Just received phone call for next wave, wave 4?

[RavenYZF-R6]

Fair points on resale. My electric company limits the size of system you can put in to 10kwh so I’d have to pay out a little that my system won’t cover on top of any loan I’d get for the solar system. I can’t afford one without financing unfortunately.

Sponsored

 

[TaxmanHog]

I ordered 8pm PST on 5/19, in California, to be more accurate, Sacramento area Folsom Lake Ford. Did not expect to order this year due to high EV demand in California. But I just received email (missed the phone call due to meeting).

Wave 4? Can not decide if I should order it. Below is the email from dealer.

Great news! You're reservation number is going to be in the next wave of invites from Ford to submit your order. You should receive your invite in the next few days to a week. Please give me a call if you have any questions.

Congrat's, looks like you have a fair dealer MSRP policy!!

What are you considering Lariat-ER?

Folsom Ford in Folsom - No ADM for local customers
Folsom Lake Ford in Sacramento - No ADM for customers within 30 miles

 

[Fordskeptic]

With production increasing so much I bet they relax the restrictions on trim levels a lot. I’d bet most who want one are able to snag one next year, just might not be all be the first 2023 off the assembly line.

That would be nice. What do you think is the correlation between increased production and relaxed trim restrictions? Do you think that if production doubles Ford will increase the ratio of retail PROs, and reduce the ratio of higher trims? Just curious of the thought process?

 

[Normanrabbit]

I did some math on solar where I am and it would take 16 years for me to break even on the loan and what I’ll have to pay the electric company on top of what it produces. I just can’t make that investment not knowing if I’ll be in my home for that long before moving. And some solar companies I got quotes from only have a 10 year warranty on work!

I use the costco solar (sunrun) and my break even is less than 6 ask them for a free quote. Costco member also get discount on equipment

 

[Tell It Right]

Fair points on resale. My electric company limits the size of system you can put in to 10kwh so I’d have to pay out a little that my system won’t cover on top of any loan I’d get for the solar system. I can’t afford one without financing unfortunately.

That's sad that you can't put more than 10kW solar onto your house. Living here in Alabama I hear all the time that California leaders are all about green energy and such. I guess that's just talk.

I've got 10 kW solar panels (10.2 technically) with a 12 kW inverter (that's the part your power company pays more attention to because that's the part where the rubber meet the road in putting AC power onto your electric panels) with no restrictions on upgrading beyond that as long as I don't put power onto the grid. If I get an EV I plan to double that to 20 kw panels and 24 kW inverters (my existing 12 kW inverter can work in parallel with another one like it) and triple my battery storage from 30 kWh to 90 kWh (though in truth I discharge them only 70% so it's like upgrading from 21 usable kWh storage to 63 kWh). Plus, my inverter has a feature I'm not using yet but will if I get an EV. It lets me have a panel of circuits that it'll power only when my batteries are charged at a high level (say 70% charged). That way, if I come home with my EV and it's 3/4th charged (meaning I don't need a charge for normal commutes for the next few days) I'll plug it into a port that's powered intermittently -- only if my solar batteries have plenty of charge to power my house through the night. If it's powered when I come home and plug it in, there will be some nights when it'll cease being powered (cease charging my EV) because my home solar batteries will be discharged to whatever threshold I set it to quit powering the extra circuits. That way I have more certainty that any power used to power the EV is powered with excess power, free power from the solar system, that won't result in my home needing power from the grid in the middle of the night (read: pulling from fossil fuel sources). But if I come home with the EV less than 1/2 charged or if I plan on a long trip the next day, I'll plug the EV into a constant powered port like most everybody else charges their EV. (Basically if I NEED power I'll get it even at times it's not 100% green energy.) But my solar system allows me to mitigate that at times that I'm not in dire need of a charge by automatically turning off the "green" port when my solar battery level gets to a low enough point I have to save power to power the house through the night. Likewise if it's still plugged in when the sun comes out the next day and charges the solar batteries, the EV will automatically start charging again when my solar batteries get to 70% charge (or whatever I set it to).

