Lightning is a Better Road Tripper than our Rivian R1T

Warning, this is wordy so...

TL;DR: We've found that both the Rivian and the Lightning are fantastic trucks for our day to day use, and they're a lot of fun to drive. But our family prefers the Lightning when it comes to road trips. Highway efficiency of the Lightning was better than expected. Software needs improvement.

RIVIAN
So, a few months ago we took our Rivian R1T on its first road trip. It was a great experience, barring some lessons learned dealing with some faulty chargers. We did about 1000 miles, and learned what's enjoyable and what's a challenge with road tripping EV's.

The smoothness, quietness, and efficiency of the driving experience is fantastic (especially coming from a gas F250). But finding the right chargers along a trip takes more planning, and can be the difference between a fun or frustrating trip.

LIGHTNING
We had a chance to do another road trip and decided to use the Lightning this time. It was a similar route as before, but longer - 1500 miles total this time.

We avoided a few chargers that we knew were problematic the last time, so this time charging went really well.

With the Rivian's better aero we saw highway efficiency around 2.4 to 2.6 miles/kwh travelling 65-75mph.
With the Lightning's blockier form factor, I was concerned we would have to stop much more often. But it turned out to be a non-issue. The Lightning got between 2.2 to 2.4 miles/kwh travelling the same 65-75mph. Meaning we needed the same number of stops as the Rivian to cover the same distance.

At each stop the truck was steadily pulling around 125kw with initial peaks around 170kw - 30 to 40 minutes of charging was enough to get to the next stop.

Actually, we found the truck could go further than we could. Our family's need for rest stops ended up dictating where we stopped. 30 to 40 minutes to charge might seem long, but with bathroom breaks and getting food we found that the truck was usually done charging before we were ready to leave.

We also took advantage of the Lightning's generous on board power options. Everyone in the cabin was able to keep all their electronics running and charged (phones, laptops, tablets, etc). Which was a first - usually at some point on a road trip one kid has a device out of power and ends up grumpy because they have to wait to share charging options.

Having power at the tailgate was a real game changer. We were able to run a portable fridge during the whole trip, so we had all our favorite food and drinks handy. Also we powered up an electric grill to cook up hot food during rest stops. And best of all, we were able to run a coffee maker to keep the grown ups happy.

With the Rivian, we would be able to power up only one of those items at a time. With the Lightning it was no issue to run all of them at the same time.

And while the Rivian R1T is spacious and smooth, the Lightning is in a whole other class when road tripping with the family. It's a smoother and quieter ride for the passengers. And for our family of four, the extra in cabin space and the extra storage space in the Lightning made for a much more comfortable trip.

Oh, and BlueCruise is great. We're still on the 1.0 version, but we found it so useful on our road trip. It really helped reduce driver fatigue and worked very reliably on the highway. The only shortcoming was in stop and go traffic - it stops later that I would and accelerates later and faster than I would - making for a more jarring ride than I would want.

Problems?
The only complaint about the Lightning is the software.

The truck is fantastic, and even the software features offered are pretty amazing (Android Auto, BlueCruise, 360 camera, zone lighting, on board scales, trailer hitch cam, etc). The only things I want added are a Pet Mode, Camping Mode, and Dashcam.

The let down is in the software user interface. Ford really needs to take cues from Tesla and Rivian in terms of UX design for the in vehicle software and the FordPass app.

Why does the whole interface change depending on menu selection? There should be consistent button placement so the driver can find things quickly and without having to take away attention from driving.

Why does having something plugged into the truck bed but not powered prevent the truck from shifting into drive? (that was a weird one)

Why am I constantly nagged about power being supplied to the outlets if I choose to have a portable fridge plugged into the truck bed.

Why do informational warnings prevent me from driving or using the touchscreen until the warning is dismissed?

@Ford Motor Company , please please please improve the software user interface!

Summary
What did we learn from a year of Lightning ownership?

Fantastic hardware. The truck is capable, solid, and well built. No fit and finish issues found.

Remarkably efficient considering its size. 2.4-2.6 miles/kwh at highway speeds 65-75mph, and 2.7-3.2 miles/kwh in local driving below 55mph.

It makes for a great daily driver, and as it turns out it's a great road tripper too.

Pretty full featured software which has [slowly] improved. Would like to see them on more regular feature release cycles like Tesla and Rivian.

Really the only thing holding it back is the software UX design. I'm hopeful Ford makes progress in this area. I will say the interface improved significantly from initial build, but it still has a lot of room for improvement.

