The F150 EV Lightning thread

In depth interview with Ford CEO regarding the Lightning and EVs in general. There's some interesting stuff about customers, charging networks, and where he plans to steer the company in the coming years.

Between the Mach E and the Lightning, Ford is going to make a lot of people rethink how critical a range rating is and how often you really charge away from your home base. VW is pushing it in their advertising right now which is great - they're basically emphasizing just how easy it is to live with these things on a daily basis. 

Also - the reason the Lightning can have such a remarkably low price is that the majority of the vehicle is amortized across production of millions. Just about the entire interior, glass, some of the body panels, a non-trivial amount of the frame - no other EV has such a large production base. And usually converted ICE vehicles are pretty lame (check the current Jeep "concept") but Ford is taking advantage of the fact that a ladder frame is just a skateboard with an empty middle section. Love it.

The hard part for everyone else is going to be the price point that Ford is setting. If you don't have those production numbers or if you're dealing with unibodies, you'll have a hard time coming close.

Keith Tanner said:

Also - the reason the Lightning can have such a remarkably low price is that the majority of the vehicle is amortized across production of millions. Just about the entire interior, glass, some of the body panels, a non-trivial amount of the frame - no other EV has such a large production base. And usually converted ICE vehicles are pretty lame (check the current Jeep "concept") but Ford is taking advantage of the fact that a ladder frame is just a skateboard with an empty middle section. Love it.

The hard part for everyone else is going to be the price point that Ford is setting. If you don't have those production numbers or if you're dealing with unibodies, you'll have a hard time coming close.

This was discussed in the CEO interview I linked. The interviewer kind of insinuated that sharing a platform with an ICE might be detrimental, and the CEO said more or less exactly what you just did. Being able to share the cost of windows and body panels and control arms helps to reduce the cost to a more affordable level, and in this case the drawbacks are minimal vs a dedicated EV platform due to the BoF construction.

The whole "skateboard with different bodies" thing is kind of fascinating in the sense that over my car buying lifetime I watched BOF almost completely go away for anthing not a truck and now it's back. Neat. 

I hope they moved the gear selector. Dash-mounted isn't my favorite thing, but from functionality/center console space pov, I'd choose it every time.

It's hard to tell from the pictures, but it looks like the giant selector in the center console remained :/

Sub-optimal for me.

One inarguable benefit of the lightning will be irl anecdotal reviews about towing.

In reply to tremm :

It probably folds flat like the high trim current F150

^(not Lightning, but modern f150 folding shifter)

I was going to give Ford some E36 M3 for something that seems like such a waste of space & unnecessary - make it extra storage space, extra console space, 2 more cup holders, a 6th seat etc., anything but a shifter that will live there 100% of the time taking up space.

But a quick google image search of Tesla/Prius consoles is also disappointing. Seems like customers or engineers are missing a chance to update things for a reluctance/fear of change. I like the i3's choice of getting some more floor space.

Personally, for a truck (especially a "work" truck), I like the idea of a flat 3 person bench, fold down console, and open floor/knee space for the person in the middle. Or to put a bag/purse/tissue box etc. Ain't my truck though

tremm said:

Personally, for a truck (especially a "work" truck), I like the idea of a flat 3 person bench, fold down console, and open floor/knee space for the person in the middle. Or to put a bag/purse/tissue box etc. Ain't my truck though

In a standard cab truck, sure.  If it's a crew cab then the difference between holding 5 and 6 isn't all that significant and I'd much rather have the full center console.  For an automatic truck (current F-150) the shifter should be on the column, not in the console.

Console shifter is optional currently. Everything but I think the highest trim package and raptor come standard with column shifter. No idea if the lightning will follow that though.

If this came with the a fold-up bench seat I'd start saving for it tomorrow. The range + frunk + reasonable cost (at first glance) makes me think Ford will have a big winner on their hands!

tremm said:

^(not Lightning, but modern f150 folding shifter)

I was going to give Ford some E36 M3 for something that seems like such a waste of space & unnecessary - make it extra storage space, extra console space, 2 more cup holders, a 6th seat etc., anything but a shifter that will live there 100% of the time taking up space.

But a quick google image search of Tesla/Prius consoles is also disappointing. Seems like customers or engineers are missing a chance to update things for a reluctance/fear of change. I like the i3's choice of getting some more floor space.

Personally, for a truck (especially a "work" truck), I like the idea of a flat 3 person bench, fold down console, and open floor/knee space for the person in the middle. Or to put a bag/purse/tissue box etc. Ain't my truck though

I don't know about the Prius, but the center console in a Tesla is a giant storage space separated into several compartments. It doesn't look like it, but that "transmission tunnel" is a big empty box.

My 2500 has a flat 3 person bench, fold down console and open floor/knee spaces for the person in the middle. It's also a stick, so nobody has ever sat in the middle and the center console has been folded down for a decade :)

In reply to Keith Tanner :

The best way to make new friends is to put them in the middle seat in a stick shift car. 

STM317 said:

In depth interview with Ford CEO regarding the Lightning and EVs in general. There's some interesting stuff about customers, charging networks, and where he plans to steer the company in the coming years.