If I charge it like that on most days I ought to be able to charge it 90% of the time with green power with the upgrade I'm thinking of. And the cost of the entire solar system, converting my gas appliances to electric, and paying extra for a $45K EV F-150 Lightning instead of buying an old used gas pickup every 5 to 7 years like I've done for decades, will all pay for itself on about the 12th year. That assumes a 3% inflation rate on gas prices (by avoiding paying at the pump, the more gas goes up each year the more I save with the EV to pay for itself) and assumes the F-150 Lightning will get about 90% of the throughput Ford brags it will (i.e. 1.8 miles per kWh instead of 2 miles per kWh), I keep driving 200 miles per week on average, and the $60 oil changes I'll no longer pay for twice per year also go up 3% inflation. But that assumes I can get a F-150 L at the end of year 2033. I'll pay for it all with a $450/month budget for my power bill + HELOC just like I used to spend $460/month on average for gas for my truck + power bill + natural gas bill before all our energy costs went sky high. To help me make the truck payments I'll use $200 of my $400 monthly car allowance I save to the side for future car repairs and eventually car replacements, plus I'll pull from the HELOC each month that the total payments of car payment - $200 + HELOC + power bill is over $450. When the truck is paid off after 5 years my HELOC + power bill will be well under $450 per month (cha-ching!) and the entire solar/EV system will be a self-funding system. My HELOC balance will keep going down (making my HELOC payment go down) and I'll put the excess of my $450 energy budget into an investment account set aside just for solar/EV replacement (nothing fancy, just simple mutual funds like most of my Roth IRA is invested). When my solar system's first warranty expires on the 19th year there will be 3 times as much in the investment account as I spent to install the solar system: I won't just replace the old solar parts I'll upgrade it bigly. Especially if solar systems keep doing like computers in that they keep going down in price for more horsepower. Likewise the $200 per month I've set aside for years to buy old used trucks every 5 to 7 years will be used to help buy the replacement to the F-150 L when it gives up the ghost (or at least needs the battery replaced). For the rest of mine and my wife's lives we can live in our 2-story house for our kids and grandkids to visit in, drive as much as we're used to, and the energy portion of our budget will be the same as it was about 8 years ago before energy costs started going through the roof (first power rates, then natural gas rates, then gas prices).

 

[RavenYZF-R6]

I use the costco solar (sunrun) and my break even is less than 6 ask them for a free quote. Costco member also get discount on equipment

I’ll have to check them out I love Costco!

And I should clarify I am in Colorado, not California.

My electric company more restricts what they match for kw into the system. So if I’m looking to bank some it would hurt me a bit if I have over a 10kw system. Cuts matching or “credits” to 30% if memory serves. I’m not even sure how big a system over that I could even get on my roof lol.

 

[gorwell]

Folsom Lake Ford

wave 2 at Folsom Lake Ford,

Also Folsom lake ford person here. Wave 2 XLT order due to Pro being gone.

 

[CoyoteJim]

Also Folsom lake ford person here. Wave 2 XLT order due to Pro being gone.

Two XLT SRs...so they had at least two invites in wave 2. They have not contacted me since I switched to them in December but they did approve the order fairly quickly. I was thinking of going in next week for an oil change to check out their service dept and get one of the order printouts everyone on here keeps talking about.

As to the OP's original question/dilemma, these things are hard to get and I feel lucky enough to have gotten the chance to not pass it up. It seems like it's going to be this way for a while - not just trucks but all EVs...there are stories about dealers marking up EV6's, Ionic 5s and long wait times. I think that for at least the next 2 years you will need to have reserved the moment a site went live to even get a chance at something, and then there's the chance your dealer could try to tack on $5-$10k ADM. If you get a chance to get any EV early, with a tax credit and no ADM...there are a lot of people on here who would love that opportunity.

We'll know more when we find out what the conversion rate was in the first 6 waves. And supply chain and battery production issues could get solved later this year and the EV rebates in the BBB could get passed which would change things significantly. But I think EV demand will continue to outpace supply for at least the next 6 years - especially now with the announcement of the EV infrastructure plan.

 

[Tell It Right]

I’ll have to check them out I love Costco!

And I should clarify I am in Colorado, not California.

My electric company more restricts what they match for kw into the system. So if I’m looking to bank some it would hurt me a bit if I have over a 10kw system. Cuts matching or “credits” to 30% if memory serves. I’m not even sure how big a system over that I could even get on my roof lol.

Does the Costco Sunrun include battery storage too? And does the inverter have a zero output feature? If it doesn't have that then it's a non-starter for me to go with them if I upgrade.