I agree - with 26,000 plus miles and a LOT of DC Fast Charging and a LOT of different brands and charging locations, road tripping is enjoyable, from a DRIVING perspective, and the COMFORT and ROOMINESS of the cabin, and the available 120v POWER options in the cabin AND from the bed, as long as you find WORKING and SPEEDY chargers.

One of the only 'drawbacks' is possibly the software that seems to be lagging behind others... maybe it's coming, maybe we're just spoiled, but if my phone's google mapping does a better and quicker and easier job finding chargers, and mapping travel plans, it's not getting the job done.
And it's annoying that you can NOT do things you need WHILE you are driving, and yet you CAN do many other things that are NOT important, but even more distracting... crazy.
For instance, while driving, it will show you upcoming chargers, but ONLY the few at the start of the list, if you try to scroll down, it gives you the ridiculous "sorry, you can't do this right now, cause', after all, you're driving"... message. I'm paraphrasing, but you get the message.

That ONE negative, though, is my only complaint, if it's even that - this truck is just what it needs to be - it gets the job done.

sd25 said:

Why does having something plugged into the truck bed but not powered prevent the truck from shifting into drive?

Click to expand...

In case you have an extension cord going from your truck bed to some stationary object outside of your truck (maybe a job site). It would be easy to forget and dangerous to drive away. A little warning is not so bad IMO. Just press OK and be on your way.

sd25 said:

Why am I constantly nagged about power being supplied to the outlets if I choose to have a portable fridge plugged into the truck bed.

Click to expand...

Well how does the truck know you want to supply power to it? Now if you already have the sockets powered on and then you unplug DC charging and turn the truck on again and it still asks you if you want to supply power, well that is annoying since it should have remembered that it was already on.

@petemill you make some valid points.

What I was trying to convey, perhaps not well, was that the warnings given by the Ford software are excessive.

Sure, it's good to give some warnings. But give people the option to acknowledge them and choose whether they want to be reminded again.

Ford's method of constant warnings and actually having to dismiss them before you can do anything else each and every time is excessive and often interferes with driving.

I was actually prevented from putting the truck into drive for a few minutes because the cover over one of the outlets wasn't fully closed. Nothing plugged in, just the cover not fully seated. Took a while to figure that one out based on the useless message displayed.

Some people are okay with constantly being nagged. I'm not a fan.

Again, the Lighting is an amazing accomplishment by Ford. I'm genuinely impressed by what they built and overall I'm very happy with the truck. I just think there's room for improvement on the software.

sd25 said:

Warning, this is wordy so...

TL;DR: We've found that both the Rivian and the Lightning are fantastic trucks for our day to day use, and they're a lot of fun to drive. But our family prefers the Lightning when it comes to road trips. Highway efficiency of the Lightning was better than expected. Software needs improvement.

RIVIAN
So, a few months ago we took our Rivian R1T on its first road trip. It was a great experience, barring some lessons learned dealing with some faulty chargers. We did about 1000 miles, and learned what's enjoyable and what's a challenge with road tripping EV's.

The smoothness, quietness, and efficiency of the driving experience is fantastic (especially coming from a gas F250). But finding the right chargers along a trip takes more planning, and can be the difference between a fun or frustrating trip.

LIGHTNING
We had a chance to do another road trip and decided to use the Lightning this time. It was a similar route as before, but longer - 1500 miles total this time.

We avoided a few chargers that we knew were problematic the last time, so this time charging went really well.

With the Rivian's better aero we saw highway efficiency around 2.4 to 2.6 miles/kwh travelling 65-75mph.
With the Lightning's blockier form factor, I was concerned we would have to stop much more often. But it turned out to be a non-issue. The Lightning got between 2.2 to 2.4 miles/kwh travelling the same 65-75mph. Meaning we needed the same number of stops as the Rivian to cover the same distance.

At each stop the truck was steadily pulling around 125kw with initial peaks around 170kw - 30 to 40 minutes of charging was enough to get to the next stop.

Actually, we found the truck could go further than we could. Our family's need for rest stops ended up dictating where we stopped. 30 to 40 minutes to charge might seem long, but with bathroom breaks and getting food we found that the truck was usually done charging before we were ready to leave.

We also took advantage of the Lightning's generous on board power options. Everyone in the cabin was able to keep all their electronics running and charged (phones, laptops, tablets, etc). Which was a first - usually at some point on a road trip one kid has a device out of power and ends up grumpy because they have to wait to share charging options.

Having power at the tailgate was a real game changer. We were able to run a portable fridge during the whole trip, so we had all our favorite food and drinks handy. Also we powered up an electric grill to cook up hot food during rest stops. And best of all, we were able to run a coffee maker to keep the grown ups happy.

