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Ford unveils the F-150 Lightning, its all-electric pickup truck

80 points| billyharris | 4 years ago |techcrunch.com | reply

89 comments

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[+] Animats|4 years ago|reply
Starts just under $40K. Before federal EV incentive payments. Compares to $30.6K for the 2022 gas version. After incentives, the difference is only about $2.5K.

This is when electric vehicles really start taking over.

[+] wazokazi|4 years ago|reply
Are incentives even necessary anymore?

Regardless, this just shows how well Ford understands the truck market. This will sell like hot cakes, and they will have trouble keeping up with demand.

[+] rs999gti|4 years ago|reply
> This is when electric vehicles really start taking over.

Price is one aspect, the other is looks. This looks like a truck and probably drives and handles like a truck.

Truck buyers are already financing $60K trucks, this design being exactly like a body on frame F150 makes the decision easier.

[+] jeremiahhs|4 years ago|reply
The 40k version isn't available until 5/24 ( 3 years), and it's a commercial variant, not retail.
[+] obloid|4 years ago|reply
I was really excited about this truck until I saw they went the Tesla route with the giant touchscreen in the middle of the console. Do they think that this what EV buyers want because Tesla has it? I want a vehicle with simple tactile controls just like my ICE vehicle, but electric. Maybe I'm in the minority.
[+] stetrain|4 years ago|reply
Base model and XLT have a 12" display with the physical A/C controls below it, same as what's in the normal F-150.
[+] achenatx|4 years ago|reply
volume and tuning should be dials. I dislike touch screens too.

My tundra has the perfect UI for climate and audio

[+] thebruce87m|4 years ago|reply
Tactile controls and an empty double-din slot to allow me to fit in whatever third party media player I choose. I don’t want <car manufacturers> bug ridden “radio” thank you very much.
[+] breadzeppelin__|4 years ago|reply
they also just filed that patent for streaming ads on to that screen. great...
[+] SigmundA|4 years ago|reply
Looks like roughly 130kwh battery for 230 miles and 180kwh for 300 miles. Large battery is 1800lbs, about twice the size and weight of a Model 3 battery.

Towing range is always a problem with BEV's, to get good range they they usually focus on aerodynamics and rolling resistance which towing completely destroys. Estimates are it will be under 100 miles range towing its maximum of 10,000lbs with the big battery.

Starting at $40k its easy to see how fast battery prices are falling, being a large part of the cost, it feels a lot like how quickly solar panel prices fell.

Main issue is still energy density, both size and weight, which is going up albeit more slowly than cost is going down and it's being somewhat setback by everyone trying to move away from cobalt.

Other interesting features, all models dual motor 4WD, independent rear suspension with locker, built in scale to measure payload and tongue wieght, 9.6kw of inverter power for running AC loads off battery, optional 240v home charger that can also feed power back to a sub panel with auto switchover to act as power backup.

[+] theluketaylor|4 years ago|reply
The feature list is fantastic, especially since Ford leaned into the EV-ness with powering the home and so many outlets in the bed and frunk.

They came so close to nailing it, but the charge curve is simply not acceptable. 41 minutes for 15-80% is way, way too long. Hyundai Ionic 5 is the same starting price and is close to 20 minutes. The F-150 has a much bigger battery, but that should also mean it can maintain the a high charge rate for longer before tapering. Ford not using 800V is going to come back to haunt them.

[+] frayesto|4 years ago|reply
I think that 1800lbs is actually the weight capacity of the truck if I'm reading the article correctly.

I'm trying to find the mass of the battery to compare the energy density to the Tesla battery packs

[+] aynyc|4 years ago|reply
I have to give Ford credit. I thought it was a mistake to make EV for its well-loved and respected product line (Mustang & F150) instead of striking out on a new product line. So far, the Mach-E has rave reviews, it seems F150 will as well. It actually looks like Ford has a strategy for once.
[+] throwaway0a5e|4 years ago|reply
>the Mach-E has rave reviews,

Lots of things get rave reviews but don't sell very well (or vise versa).

>It actually looks like Ford has a strategy for once.

Last time they had a strategy it was their "global Ford" shtick from the 90s an '00s. That didn't turn out well. They spent the 90s killing or not developing product lines that turned out to be what '00s consumers wanted and spent the '00s playing catch up.

[+] mensetmanusman|4 years ago|reply
This is needed ASAP to help the ice>ev transition speed up.

Automakers should work together and just support Tesla charging stations. This would benefit everyone.