 

[gorwell]

get one of the order printouts everyone on here keeps talking about.

If you do that, and remember, can ping back here and let me know how it went. I haven't felt a need to get a print out from them, but if it's simple enough, I might.

I was in fairly constant contact with them, but just their internet sales person. I switched to them back In September when harrold made it clear they wanted to charge markup.

there are stories about dealers marking up EV6's, Ionic 5s and long wait times.

I'm also looking at an ioniq5 for my wife.

All Hyundai dealers around Sacramento are owned by the same people... $7k+ markup.

Been pretty much in contact with everyone around Northern Cali and the best deal is just $2k markup, so I've got one reserved in Modesto for March. Hoping by then markups come down so I can negotiate with them even more.

 

[Roy2001]

Congrat's, looks like you have a fair dealer MSRP policy!!

What are you considering Lariat-ER?

Be frankly, I am super excited but on the other hand, I am still debating whether I should order it.

In past 2 years (due to pandemic) we only put just over 15k on our 3 vehicles. My son went to college so we sold an old car. Now we have a van and a Prius. My daughter would get her permit next month so Prius is for her.

Our van would be replaced soon by Model X which I ordered last May. I really want to get the Lightning but looks like my wife and I would work from home in foreseeable future, and probably permanently. So we don't really need another vehicle, and even if we buy it, I cannot justify to put $200k on 2 vehicles. Plus it is 1st model year of Lightning, I hesitate to put $80k on it.

So if I am going to buy, I will get a base XLT as my toy. My daughter would drive herself to school later this year, and we will only drive a few times a week, really a waste.

Decision decision decision.

 

[Oneand0]

I almost went with Folsom, but ended up going with Carson City since I live in Tahoe. I bought my Bronco Badlands from them and they were great, so I stuck with them and ordered Lariat last wave.

I think I’m going to build an off grid power station just for my Lightning, like this guy did for his Tesla. I like at the 4 min mark he talks about the whinny babies.

 

[jazzmanmonty]

I did some math on solar where I am and it would take 16 years for me to break even on the loan and what I’ll have to pay the electric company on top of what it produces. I just can’t make that investment not knowing if I’ll be in my home for that long before moving. And some solar companies I got quotes from only have a 10 year warranty on work!

That's why i didn't pull the trigger before some Illinois incentives expired. I hate this sh*thole state with a passion but probably won't have the opportunity to get out for minimum 5 years. When i do, I don't wanna be stuck with payments to pay for another guy's panels especially if the market adjusts and my home value goes down.

BTW have you ever seen one of these systems being installed on a roof? MY neighbor had a large setup installed about two years ago. They had their shingles replaced a year prior to panel install. I watched the installers bolt at least 50 mounts, screwing right through their brand new shingles! I can only imagine the kind of leaks that are gonna come their way in the future. I don't care how well they're sealed.. with that many mounts, failure is inevitable. Also, say you do get a leak. The company is gonna have to come in and remove a majority of the panels to fix it and then reinstall. No thank you. Only way i foresee myself going solar is if i can get a large enough property to where i can have them mounted at ground level.

 

[RavenYZF-R6]

That's why i didn't pull the trigger before some Illinois incentives expired. I hate this sh*thole state with a passion but probably won't have the opportunity to get out for minimum 5 years. When i do, I don't wanna be stuck with payments to pay for another guy's panels especially if the market adjusts and my home value goes down.

BTW have you ever seen one of these systems being installed on a roof? MY neighbor had a large setup installed about two years ago. They had their shingles replaced a year prior to panel install. I watched the installers bolt at least 50 mounts, screwing right through their brand new shingles! I can only imagine the kind of leaks that are gonna come their way in the future. I don't care how well they're sealed.. with that many mounts, failure is inevitable. Also, say you do get a leak. The company is gonna have to come in and remove a majority of the panels to fix it and then reinstall. No thank you. Only way i foresee myself going solar is if i can get a large enough property to where i can have them mounted at ground level.

I haven’t watched an install but I figured they would have mounts that slid under the shingle instead of straight through them lol.

 

[O’Majestic1’slightnigF150]

Standing seam roofs are the best residential option for solar. The rails are clamped to the standing portion. No penetrations thru roofing materials.

Sponsored