F-150 Lightning

[FrankG]

It is on the way so lets start the conversation. My first observation, for any trip over 150 miles pulling a travel trailer, we will need a lot more charging stations along the way. When charging stations are listed as "free" is this free electricity? The charging stations at the local Walmart look like they are sized for a compact car. This will be fun with a 30ft TT attached. Will we be able to charge them at camp sites? Will AAA deliver a charge if it runs out of energy on the side of I-xx?

[Homebrew]

I don’t think it’s designed to pull a 30’ trailer.
Plus your never going to find a charging station that fits the size of a RV, most stations are designed for a normal size vehicle.
My guess is if you plan to tow an RV with a electric truck then you need to carry a generator.
If the truck gets 150 mile to a full charge ,it will probably get 50 miles while towing a 30’ RV. Most electric charging stations I’ve seen require a credit card, have not seen a free one yet.
Does not make sense to try but I’m sure someone will try.
Also buying a 1st year electric truck from Ford is the last thing I’ll ever do.

[FrankG]

Originally Posted by Homebrew

I don’t think it’s designed to pull a 30’ trailer.
Plus your never going to find a charging station that fits the size of a RV, most stations are designed for a normal size vehicle.
My guess is if you plan to tow an RV with a electric truck then you need to carry a generator.
If the truck gets 150 mile to a full charge ,it will probably get 50 miles while towing a 30’ RV. Most electric charging stations I’ve seen require a credit card, have not seen a free one yet.
Does not make sense to try but I’m sure someone will try.
Also buying a 1st year electric truck from Ford is the last thing I’ll ever do.

https://media.ford.com/content/fordm...lightning.html

[Homebrew]

A few things I noticed that bothers me. 1- they advertise it takes 41 minutes to charge from 15% to 80%. Why not 100%?
2- This truck also requires Cloud service ( monthly fee) , half the places I go have no cell service or spotty service. How will it with no cell coverage?

As with any new product, wait to see how the reviews from normal people are before jumping in and purchasing.

[EcoBuckeye]

Originally Posted by FrankG

https://media.ford.com/content/fordm...lightning.html

I will admit, that's a really intriguing narrative. There is a lot there to be excited about.

[FrankG]

Originally Posted by EcoBuckeye

I will admit, that's a really intriguing narrative. There is a lot there to be excited about.

I'm 75 and been around the big 3 automotive world all my adult life, when the Tesla was introduced I thought it was doomed to fail, now look, there everywhere. I think Ford developed an exciting product that covers a large swath of the F-150 market, and I doubt they would have made the investment without sound marketing data. Are they for everyone, no, but for some the work platform is a dream come true. The new owners will miss coffee and doughnuts at 7-Elleven.

[IsleDog]

Originally Posted by FrankG

I'm 75 and been around the big 3 automotive world all my adult life, when the Tesla was introduced I thought it was doomed to fail, now look, there everywhere. I think Ford developed an exciting product that covers a large swath of the F-150 market, and I doubt they would have made the investment without sound marketing data. Are they for everyone, no, but for some the work platform is a dream come true. The new owners will miss coffee and doughnuts at 7-Elleven.

they wont miss their coffee and doughnuts, they will be stuck at a charging station for 30+ minutes! im interested in what range this truck will have when actually towing something.

[Oaklevel]

The F150 in general is out of our price range.. A Lightning starting base price at 40K is out there but so are all new trucks. They are advertising the max tow capacity at 10K.

Ocean Lakes Family Campground near Myrtle Beach has a couple of vehicle charging sites (not at campsites) I bet they will ad more.

[HangDiver]

I'm actually pretty excited about it. As Homebrew suggests, I won't be at the front of the line. I'll let others go first. But I'm having a new home built as I type am having a dedicated 40amp circut installed in the garage for a future EV charging station.

[GravelRider]

Originally Posted by FrankG

It is on the way so lets start the conversation. My first observation, for any trip over 150 miles pulling a travel trailer, we will need a lot more charging stations along the way. When charging stations are listed as "free" is this free electricity? The charging stations at the local Walmart look like they are sized for a compact car. This will be fun with a 30ft TT attached. Will we be able to charge them at camp sites? Will AAA deliver a charge if it runs out of energy on the side of I-xx?

I certainly won't be first in line for this truck. Latest I read said a 230 mile range, which in real terms will be at least 10% less than advertised, then towing, cut that in half if you're lucky, so I'd assume about a 100 mile range while towing. I wouldn't be okay with that range in a gas/diesel vehicle where fill-ups take a few minutes. There's no way in hell I'd be okay with that in a vehicle that requires waiting for a charge.