[+] clouddrover|4 years ago|reply
Everyone else is working together. They're using CCS. Even Nissan has switched to CCS. The only laggard at this point is Tesla.

Tesla switched to CCS in Europe. When will they switch to CCS in North America?

[+] plondon514|4 years ago|reply
The reason we ended up with a Tesla, instead of a Kona electric, or any other EV, is the charging network. Where do you charge this thing and how long does it take?

“You can only charge at home” doesn’t work for everyone. Maybe it does for this market though?

[+] aynyc|4 years ago|reply
With the amount of GOOD EV coming to market, I think a lot of places (gas stations, etc) can quickly pivot to support charging stations, assuming incentives align with them. It's naturally for a lot of places with free parking (such as strip malls) to rent out the parking spaces to charging providers for extra cash. Just like cell towers.
[+] youeseh|4 years ago|reply
Unlike a Tesla, your Ford's price isn't going to be the same as the MSRP. Dealers will charge what they think they can sell the vehicle for. If the demand is high, there will be a markup.
[+] BoorishBears|4 years ago|reply
Eh, Tesla was advertising "MSRPs" including thousands in gas savings

Or well, I guess they still are.

[+] oflannabhra|4 years ago|reply
If they come out with a utility van version of this (ie, Transit), I can see it becoming quite popular. With the onboard inverter and 240V, there are a ton of trades and custom campers that would immediately find use for that.

It would be really cool to see a solar trickle charge setup for #vanlife

[+] rasz|4 years ago|reply
>Ford unveils the F-150 Lightning

Reality: Ford confirms existence of at least one prototype, after President has been filmed driving one.

[+] danans|4 years ago|reply
They've announced the entire product line with every trim level. It's hardly just a prototype.
[+] thrower123|4 years ago|reply
Anything less than a 500 mile range makes this a nonstarter compared to ICE models. Although from what I've read elsewhere they are putting nearly a ton (1800 pounds) of batteries in the thing. There are people who use trucks as commuters, but there are also people that are on the road or out in the puckerbrush actually working out of them. Charging infrastructure is not good, and not likely to get better overnight.

I think it would make a lot more sense to build a hybrid diesel to fit in this niche. Particularly if it had enough excess output to run some jobsite equipment. If you don't need to buy a Lincoln generator to run compressors or welders, that would be a tradeoff that would be beneficial.

[+] brianwawok|4 years ago|reply
Have a 300 mile range EV. Drive it all over the country. Tesla will sell a million of these things in the next year. We must have missed then 500 mile requirement.
[+] SigmundA|4 years ago|reply
Diesel already increases cost and weight over gas and are pretty efficient which is why you don't see any hybrids.

Electric motors don't compliment diesel like they do gas which can go Atkinson cycle allowing the gas motor to get diesel like efficiency while making up the loss in torque with electric.

[+] intrepidhero|4 years ago|reply
I love the idea of a hybrid with diesel generator for when I'm out in the bush. But I also want to note I've never owned an ICE vehicle that could go 500 miles on a tank.
[+] stetrain|4 years ago|reply
Their hybrid models already outputs 7.2kw at 240v for jobsite usage, and the EV model can do up to 9.6kw.

I do think hybrids still have a place (and ford just introduced one). At some point it will flip where the hybrids are the EV base plus a gas/diesel/cng/hydrogen generator for people who do those thousand-mile cross country towing trips.

[+] browningstreet|4 years ago|reply
The number of Bay Area based Teslas all over Tahoe these days would give credence to a lower sweet spot for travel range.
[+] throwaway0a5e|4 years ago|reply
Statistically nobody is buying a Lightening (or Raptor, or anything similiar) as a work truck.
[+] theluketaylor|4 years ago|reply
Ford came so close to nailing it. They are doing a special EV frame, including the first independent rear suspension for F-150. 300 mile range available is great. Packaging everything extremely well to offer 400 litres in the frunk is an absolute game changer for truck owners. Re-using the F-150 body shell keeps costs down and allows them to easily provide interior feature parity. 9.6 kW to run your home and tons of 20 amp plugs to run tools and tailgating is brilliant. 10,000 lbs towing and 1800-2000 lbs payload is great.

Then they fell flat on their faces: 41 minutes 15-80% charging. That charging curve is simply not acceptable when Hyundai's Ionic 5 has the same starting price and is about 20 minutes 10-80%.

[+] URSpider94|4 years ago|reply
The F-150 has a battery that’s between 50% and 100% bigger than the battery in the Ioniq 5.
[+] CyberDildonics|4 years ago|reply
It has a giant battery in it. It already takes 150kw to charge it that fast.