With the Rivian, we would be able to power up only one of those items at a time. With the Lightning it was no issue to run all of them at the same time.

And while the Rivian R1T is spacious and smooth, the Lightning is in a whole other class when road tripping with the family. It's a smoother and quieter ride for the passengers. And for our family of four, the extra in cabin space and the extra storage space in the Lightning made for a much more comfortable trip.

Oh, and BlueCruise is great. We're still on the 1.0 version, but we found it so useful on our road trip. It really helped reduce driver fatigue and worked very reliably on the highway. The only shortcoming was in stop and go traffic - it stops later that I would and accelerates later and faster than I would - making for a more jarring ride than I would want.

Problems?
The only complaint about the Lightning is the software.

The truck is fantastic, and even the software features offered are pretty amazing (Android Auto, BlueCruise, 360 camera, zone lighting, on board scales, trailer hitch cam, etc). The only things I want added are a Pet Mode, Camping Mode, and Dashcam.

The let down is in the software user interface. Ford really needs to take cues from Tesla and Rivian in terms of UX design for the in vehicle software and the FordPass app.

Why does the whole interface change depending on menu selection? There should be consistent button placement so the driver can find things quickly and without having to take away attention from driving.

Why does having something plugged into the truck bed but not powered prevent the truck from shifting into drive? (that was a weird one)

Why am I constantly nagged about power being supplied to the outlets if I choose to have a portable fridge plugged into the truck bed.

Why do informational warnings prevent me from driving or using the touchscreen until the warning is dismissed?

@Ford Motor Company , please please please improve the software user interface!

Summary
What did we learn from a year of Lightning ownership?

Fantastic hardware. The truck is capable, solid, and well built. No fit and finish issues found.

Remarkably efficient considering its size. 2.4-2.6 miles/kwh at highway speeds 65-75mph, and 2.7-3.2 miles/kwh in local driving below 55mph.

It makes for a great daily driver, and as it turns out it's a great road tripper too.

Pretty full featured software which has [slowly] improved. Would like to see them on more regular feature release cycles like Tesla and Rivian.

Really the only thing holding it back is the software UX design. I'm hopeful Ford makes progress in this area. I will say the interface improved significantly from initial build, but it still has a lot of room for improvement.

Click to expand...

I love the lightning for smoothness, but I'm surprised you found the lightning range adequate. I suppose highway speed limits being 75 and 80mph play a much larger factor here, but the biggest advantage of the Rivian is highway range, and charging speed, seems consistently better/faster.

The F150 "nags" from nannycams to things open to propower alerts are just excessive.

sd25 said:

@petemill you make some valid points.

I was actually prevented from putting the truck into drive for a few minutes because the cover over one of the outlets wasn't fully closed. Nothing plugged in, just the cover not fully seated. Took a while to figure that one out based on the useless message displayed.

Some people are okay with constantly being nagged. I'm not a fan.

Click to expand...

I agree with the 'nagging' nature of the pop-up driver messages, but I also realize that if I simply don't turn the truck 'OFF', they continue to 'nag' me every time I get in, put it in drive, etc... that might not work for every situation, but yes, the constant pressing of the 'OK' button on the steering wheel to get past the message to be able to put it into Drive is annoying, at some point, and add to that the center screen's "Pro Power will run Until you run out of power!..." or some similar message that you also must 'OK', is a little overkill.

Can we also figure out a way to DEFEAT the center screen's video message that "Full View is not Available", which always seems to sit RIGHT in the way of seeing what I want to SEE!!!!! Crazy, and it actually LOOKS like you are already SEEING the Full View... WHAT are they referring to?????? Crazy.

well, just some slight annoyances that some engineer added, a safety engineer signed off on, the safety manager checked a box for, and the software designers approved. Crazy though.

sd25 said:

Oh, and BlueCruise is great. We're still on the 1.0 version, but we found it so useful on our road trip. It really helped reduce driver fatigue and worked very reliably on the highway. The only shortcoming was in stop and go traffic - it stops later that I would and accelerates later and faster than I would - making for a more jarring ride than I would want.

Click to expand...

I found this to be the number 1 annoyance with BlueCruise. Overall it is pretty good but Stop-n-Go traffic requires it to be disabled to keep the passengers from soiling their seats in more ways than one. Interested to see if others experience this and have any insight to Ford's improvement on this feature.

Just "road tripped" from Northern Virginia to Niagara Falls NY yesterday.

My Lightning was great ride. Yes, the UI could be better (especially since I have experience with different Tesla's).

