Top Lightning gripes or dislikes.

[Artificial Intelligence]

It could be just me, but lightning has the lousiest vipers. It should come with heavy duty vipers.

I also dislike the infotainment interface. My wife’s recently redesigned grand Cherokee has an intuitive easy to use interface ford should take a look.

Sponsored

 

[Artificial Intelligence]

Overheats my phone and can't keep up with the drain of wireless Android Auto. So I'd you use it while connected your phone overheats while losing battery.

I use it all the time works well no overheating of the phone here

 

[Pioneer74]

It could be just me, but lightning has the lousiest vipers. It should come with heavy duty vipers.

Is there a "snake package" I don't know about?

 

[Blainestang]

I mean I actually really like that the Lightning has a very tactile, physical shifter unlike other EVs or even modern gas vehicles that have push buttons. It makes shifting without having to take my eyes off the road so much easier and more intuitive. But considering the F150 doesn't have a second stalk on the steering column, they could have compromised and setup a column shifter instead. That would be the perfect compromise in my opinion.

It's nice in hand and works fine, but it takes up a lot of space. Part of it is how proud Ford acts about the fact that it folds when it could easily just not be there.

IMO, the BMW i3 implementation is even better. It's a lever that you just push forward or back for drive vs reverse, so there's no question about whether you are in Reverse or Park or whatever when you're not looking. Park is a button on the lever. Small, out of the way, at least as easy to use without looking at it, doesn't have to be motorized to get it out of the way.

There are WORSE implementations than Ford, though, for sure.

 

[jaykoolzboy]

After 7k miles , here are my recaps


Likes:


0 - 70 MPH Acceleration is unreal

Relatively comfortable ride

Mega Frunk is a game changer

We are getting very close to the EPA estimated ranges

Nice looking truck from back and side

Range Rover level serenity

Very spacious , especially for rear passengers

HOV Sticker FTW







Meh:

Front plastic looks cheap and unattractive

Not the biggest fan for the Lariat ER seats (Platinum seat is significantly better)

The lower tier B&O on Lariat ER is bad, I mean horrible.

Ford can do better on the layouts of the Mega Frunk (it's big , but very awkward shapes and angles, Ford can do better）

Lariat ER is now a 90K truck with 40K interior, it's not bad, but just nothing special or stand out.

After 70MPH , it doesn't have the thrilling acceleration experience you expected from something with 600HP and 800lb of torque, it's just too heavy.

Infotainment system is slow and unresponsive (my 40K Kona EV is twice as fast)

Lack of Button for fast changing drive modes (you need to go thru the slow responsive infotainment system to make any changes)

BlueCrusie needs more work, several occasions it accelerates with lane changing vehicles in the front, need to hit the brake hard for those.

Lack of SoC and charging information is annoying.

It has 2 glove boxes, but needs more length on both of them.

Other well documented EV Truck issues (cold climate, tow range , etc..)

Need to power up the Truck for Pro Power and 120V outlet inside the cabin (Software updates needed for that)

Frunk takes way too long to open.

Rear view Camera needs frequent clean ups (literally after every car wash or rain)


Overall, I am pretty happy with the truck so far, and vast majority of the Mehs can be fixed by software updates or aftermarket peripherals.

 

[wighty]

It's nice in hand and works fine, but it takes up a lot of space. Part of it is how proud Ford acts about the fact that it folds when it could easily just not be there.

I personally don't like the shifter simply because it makes the fold down armrest surface kind of useless to me, and in particular you literally can't use it while driving (so your passenger can't use it for something like a laptop).

 

[Monkey]

I personally don't like the shifter simply because it makes the fold down armrest surface kind of useless to me, and in particular you literally can't use it while driving (so your passenger can't use it for something like a laptop).

Fold down shifter is super gimmicky. I wish it had the shifter on the steering column like the stalk they still use in the Super Duty. This would free up space for better sized cup holders and whatnot and not have to stow the shifter to use the workspace...

Having the dial shifter in the Bronco Sport and in my Expedition the Lightning has replaced, I am not a fan of that either, but have grown used to it and prefer it over the gimmicky folding shifter. If Ford didn't want the stalk shifter, they should go to the push buttons on the dash like they have on some of the Lincolns.

Other comments that fall more into the "meh" section...

The B&O audio is just not good. I knew this going into it. I had the B&O Unleashed setup in my Expedition and it's still just meh... Actually lower than meh. I will be doing a sound system overhaul in a couple months though, so didn't feel like paying the premium for the Platinum to still land in audio purgatory.

Platinum seats are indeed better, still couldn't justify the premium. But these Lariat seats are disappointing. The leather is thin and stretchy and the foam is sub-par. I put 80K miles on my '18 Expedition Max Limited and the seats in that were super comfortable right up to the end and looked damn good when I sold it. As far as I can tell it's essentially the exact same seat platform and frame. So WTF? Ford went cheap on the Lariat foam/bolstering and upholstery. I have a hunch that if I keep this truck a long time (or any of us who do) and put 100K+ miles on it, there will be new foam and new Katzkin seat leather in our future...

My '2016 F-350 King Ranch still had the best interior of any truck/SUV I've ever owned. The premium dark brown leather was excellent and the seats were ridiculously comfortable. Best center console design ever with 4 cupholders and no gimmicky shifter or dial.

 

[Oafy44]

I personally don't like the shifter simply because it makes the fold down armrest surface kind of useless to me, and in particular you literally can't use it while driving (so your passenger can't use it for something like a laptop).