He also references the Homer in his interview, that's pretty funny.

In reply to stuart in mn :

Given who his brother was, he should be funny.

Erich said:

I know this isn't a popular stance here, but as a city-dweller, I sure wish they could lower the hoodline a bit instead of just making an enormous frunk. It's an extremely fast, heavy, enormous truck that has terrible sightlines. There's next to no consideration for anyone this truck inevitably crashes into baked into the design. 

The frunk, speed, and capability is cool for the driver, but all of it makes this truck more dangerous to everyone sharing the road with it. 

Totally agree. Trucks are just needless tall especially in the front. Makes it hard to see in front of and the beds are just a pain in the ass to load. Took this photo of my Ranger next to some hideous GMC thing the other day. 

alfadriver said:

In reply to stuart in mn :

Given who his brother was, he should be funny.

Chris Farley was his cousin.

Jim Farley is an interesting guy, for one he's a real car guy and not just an executive.  He's owned some very cool hot rods.

93EXCivic said:

Totally agree. Trucks are just needless tall especially in the front. Makes it hard to see in front of and the beds are just a pain in the ass to load. Took this photo of my Ranger next to some hideous GMC thing the other day. 

I hate it when I'm waiting to pull out at an intersection and a pickup is next to me in the next lane - there may as well be a brick wall there, making it impossible to see oncoming traffic.  The top of their tire is at eye level for me, much less the height of the front fender.

At least as far as visibility while driving the truck... I'm currently sitting in the passenger seat of an f150 and if the entire front end disappeared I'd be able to see maybe 2' closer in front. And even that requires looking through the wiper arms. The hood is barely visible from inside.

I'll agree with trucks overall being too big, but cutting the nose off of the lightning wouldn't make any appreciable positive difference.

 I could see the massive center screen as being a safety feature if it's built so you can visualize road maps without having to fully take ones eye's off the road. But if Ford DOES send ads to it like they've patented, I will never buy.

One notable detail about the "commercial", "base" model of the lightning is that all of them are AWD. That's one hell of a selling point on top of all the EV benefits.

93EXCivic said:

Erich said:

I know this isn't a popular stance here, but as a city-dweller, I sure wish they could lower the hoodline a bit instead of just making an enormous frunk. It's an extremely fast, heavy, enormous truck that has terrible sightlines. There's next to no consideration for anyone this truck inevitably crashes into baked into the design. 

The frunk, speed, and capability is cool for the driver, but all of it makes this truck more dangerous to everyone sharing the road with it. 

Totally agree. Trucks are just needless tall especially in the front. Makes it hard to see in front of and the beds are just a pain in the ass to load. Took this photo of my Ranger next to some hideous GMC thing the other day.

Jalopnik recently had an article about how pedestrian deaths are through the roof despite the lockdowns, and it's largely due to how big vehicles have become- Here's an article about from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, though to be frank it's only going to say things we already know.

In reply to dps214 :

I disagree, I think pedestrian safety standards in car and truck design are a reasonable step forward that we could take. 

There are two factors when it comes to trucks, one is visibility and the other is bumper/hood height. An F-150 has a blind zone of between 7 and 10 feet in front depending on driver height. Compare that to 3 to 5.5 feet in a Subaru Forester. That's a significant difference. You can fit a line of 13 kids sitting in front of an Escalade before you can make out the top of a head. 

Second, the height and shape of the hood on modern trucks causes pedestrians to be hit higher in the body than older cars and trucks, which makes it much more likely to kill them regardless of speed. All your important organs are in the chest, and an F-150 or similar is likely to throw you under it rather than up on the hood. Pedestrian deaths are way up over the last few years and modern truck design plays a part in that. 

But that's all a pipe dream at this point. Ford designed this truck to sell well, and buyers don't really care about pedestrian safety in our market. 

Erich said:

In reply to dps214 :

Pedestrian deaths are way up over the last few years and modern truck design plays a part in that. 

It plays a part, but from watching pedestrians in the urban areas around me, walking out into traffic while looking at/using their cell phones is a factor in that, too (as does, of course, using phones while driving). While getting hit by a truck or bus is most likely going to be fatal, paying attention and not stepping out in front of one is going to be the most effective way of not getting injured or killed. We as a society have seemed to have forgotten that.

What I'm saying is that cutting the front end off of the trucks drops that blind spot to 6-9ft...not really much of a change. Make them smaller/lower sure, but just taking the current design and dropping the hood line is basically no difference. As far as pedestrian safety, I'm not so sure about that one. Basically all vehicles have pretty large, flat fronts these days. My understanding is that a lot of that is driven by pedestrian safety requirements, bigger surface area for the impact means more energy dissipation. Trucks are big enough that you could probably reduce the area some and still be fine, but kneecapping the pedestrian and launching them into the windshield isn't really an improvement.

In reply to Chris_V :

And, uh, the stereotypical truck/suv driver on their phone not paying attention or giving care to operating their big ass status symbol

I can only speak for my city, but 75% of pedestrian deaths here are due to J-walking and or crossing against the light.

I'm not a fan of EVs but as others have mentioned I think this will meet most truck buyers needs quite well.