One of the big issues is related to Charging Network (and the UI). I planned out the stops in advance. Trying to do it while your driving would have been really difficult. Having to stop at ad hoc charging locations - that are spread really far apart through central, rual Pennslyvania and New York State - and hoping the Ford UI got it right could have been a disaster.

The 4 station Electrify America stop in Pennslyvania was empty when I stopped, yeah. But as I was there two different EVs pulled up and couldn't get their PODs to charge.

The next 4 station stop in New York (EVOLVE) was empty as well. Couldn't get the first 2 to accept my credit card (no app for EVOLVE) and luckily the 3rd POD was the charm.

Lastly, I didn't need to stop at the Tesla MagicDock 12 station location in Batavia NY, but wanted to try the Tesla charger out. After 15 minutes of trying to get close enough to reach the cord to the Lightning, I gave up and pulled in sideways, blocking a couple of spots. It charged great - after downloading the app, and entering a CC but warning - if you have a LIGHTING the cords are too short at Tesla MagicDocks. Even if you bring you bumper up and phycially touch the bollards.

hturnerfamily said:

Can we also figure out a way to DEFEAT the center screen's video message that "Full View is not Available", which always seems to sit RIGHT in the way of seeing what I want to SEE!!!!! Crazy, and it actually LOOKS like you are already SEEING the Full View... WHAT are they referring to?????? Crazy.

Click to expand...

If Ford happens to be watching this thread, please fix this feature. It is useless to have the message described above sit in the middle of what you are trying to inspect to ensure safety. It is distracting and dangerous.

Adventureboy said:

Overall it is pretty good but Stop-n-Go traffic requires it to be disabled to keep the passengers from soiling their seats in more ways than one. Interested to see if others experience this and have any insight to Ford's improvement on this feature.

Click to expand...

When used within its parameters, BlueCruise is great. I live right off of a BlueCruise-enabled Interstate, and all but the most local trips involve going up or down the highway -- so I use BlueCruise more often than not when I drive. I find that its performance in stop-and-go traffic depends on what kind of stop-and-go is happening. Ultimately, BlueCruise depends on the Adaptive Cruise Control to handle speeds and following distances.

Adaptive Cruise Control works well when everyone is going about the same speed. It is (of course) designed for highway cruising, but it also works in rush-hour type traffic, where overall speeds are low to moderate, and all vehicles are going about the same speed as we slow to a crawl, stop briefly, resume, and repeat the cycle until you get to your exit. I particularly like that I can set following distance to maximum and it will operate correctly all the way to a stop and automatically resume.

Adaptive Cruise Control doesn't handle obstacles or sudden congestion well. In situations where you're at full highway speed and traffic in front of you is moving very slowly or actually stopped, it can and will drive you into a stationary object. This is covered in the manual -- "Do not use adaptive cruise control [...] in heavy traffic" and "When following a vehicle that is braking, your vehicle does not always decelerate quickly enough to avoid a crash without driver intervention. Apply the brakes when necessary." (p.281) and "The system may not detect stationary or slow moving vehicles" (p.282).

djwildstar said:

"Do not use adaptive cruise control [...] in heavy traffic" and "When following a vehicle that is braking, your vehicle does not always decelerate quickly enough to avoid a crash without driver intervention. Apply the brakes when necessary." (p.281) and "The system may not detect stationary or slow moving vehicles" (p.282).

Click to expand...

Yes, I have read the manual and understand the limitations and continue to stand by on the ready. I know we can do better and make the roads safer by tweaking some of these goofy quirks of BlueCruise.

pc500 said:

I love the lightning for smoothness, but I'm surprised you found the lightning range adequate. I suppose highway speed limits being 75 and 80mph play a much larger factor here, but the biggest advantage of the Rivian is highway range, and charging speed, seems consistently better/faster.

The F150 "nags" from nannycams to things open to propower alerts are just excessive.

Click to expand...

The side-by-side 20-80 charging tests between the R1T and the Lightning show that the Lightning charges faster. The Rivian starts out higher (190+ KW) but tapers faster. It’s been a while since I‘ve read the article, I’d need to search to find it.

The most annoying feature is the "ding dong ding dong dong dong dong dong" "look at the road" when you are driving with the sun behind you shining into the eye sensor. Wish there was a way to turn that off.

sd25 said:

Warning, this is wordy so...

TL;DR: We've found that both the Rivian and the Lightning are fantastic trucks for our day to day use, and they're a lot of fun to drive. But our family prefers the Lightning when it comes to road trips. Highway efficiency of the Lightning was better than expected. Software needs improvement.

