech right. It’s a truck first, and an EV second. I drive it into SF weekly, and I have commercial plates which is def a help in the city. And once you’re on a HWY the size makes it the perfect road vehicle.

I sit in my F150 and marvel at how sturdy in construction feels and the tech is just right.

I love the thickness of the large vertical screen, the multi function center knob. I love that all the driving controls (gear shift, wipers, turn signal, volume, on/off) are dedicated levers and buttons.

My wife drives a 2000 4Runner (zero tech) can get it it and drive it without knowing anything more than “put your foot in the brake and hit start. It’s a truck. It’s drives great. You put all your personal items in the frunk and other shit in the back.

IMO CarPlay w is a perfect solution for phone integration. Much better than some bespoke UI. Let Apple continue to make your phone better and it will carry over to CarPlay.

I’m on MS Teams calls daily and my co-workers have said “Jesus you sound so much clearer in your truck than you ever did in your Tesla”.

I think the Rivian is def a cool ride too. I ended up installing a retractable Tonneau. Very much like the how the Rivian is kitted out. Good luck!

 

[Lytning]

My son interned at Rivian for 8 months - great vehicle and well-thought out. I think the main issue with them will be service availability and will they still be around for your 10-year ownership.

Ford has about 2800 dealerships in the U.S., and about half of them are reported to provide EV service. With all the dead wait time for an EV Technician, and the difficulty in finding fully competent EV Technicians, we experience among the 1400 Ford dealerships, I would be extremely concerned when the certain service of a Rivian is required. The existence of the massive Ford dealership and service network, even with all its shortcomings, was a major consideration of my purchase of a fully electric vehicle.

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