Agree. I have a super duty and how are focus groups saying they want column shifters on the super duty’s but not on the f150’s. I love my extra space in the super duty.
the one thing I’ll say if they get it right on the ram it looks like they put the phone charger in the correct spot. It’s almost pointless where ford has it and the wireless is a joke. The fords can power your house or a job site but can barely charge my iPhone wirelessly

if your not going to do column shifter do the new Yukons/ tahoes And put it on the dash and free up that space

 

[Replika]

Global charge limit.

Perviously I set the vehicle’s target charge to 100% and my Juicebox to begin charging overnight so it would be ready for my travel time.

Today it seems that the truck got confused. Didn’t register the 100% target despite double checking.

Just give us a global limit. I have done this successfully dozens of times before road trips with other EVs, until today.

 

[Shrike]

- Cupholders are too small

- UI is not good - charging information should be more easily accessible from the screen and you should be able to set the zoom level on the map one time and have the truck leave it that way.

- All the random lights and noises the truck makes - low speed, frunk opening, tailgate opening, door opening, stuff beside you, etc.

- Bluecruise / lanekeeping needs work. I don't see the phantom braking or sudden acceleration others have posted about, but I'm constantly fighting lanekeeping when it tries to drift into the next lane. And then it'll cancel itself without warning, and re-engage without warning.

Coming from Tesla, still by and large happy with the transition (note: I haven't had the "opportunity" to travel long distance without the supercharger network yet), but my 2017 Tesla did everything listed above very well, so it's tough to look past that stuff.

 

[cvalue13]

And then it'll cancel itself without warning,

I find this occurs when in the right lane, and an entrance or exit ramp come up to the right. If I’m in the middle (of three) or left (of two) lanes, it almost never happens. Seems it’s an issue of the right stripe disappearing suddenly when entrance/exit lanes merge.

 

[TaxmanHog]

I find this occurs when in the right lane, and an entrance or exit ramp come up to the right. If I’m in the middle (of three) or left (of two) lanes, it almost never happens. Seems it’s an issue of the right stripe disappearing suddenly when entrance/exit lanes merge.

++1
I get the same issue happening when the on/off merging ramp lane markers shift over.

Though I'm starting to see a change in the way MASS DOT paints lines at the ramps, they are placing a short spaced lines to define the right margin of the right travel lane where the merge off and merge on zones are situated, these seem to help autonomous driving to continue without interruption.

 

[G-Zeus]

worst part of the truck by far is the front suspension. Way too soft and mushy. Bottoms out very easy and bounces around. Can’t wait for a replacement from fox or king.

Yes!! I thought it was just me. It is way too soft, like the the shocks aren’t meant to hold the extra weight of the truck. I couldn’t remember if it was always like that, or if a few thousand miles wore them out.

Anybody else having issues like this? Is it poor shock absorbers, undersized or some other issue? It is it just the design, and we need aftermarket ones? (Anybody do that yet?)

 

[Monkey]

Updated thoughts after 6000 miles on my Lightning...

Compared to other Ford vehicles I own and have owned over the past 5 years, I have to say that the B&O sound system is inexcusably bad. I mean, the much less capable B&O system in my Bronco Sport Badlands sounds 10X better and it's still pretty lame.

The HVAC system is weak. My other Fords are way better. I suppose they thought they would scale it back on the Lightning to be more energy conscious? But it seems to not be that efficient when running heat. I think they could have done a lot better here. And I shouldn't need to blast AC up front to make the 2nd row livable for passengers. Should have a couple pillar vents for the 2nd row or much better airflow from the pedestal vents with a discrete fan for independent control. Seat heaters work OK, but not as nice as in our '18 Expedition Limited that nicely and evenly warms the whole seat pan and up your back. The cooling of the seats in the Expedition is also a lot more powerful and evenly distributed.

Charge port location is kinda dumb. It seems like it would be just fine there and it flows with the design of the truck. But I routinely find that I have to pull up as close as I can get at many DCFC locations where the cord barely reaches. If it were up front or at the rear tail light, it would work a whole lot better.

Front and 360 cameras should come on a lot earlier than they do... No reason I should be getting proximity warnings long before the camera views automatically pop up when parking, assuming they come up at all. WTF? Glad they at least put the camera button on the top of the UI now, but still not the real solution.

Why does the truck have to beep so much with everything it does?

Truck rides nice overall but is too mushy off-road.

Plug N Charge doesn't work, no matter what I try and I can't seem to get it working or be able to use my free charging credits. I just get charger connection errors and timeouts. But if I initiate from the EA app it all works fine and I get the pass rate. Just want to use my free credits while they're still there.

Trip navigation and charger routing is bad. Comically bad coming from Tesla. It helps now that chargers and a few other things are incorporated into CarPlay so I don't have to use Ford's navigation or flip back and forth. But not great. FWIW, Rivian's is pretty horrible too. They just acquired ABRP, which I don't understand why as it's terrible as well. But ABRP is weirdly popular, those of us who have become accustomed to Tesla's routing have been spoiled.

Cup holders are too damn small. This is on all newer Fords... What are they thinking?

All things considered though, I'm still really liking the truck overall. I've never owned a "perfect" vehicle and even with its flaws and obviously cut corners, the Lightning is still a winning entry from Ford. I think the upcoming T3 project truck will be pretty great.

 

[G-Zeus]

Yes!! I thought it was just me. It is way too soft, like the the shocks aren’t meant to hold the extra weight of the truck. I couldn’t remember if it was always like that, or if a few thousand miles wore them out.

Anybody else having issues like this? Is it poor shock absorbers, undersized or some other issue? It is it just the design, and we need aftermarket ones? (Anybody do that yet?)

So I gave "sport" mode a try last night, and maybe it's the placebo effect, but it seems like a tighter and less mushy ride.

Sponsored