RIVIAN
So, a few months ago we took our Rivian R1T on its first road trip. It was a great experience, barring some lessons learned dealing with some faulty chargers. We did about 1000 miles, and learned what's enjoyable and what's a challenge with road tripping EV's.

The smoothness, quietness, and efficiency of the driving experience is fantastic (especially coming from a gas F250). But finding the right chargers along a trip takes more planning, and can be the difference between a fun or frustrating trip.

LIGHTNING
We had a chance to do another road trip and decided to use the Lightning this time. It was a similar route as before, but longer - 1500 miles total this time.

We avoided a few chargers that we knew were problematic the last time, so this time charging went really well.

With the Rivian's better aero we saw highway efficiency around 2.4 to 2.6 miles/kwh travelling 65-75mph.
With the Lightning's blockier form factor, I was concerned we would have to stop much more often. But it turned out to be a non-issue. The Lightning got between 2.2 to 2.4 miles/kwh travelling the same 65-75mph. Meaning we needed the same number of stops as the Rivian to cover the same distance.

At each stop the truck was steadily pulling around 125kw with initial peaks around 170kw - 30 to 40 minutes of charging was enough to get to the next stop.

Actually, we found the truck could go further than we could. Our family's need for rest stops ended up dictating where we stopped. 30 to 40 minutes to charge might seem long, but with bathroom breaks and getting food we found that the truck was usually done charging before we were ready to leave.

We also took advantage of the Lightning's generous on board power options. Everyone in the cabin was able to keep all their electronics running and charged (phones, laptops, tablets, etc). Which was a first - usually at some point on a road trip one kid has a device out of power and ends up grumpy because they have to wait to share charging options.

Having power at the tailgate was a real game changer. We were able to run a portable fridge during the whole trip, so we had all our favorite food and drinks handy. Also we powered up an electric grill to cook up hot food during rest stops. And best of all, we were able to run a coffee maker to keep the grown ups happy.

With the Rivian, we would be able to power up only one of those items at a time. With the Lightning it was no issue to run all of them at the same time.

And while the Rivian R1T is spacious and smooth, the Lightning is in a whole other class when road tripping with the family. It's a smoother and quieter ride for the passengers. And for our family of four, the extra in cabin space and the extra storage space in the Lightning made for a much more comfortable trip.

Oh, and BlueCruise is great. We're still on the 1.0 version, but we found it so useful on our road trip. It really helped reduce driver fatigue and worked very reliably on the highway. The only shortcoming was in stop and go traffic - it stops later that I would and accelerates later and faster than I would - making for a more jarring ride than I would want.

Problems?
The only complaint about the Lightning is the software.

The truck is fantastic, and even the software features offered are pretty amazing (Android Auto, BlueCruise, 360 camera, zone lighting, on board scales, trailer hitch cam, etc). The only things I want added are a Pet Mode, Camping Mode, and Dashcam.

The let down is in the software user interface. Ford really needs to take cues from Tesla and Rivian in terms of UX design for the in vehicle software and the FordPass app.

Why does the whole interface change depending on menu selection? There should be consistent button placement so the driver can find things quickly and without having to take away attention from driving.

Why does having something plugged into the truck bed but not powered prevent the truck from shifting into drive? (that was a weird one)

Why am I constantly nagged about power being supplied to the outlets if I choose to have a portable fridge plugged into the truck bed.

Why do informational warnings prevent me from driving or using the touchscreen until the warning is dismissed?

@Ford Motor Company , please please please improve the software user interface!

Summary
What did we learn from a year of Lightning ownership?

Fantastic hardware. The truck is capable, solid, and well built. No fit and finish issues found.

Remarkably efficient considering its size. 2.4-2.6 miles/kwh at highway speeds 65-75mph, and 2.7-3.2 miles/kwh in local driving below 55mph.

It makes for a great daily driver, and as it turns out it's a great road tripper too.

Pretty full featured software which has [slowly] improved. Would like to see them on more regular feature release cycles like Tesla and Rivian.

Really the only thing holding it back is the software UX design. I'm hopeful Ford makes progress in this area. I will say the interface improved significantly from initial build, but it still has a lot of room for improvement.

Click to expand...

great write-up. Please post this on Rivian Forum (or if you're not a member there let me know and I can post a link to this thread).

Count Orlok said:

great write-up. Please post this on Rivian Forum (or if you're not a member there let me know and I can post a link to this thread).

Click to expand...

Thanks Count!

Sure, I'll post it there. But it's on you if it stirs up any Rivian devotees too much.

Seriously though, I've learned a lot on the Lightning and Rivian forums from a lot of helpful people. So I'm happy to pass on anything useful I learn along the way.