This being said, if your campsite has electricity, there's no reason you wouldn't be able to charge there. I guess if you do very short days or only local camping, this might work. It just wouldn't work for me... At least not now with the current range.

[IvoryHemi]

41-minutes to charge from 15% to 80%. So that is assuming 65% of battery capacity as the usable range. Towing cuts that in half

That means 41 mins of charging would net you only 65 miles (200 mi battery) or 98 miles (300 mi battery) of range when towing.

That’s basically drive for an hour then change for an hour. Repeat.

Sorry, doesn’t work for me.

[rsdata]

Where is all this extra electric generating capacity going to come from? Will we all be driving overnight because it took most of the day to charge up from our solar panels and wind mills? Heaven forbid it is raining the day before you want to travel.

[httntheroad]

Wait for campgrounds to charge ALOT for charging.

[bergy]

Originally Posted by Homebrew

A few things I noticed that bothers me. 1- they advertise it takes 41 minutes to charge from 15% to 80%. Why not 100%?

That's because that last 20% takes a lot longer than the time to bring it up to 80%. I'm not exactly sure how much longer it would take, but probably more than 41 minutes.

I don't think this will be practical for towing a travel trailer or 5th wheel until faster charging solutions are available.

[Reverse_snowbird]

Originally Posted by FrankG

It is on the way so lets start the conversation. My first observation, for any trip over 150 miles pulling a travel trailer, we will need a lot more charging stations along the way. When charging stations are listed as "free" is this free electricity? The charging stations at the local Walmart look like they are sized for a compact car. This will be fun with a 30ft TT attached. Will we be able to charge them at camp sites? Will AAA deliver a charge if it runs out of energy on the side of I-xx?

Emmmm.... shouldn't you have asked these questions before you bought the truck? About the only people who can answer those questions would be a Ford dealer.
From what I've read on the Ford page, there are different packages that allow for towing a trailer."... F-150 Lightning targets a maximum 2,000 pounds of payload in the standard-range model with 18-inch
wheels, and a maximum 10,000 pounds of available towing capacity on XLT and Lariat trucks with the extended-range
battery and Max Trailer Tow Package. The low center of gravity brings even more confident handling whether traveling
along rain-slicked roads or through sand."

[sCentralJoey]

Originally Posted by Homebrew

they advertise it takes 41 minutes to charge from 15% to 80%. Why not 100%?

I've heard this "fast to 80%" rule in the context of DC fast charging... maybe this is the same thing. For example, from https://pluginamerica.org/dc-fast-ch...tric-vehicles/ :

Once a vehicle’s battery is recharged to 80%, the charging speed slows down to prevent damage to the battery, much like when filling a glass of water, you must slow down as you get closer to the top to prevent spilling. Because of this, it is recommended to only use DC fast charging until you reach 80% and then continue your trip.

[ARhappycamper]

300 mile range with the extended range battery. Upcharge. 0-60 in 4.5 seconds. Towing I woud think maybe 100 miles. Can charge faster with 2 30 amp leads but only requires 1 30 amp lead. Has 2 side by side charging ports. This would be a good work truck for a service company that stays in 1 town or nearby towns. A fully charged extended range battery will power a house for 3 days. A company can get a commercial series and great tax breaks for buying them.

[{Tpc}]

I have no doubt that this electric truck will be able to pull the load stated. My doubts come from a couple other places though. How will towing affect the electric motors and brakes? How quickly does maximum battery capacity diminish over time towing or not towing? Probably most importantly, what does that 10k weight look like on a truck with a “frunk”….ie no engine weight in the front of the vehicle. I am sure that last part was considered and tested by Ford engineers, but testing and real world applications are different.

Tests are static for the most part. They don’t fluidly change throughout the test and encompass 100 % of all things considered. People will ALWAYS find a way to utilize things in a way that was never intended or considered….pretty much right out of the box.

I’m more interested in the 3.5 ecoboost hybrid. I didn’t even know they had one until I picked up a brochure during an oil change. Salesman said the regular 3.5 ecoboost was better for towing but with the same specs and more hp/torque with the hybrid, I am not sure how that can be. Ford has been producing hybrids for awhile so at least there is a little more engineering time there, but again more components, more complexity, more repair costs.

[moose074]

It will most likely find its niche, when GM and Ram start putting their all electric trucks on the market along with Tesl and Riva ( who ever) then the competition for customers will spark the needed improvement. I will say though for 99% of everything I do except towing it meets my needs and by the time you include the 7500 tax break it about the cheapest out there. Still sticking with the Ram 1500 3.6 as my run around though.

[acadianbob]

Good truck for in city, light commercial use. Plumbing/electrical truck etc.